Корпоративно-социальная ответственность в Южной Америке.

The Status of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability in Latin America
1.Corporate Social Responsibility – Bodies and platforms
2. Market players
3. The Status of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability in Latin America
4. Opportunities and challenges

Other effects of the SRN in the banana industry (Colombia) include increasing democratic progress for political participation. This is expressed in different participants in political and socio-economic development processes within the region, increasing collaboration with government agencies in terms of working and living conditions, and increasing dialogue and communication with international partners. At the regional and international levels, organized workers were given power that they didn’t have before to exercise both direct and indirect pressure to improve their conditions.
These improvements, in environmental awareness, health and safety, worker
representation and security in the region, have given Colombia a chance to compete with
international markets based on social and moral grounds rather than just price. It has also given
Colombian bananas access to specific niche markets based on ethical considerations. This
international SRN has provided economic, social and political incentives for local people to
interact with international civil society and to respond to its demands.
The positive impact of the SRN on people goes without saying, there is evidence of it made by people with personal knowledge of day to day life for workers and employees from different spheres. Nevertheless, it shouldn’t be taken to mean that SRN constitutes some kind of panacea. There remains much work to be done in such areas as wages and income stability, and the role of government in SRN needs strengthening in order to provide sustainable structures for development.
Even when a great part of the activities that enterprises have carried out are linked to charity, we provide evidence that people prefer other actions. This finding seems to be related to the fact that people do not trust in enterprises' motivation in providing charity.
At the global level, progress is still needed in regard to the application of responsible practices on behalf of the small and medium mining sectors as well as the governmental sector. Both companies and civil society organizations emphasize the lack of governmental incentives, which are perceived as fundamental for the development of CSR policies.
There are problems related to social mobility and economic development, such as the lack of stable employment alternatives and inadequate formal education. Access to these is limited in the banana producing regions and networking initiatives at the international level have not brought big improvements.
The results of the first public opinion survey on CSR that was held in Uruguay at the national level showed that the level of knowledge on CSR is relatively low; more than half of respondents answered that they had never heard of it. Moreover, when the interviewers wanted to listen to a definition, respondents linked CSR to society, the respect of labour conditions, the employees' well-being and environmental protection. So it seems evident that CSR is a new issue in the country.
By definition, CSR practices are voluntary practices and if the government controls them, they would lose this important aspect. Moreover, regarding opinions about enterprises' performance on CSR in Uruguay, almost 16 per cent of respondents are of the opinion that it was high and approximately 25 per cent decided that it was low.
The age and educational level plays an important role in considering new actions. Becoming older tends to reduce the importance of being socially responsible. This can be affected by the fact that such actions are relatively new and older individuals have had less possibility of getting in touch with these actions. It turned out that more educated people and the elderly are more critical towards the information provided by enterprises (namely CSR) and the government, and place less importance to charity.
The relationship with labour market influences the people’s opinion on certain
CSR activities. Unemployed people have a more negative view on charity and environmental protection. It also reduces the importance of CSR in determining purchasing decisions. City size seems to play an important role in peoples’ attitudes towards CSR. Living in big cities gives special emphasis to environmental protection, respecting labour laws and employees' standard of living.
Creating a CSR strategy has become a primary challenge for CEOs. Fortunately, social media can be an invaluable resource for companies willing to become better corporate citizens.
Here are 5 steps to develop a CSR culture using social media: 1. Commit & Lead 2. Listen & Learn 3. Innovate 4. Communicate 5. Invest
Criticism of the CSR model is usually based on seeing it as a primarily market-driven
tool. Once CSR demonstrates collaboration with the relevant stakeholders in a systematic manner and demonstrates sustainability in the sense that expectations are carried out, it legitimizes itself and therefore gains credibility. Once a reputation for good ethics is earned it can then be used as tool for marketing campaigns.
5. Conclusion: the prospects for the future of CSR in Latin America
. In an effort to strengthen future corporate initiatives, non-governmental organizations will play an extremely important role when it comes to reaching out to people. These organizations will enable corporations to fulfill various programs, and produce a valuable exchange between them and society. Alliances and networks are especially relevant because they are strengthened by the contributions that other people make. It will be such a model of management voluntarily chosen by the company, which will respect ethic values, persons, the society and the environment; in the same time this organization will keep on listening and answering to the needs and expectations of the different publics the company is related to.
 According to Zimmerman who is responsible for institutional relations at TUV Rhineland Argentina, an internationally certified international management firm, “While it’s been the biggest companies that have been most interested in CSR until now, all companies will need to engage in socially responsible behavior in the near future. The SA 8000 norm will become an indispensable means for demonstrating that. There are a lot of advantages to this norm. Among them, we can mention improved relations with the community, which demonstrate commitment to sustainable development, as well as improved competitiveness and image.”(“In Latin America, Companies Are Becoming More Interested in Social Corporate Responsibility” Nov 15, 2006)
Corporate Social Responsibility is part of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. CSR is more relevant than ever in the context economic crisis. It can help to build (and rebuild) trust in business, which is vital for the health of Europe's social market economy. It can also point out the new forms of value of creation based on addressing societal challenges, which may represent a way out of the crisis. In March 2010 the European Commission made a commitment to “renew the EU strategy to promote Corporate Social Responsibility as a key element in ensuring long term employee and consumer trust”.
The European Commission has made a commitment to “renew the EU strategy to promote corporate social responsibility” as part of the ‘Europe 2020’ strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Speaking at the United Nations in June, Industry and Entrepreneurship Commissioner Antonio Tajani said: “Corporate social responsibility is one of the necessary values underlying the new economic and social system that together we must build, taking account of the lessons from the crisis that we face today.”
He outlined a number of priority areas, such as placing greater emphasis on company transparency on environmental, social and governance issues, and addressing the question of business and human rights. He also announced the intention to launch a process on corporate social responsibility in the field of pharmaceuticals together with Member States and key European stakeholders in this domain so as to promote access to medicine, both in Europe and in developing countries.
Given the additional costs involved, it is tempting to think of CSR as something of an optional luxury in difficult economic times. In actual fact, CSR is more important than ever in the context of the global financial and economic crises.
This is partly because public confidence in the social and environmental responsibility of businesses has been shaken. For example, the financial crisis damaged public trust in the banking and financial sectors, while the subsequent economic fallout – with its accompanying recession and job cuts – hurt confidence in the social responsibility of industry and large corporations. Alan Gegenschatz, president and general manager of TNT Express says that “In Latin America, the idea of social responsibility is here to stay. What remains ahead is the difficult task of growing, and fixing specific goals for the short, medium and long term, so that we can put into practice the ideas and theoretical concepts that already exist. One of the great challenges and opportunities ahead will be to educate the consumer so that he will use his purchasing power to demand that companies make commitments to CSR. On the regional level, Brazil has a considerable advantage because its companies are better organized and more articulate, which enables them to do a better job of focusing their programs.” (Brussels, 30.09.2009 )