Marketing corporate social responsibility -
the project management way
Contents
1. Authors & Other details ... 3
2. Introduction ... 4
3. Approach and Methodology ... 5
4. Findings ... 6
5. Conclusion ... 18
1. Authors & Contact details
Isabelle Kispotta
Marketing Program Manager, Hewlett Packard
Email: isabelle.kispotta@gmail.com,Phone: +91-9663313287
Isabelle Kispotta has 8 years of experience with IT services marketing. Her areas of interest include go-to-market activities and increasing sales footprint through data driven insights, customer intelligence, marketing messaging, internal communications and customer references.
Venkat Narayanan N
Marketing Program Manager, Hewlett Packard
Email: venkat.narayanan@hp.com, Phone: +91-9884043880
Venkat Narayanan N is a seasoned multi-lingual marketing professional with 9 years of excellence in technology marketing – direct and channel. He has hands on experience in the following areas: campaign conceptualization and execution, agency interaction, marketing communications and sales enablement.
Address
HP Global E Business Operations Pvt. Ltd
HP Prime No. 66/2 Wing A, Ward no. 83, Bagmane Tech Park CV Raman Post, Bangalore – 560093
2. Introduction
Today, a lot of organizations work towards the betterment of the society it operates in through sustainable business practices and by acting as a change agent in the globalized world. Information and stories on organizational commitment to the society is seen and heard in print, television and digital media. Marketing activities can help the organization benefit from its commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) especially when CSR and sustainability have the greatest impact on a corporate’s reputation1 Entrepreneurs and management pundits, too have observed the business and marketing benefits resulting from a firm’s commitment to CSR such as reduced employee turnover, increased customer satisfaction; and improved reputation2 As a result, a field of cause-related, social and environmental marketing has emerged setting a path for a new discipline in marketing practice.
Marketers also need to redefine their role as project managers in a time when CSR is integrated with an organization’s corporate strategic goal. This calls for a more strategic and structured approach of setting specific objectives and optimizing communication efforts vis-à-vis achieving CSR goals
This paper is an attempt to showcase the adoption of project management practices in the overall management and promotion of CSR, looking at elements covering planning, execution and monitoring of CSR initiatives.
Note: The term CSR is known in many other ways: corporate citizenship, corporate philanthropy, corporate giving, community affairs, community development, corporate responsibility, global citizenship, and corporate societal marketing. For ease of reference we will refer to the term ‘CSR’ throughout this paper. However, in all references to Hewlett Packard we will refer to CSR as ‘Global Citizenship’ as defined for its CSR practices.
3. Approach and Methodology
This paper provides a glimpse into how cause-related marketers can contribute to the successful management of CSR. We have highlighted ways to approach the end-to-end management and implementation of CSR projects by adopting project management principles and promote it both internally and externally.
The research design is exploratory in nature. For the purpose of his paper, secondary research through in-depth review of the literature was employed. References are also made to practices within Hewlett Packard and HP’s Living Progress Report 2013. Also, an interview conducted with key people involved in CSR practices within Hewlett Packard formed the basis for deriving insights, including the authors’ collective marketing experience. In addition, observation and anecdotal evidence relating to the use of marketing practices like communication and promotion is included.
4. Findings
Adopting project management for end-to-end management and implementation of CSR projects
Different CSR initiatives bring in different levels of commitment in terms of effort, resources, timelines, budgets and partnerships. Similar to any project, project management principles apply while implementing a CSR project. We will now see how a CSR project is managed at the five phases of project management. Image 1 shows the phases of project management along with a work breakdown structure with various CSR activities under each of the phases.
1 - Grayling Pulse survey 2013 http://www.csrinternational.org/CSR-Communication-Report
2 - Jeremy Galbreath 2010 (see references section)
CONCEPTION AND INITIATION
Formulating a CSR vision and core corporate values
The first step is to define what CSR means for an organization; create a corporate objective for driving CSR vision that is aligned with its core values and competencies. Apart from aligning with corporate values, CSR priorities such as contributions to society, environment sustainability or delivering safe and quality products can be easily set, by aligning with its products, core competency and processes. The senior management should be involved in articulating a definition, since they can drive the initial motivations for launching CSR initiatives.
Example:
HP’s newly named approach or framework for CSR called ‘The Living Progress’ outlines how the business, people and technology come together to drive human economic and environmental progress. HP has worked towards reducing the carbon footprint of its products and solutions across portfolios—from single-user personal computing devices and printers to enterprise servers, storage equipment, and data centers.
Build support with senior management and employees
Soliciting internal stakeholders -senior management and employees - is critical for a successful CSR program. Getting the top management involved in an organization’s CSR commitments, sets the tone and ensures their support, without which there is little likelihood the CSR activities can run effectively. Employee involvement plays the most important role in implementing CSR commitments laid down by senior management and leadership team.
Establish a CSR leadership team
Formation of a governance committee/council is one of initial steps in formalizing an organization structure for decision making needs. This group can be represented from a cross-section of the organization – board of directors, senior management and employees. The members should have the motivation in addition to the necessary time and resources to commit to the work involved. Further the committee/council’s objectives, members’ responsibilities, workload and outcomes and the ground rules on how the group will operate can be outlined. Regular communication between the working group and the organization is also useful.
Example
HP’s Board of Directors oversees the management and the board regarding HP’s
policies and programs relating to global citizenship. HP’s Executive Council holds the
overall responsibility for global citizenship. HP’s Global Citizenship Council works with
other business groups and functions, as well as external stakeholders for advancing HP Living Progress company-wide. It consists of executives and subject matter experts from HP. HP also maintains separate councils dedicated to areas such as Living Progress strategy, environment, supply chain responsibility, corporate ethics, and privacy. These councils include leaders with relevant expertise from its business units, regions, and functions. Each council meets periodically to evaluate progress in implementing strategies and to establish performance goals.
Identify and engage key stakeholders
Key stakeholders include senior leadership, employees from within the organization and external suppliers, investors, government, communities, NGO’s and industry/trade bodies. The success of any CSR program is dependent on these groups of people. CSR implementation largely rests in the hands of employees. Volunteering efforts provide platforms for employees to engage and feel motivated about contributing towards CSR actions. A stakeholder map can be outlined to define the level of engagement with each of them.
Table 1: Stakeholder map outlining different types of stakeholders involved, their types of engagement and examples from Hewlett Packard (HP Living Progress Report 2013)
Stakeholder group
Types of engagement Examples from HP
Academics Collaborations
Sponsorships
HP partnered with Harvard and Stanford universities to offer an accelerated development curriculum to their managers and directors.
Customers Customer surveys
Requests for proposal
Best practice sharing
Participation on customer
stakeholder groups
Innovation collaborations
HP collaborated with its customers to help them improve their sustainability performance by leveraging HP’s best practices, as well as their portfolio of energy efficient products, services and solutions. HP participates on numerous customer external stakeholder advisory groups, such as the Sprint Stakeholder Group.
Employees Employee surveys
Volunteer programs
HP’s most important employee feedback mechanism is the annual, confidential Voice of the Workforce (VoW) survey, available online in 28 languages. In 2013, 80% of employees worldwide took part, up from 79% in 2012.
Investors Rankings and indexes In 2013, HP was again included on the CDP S&P 500 Carbon Disclosure Leadership Indexes (Carbon Performance Leadership Index and Carbon
Disclosure Leadership Index). Legislators and regulators Lobbying governments Research Responding to public consultation on regulations Participating in working groups
An original partner of the ENERGY STAR® program in 1992, HP continued to work with the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency and other industry partners to ensure that labeling requirements for information and communications technology (ICT) products are relevant, exclusive, and appropriate.
Local
communities
Cash and in-kind donations
Volunteer programs
HP delivered 21st century healthcare to people in remote, resource-poor locations through eHealth Centers, developed in partnership with several public, private, and nonprofit organizations. Nongovernment
organizations (NGOs)
Collaboration on programs and initiatives
Collaboration on innovative solutions to social challenges
Ranking and reports
Working with Conservation International, HP created HP Earth Insights, a unique early warning system for endangered species using the power of big data solutions.
Peer companies
Collaboration on industry initiatives and working groups
HP and four peer companies launched Green Freight Asia, an NGO focused on decreasing. GHG
emissions and fuel consumption in freight and shipping in Asia.
Professional organizations
Participation in and sponsorship of initiatives
In 2013, HP cofounded Future of Internet Power, a coalition of leading technology companies that will share energy efficiency best practices and develop a platform for supplying low-carbon, sustainable power to data centers in collaboration with utility companies and policy makers.
Social
entrepreneurs
Participation at conferences
Mentoring
In partnership with educational organizations, HP designed HP LIFE e-Learning, an open platform, interactive, online learning curriculum to help entrepreneurs and students learn essential business and IT skills. Suppliers Audits Participation at business development events Capability-building programs Mentoring Quarterly business reviews Supplier surveys
HP hosted two summits on the issue of student, dispatch, and migrant workers in China, attended by 70 suppliers and 100 government officials, vocational school staff, and NGO representatives. HP
procurement professionals participated in more than 50 diverse supplier events around the world.
PLANNING
Hold discussions with major stakeholders
Engaging with key stakeholders both internal and external to the organization helps to clearly define interests and communicate the companies’ approach via internal and external forums. This can prove to be vital in identifying responsibilities, potential areas of opportunity, gain knowledge about regulations and also helps to alleviate issues. It is important to establish good communication between top management and employees and other stakeholders about CSR strategy and commitment to develop a sense of ownership and pride in the firm’s CSR initiatives.
Create a working group to develop the commitments
Like the formation of a leadership team, it is important to create a working group of people who would drive and implement the CSR strategies. Everyone’s involvement is key to a successful CSR, and the committee can include people from different business units, regions and functions. Groups can be categorized based on specific areas such as environment, society, supply chain, corporate ethics, etc. Each working group can be led by a leader who can oversee the implementation at a regional/sub regional level.
An effective business plan determines what resources and activities will be required to carry out the CSR initiative. For example, a CSR commitment may be to ensure that all employees follow a standard code of conduct to drive ethical behavior throughout the organization. The first step to implement it might be to create a training course for employees on code of conduct. A second step might be to review existing practices to ensure they do not encourage unethical behavior. A third step might involve creating a mechanism to report out any instances of violation of the code of conduct. The business plan will have each of these tasks defined and then broken down into smaller tasks with timelines and resources assigned to implement them. These should form the performance objective of each lead person.
Set measurable targets and identify performance measures
Performance goals, timelines, and targets should be set for every initiative. Regardless of the approach, it should follow the “SMART” guidelines: Simple, Measureable, Achievable, Reliable and Time-bound. One approach could be to define measurement objectives or goals, identify measures, confirm metrics and set targets. Table 2 depicts the approach for measuring CSR performance by focusing on the return on objectives/goals.
Table 2: Example of metrics
Stakeholder group Goal Metrics examples
Customers Enhance customer satisfaction with speed, affordability and low CO2emissions
Customer satisfaction rating, reduction in CO2 emissions
Employees Inspire and engage HP employees to serve their communities through a country-volunteering competition
Employee volunteer hours, Participation rate
Local communities Deliver health facilities to people in remote, poor locations
Percentage of population impacted; Life expectancy; Disease incidence rates
Legislators/ regulators
Compliance with existing regulations Inclusion in CSR indices
NGOs Collaboration to alleviate poverty using the Internet
Literacy rates; employment rates
EXECUTION
Implement CSR business plan
According to Hohnen3 a well-designed CSR implementation framework is divided into four parts: Plan, Do, Check and Improve. The first part, Plan, includes the process of developing an exclusive CSR strategy within the organization. Here it is important to
communicate within the organization on all levels and to get the support from CEO, senior management and the employees. In the second part of the implementation process, Do, CSR commitments should primarily be developed and later implemented. In this part it is essential that the employees get actively involved in the process, this is partially done by preparing and implementing the CSR business plan with the participation of employees and through continuously CSR training. After this part follows the third part which is Check. In this part it is important to assure, report and measure the progress of implemented CSR strategy, within the organization and to engage key stakeholders. The last part of the CSR implementation process, Improve, emphasizes the importance of evaluation and to identify opportunities for improvement (Hohnen, 2007).
3
Hohnen, P. 2007. Corporate Social Responsibility- An Implementation Guide for Business. [online]
Image 3: Implementation framework
Engage employees and others to whom CSR commitments apply
The message from management to the rest of the organization is crucial for the CSR implementation process. If the employees and the rest of the organization are in anyway uncertain about the CSR vision of the organization, the whole CSR implementation process could be compromised. The middle managers thus become an important part of the process where they are consulted and responsible to encourage the employees since they are closer to the employees than the top managers are.
There are different ways to increase employees’ commitment to the implementation process:
1. Incorporating CSR performance elements into job descriptions and performance evaluations
2. Providing regular updates on progress (in meetings or the company newsletter) 3. Developing incentives (such as monetary and other rewards for best
suggestions)
4. Offering incentives and recognition for good ideas.
Design and conduct CSR training
Employees play a central role in the implementation process, therefore, it is vital that managers as well as employees are educated and trained in order to understand the purpose and develop the CSR work
within the organization. CSR is a vital part of the induction phase training for new employees. It is important that everyone involved in the CSR process has got some kind of education in this field.
Create internal and external communication
The practice of corporate social responsibility communications occurs mainly through stakeholder dialogue, communication programs and CSR Reporting. When strategizing for CSR communications, a simple calculation can be followed:
Before developing a communication plan it is important to listen, engage and understand the target audiences i.e., the organization’s stakeholders. This helps to answer the question on who and what to communicate and customize marketing efforts by audience and channel. The objective is to reposition the organization and/or its offerings in the mind of each identified stakeholder group. Only then an effective communication framework can be developed to address them. Table 3 gives examples of the kinds of stakeholder interactions that can be initiated with different stakeholder groups. The activities are broadly classified as:
a) Information generation - Information generation through formal research, including surveys, focus groups, or press reviews helps to gather information on stakeholders’ present state and needs.
b) Information dissemination – Information flow to relevant people within the firm on the nature of stakeholder communities and their issues, and also the impact of the company practices and products on these issues
c) Responsiveness - Activities adopted by the organization to meet stakeholder demands.
Table 3: Kinds of stakeholder interactions
Communication activities
Employees Customers Local Communities
Information generation Regular meetings with employees driving CSR initiatives
Data analysis about employee
participation rates for CSR programs Forums for
discussing employee health, safety, stress management, trainings etc.
Discussion forums to understand customer needs and concerns Information on customer complaints
(e.g., HP provides multiple channels for reporting concerns. Every concern raised is reviewed, responded promptly and
investigated by the corporate compliance team)
Discussion with community leaders to understand issues Analysis of impact of company’s practices on environment (e.g., electricity use, recycling)
Evaluation of company reputation in the communities
Information dissemination
Employee communication Open door policy Informal meetings among employees Communicating the nature of customer complaints to relevant people Include results of customer research in product policies Communication on emerging consumer trends
Involving employees into
community affairs (giving lectures, attending seminars)
Reward system for the best community initiative
(e.g., Country and business/unit-based volunteering competition called Global Volunteer Challenge at HP)
Responsiveness Employee health and safety programs Employee survey
(e.g. Voice of Workforce survey in HP)
Product quality and safety improvement programs
Grievance mechanisms to respond to customer complaints
Philanthropic and volunteerism programs
Environmental sustainability programs
Economic development programs
The information derived from the above activity can then be utilized to run various communication programs and branded CSR initiatives, through multiple channels, across the stakeholder landscape.
Once we understand the issues of concern for the stakeholders we can identify the messages relevant to them. Next step is to find the appropriate channel to reach them.
company websites, marketing, product packaging and social media. Public relations activity is seen to be effective in driving CSR communications and has the potential to reach a wide spectrum of audiences.
Table 4: Different communication channels with examples from HP
Communication Media/Tool
Example from HP
CSR Report and Annual Report
HP releases its Global Citizenship Report (now called Living Progress Report) on an annual basis. Report describes HP’s global citizenship policies, programs, and performance through a particular fiscal year.
Company websites HP’s global citizenship website now called as Living Progress provides an
overview of HP's Living Progress policies, programs, and performance and links to HP's comprehensive Living Progress Report.
Intranet Internal site for employees to know more about global citizenship/HP’s Living
Progress programs and ways to be part of volunteering programs
TV and Radio Campaigns/ads that connect with consumers about the sustainable attributes an organization care about most. At HP, media campaign through ‘Global Citizen* Festival 2013’ resulted in 203 million radio and television broadcast impressions. The festival highlighted works by corporates that included HP LIFE e-learning platform for entrepreneurs which is provides training to social entrepreneurs across the globe.
*Global Citizen is powered by the Global Poverty Project, a registered 501(c)3 non-profit, charitable organization.
Online Videos Videos on YouTube are available on HP’s Living Progress and regional initiatives.
Discussion forums An online forum for stakeholder and opinion leader dialogue called the Living Progress Exchange was held in June 2014 to explore key issues and brainstorm solutions to help advance human, economic and environmental progress.
Product Packaging Eco-labels/information on recycled content or the energy efficiency of devices. e.g. HP’sinnovative straw-based packaging, compared to traditional paper-based pulp cushions.
Social Media Online dialogues on HP’s global citizenship efforts on social media sites like Twitter (twitter.com/HPLivingProg), Facebook
(facebook.com/HP/app_338708549522319) and LinkedIn
(linkedin.com/groups/HP-Living-Progress-4143672/about) for engaging external audiences.
A communications plans should ensure that all relevant stakeholder groups are addressed. It can be reviewed on an annual basis.
Table 5: Example of a marketing communication plan
CSR Communication Plan
Employee Newsletter Intranet Websit
e Meeting
Social Media
CSR Report
Objective Program updates and status, highlight successes, volunteering opportunities, rewards program Program updates, links to downloa d material s, increase awarene ss Details of CSR vision, goals, resourc es reports, news Leaders hip briefing, strategy, focus areas, updates Promotion s, highlights, offerings exciting news etc., increase follower base Cover goals and progress made throughou t the year, performan ce indicators, adherenc e to reporting standards Employees Bi-Monthly Monthly Monthly Ongoing Yearly
Leadership Monthly Monthly Ongoing Yearly
Investors Monthly Quarterl y Ongoing Yearly Customers Monthly Quarterl y Ongoing Yearly Suppliers Monthly Quarterl y Ongoing Yearly Responsibi lity
(name of the team owning the
communication)
PERFORMANCE AND CONTROL
Measure and report on performance and identify opportunities for improvement
Based on the organization’s CSR strategy and its progress, it should be evaluated for making improvement and adapting to changing standards. Performance evaluation also involves comments and suggestions from management, CSR coordinators, managers and committees, employees and outside stakeholders. CSR reports form a good example of reporting out performances of an organization on an annual basis. They can also be aligned with the publication of annual reports. In adherence to reporting standards, Guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), award schemes or rankings should be followed.
CLOSURE
Institutionalize CSR
Upon successful evaluation of what went right and wrong, CSR strategy can be relooked and fine-tuned. A renewed process of CSR practices can be institutionalized as an internal practice for driving positive outcomes for the future.
5. Conclusion
The findings show that the management of CSR is a complex process that needs to be well-integrated with an organization’s business strategy, marketing and operations in order to be successful. Getting to know and understand how stakeholders’ perceive about an organization and what they expect in return for their support, is fundamental in designing effective corporate and marketing communications strategies and achieving CSR objectives. In addition, good relationship management with internal and external stakeholders is integral to the practice of CSR. Communication through the entire phase of project management helps building a strong and lasting relationship with all stakeholders.
With the growth in the number of companies that communicate and report their CSR achievements these days, the interest level of all stakeholders has grown too. With that, the efforts towards building better ways to do business and communicating stories around such successes has the potential to build better brand reputation for organizations.
The findings in this paper can contribute in the further development of CSR management and communications in relation to marketing. CSR is growing tremendously as organizations across the globe are increasingly adopting this strategic paradigm as to how they view and must play their roles to create value for shareholders, promote human, social and economic development in today’s society.
6. References
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