[EQ] Joining the Fight Against Global Poverty: A Menu for Corporate Engagement

 

Joining the Fight Against Global Poverty: A Menu for Corporate Engagement

 

Staci Warden, The Center for Global Development, December 2007

 

…..International corporations interested in joining the fight against global poverty can choose from a wide range of options, according to a new CGD report .
The report suggests six approaches for corporations to consider. Based on interviews with senior executives at 15 firms with global reach, it includes stories about what has worked (and what hasn't) and describes some of the advantages that companies have found in working for development…”

 

Website: http://www.cgdev.org/content/publications/detail/15004

PDF Available online [48p] at: http://www.cgdev.org/files/15004_file_corporate_engagement_web.pdf

 

“…..In the last decade more and more of the world's leading corporations have sought and found ways to join in the fight against global poverty. In an increasingly interdependent world, there are many opportunities to do good while doing well commercially. Yet the approaches taken, and the logic of different tactics by different companies, have not been much studied.

This new report, based on interviews with 15 corporations that have been active in "development" work in poor countries, offers a menu of six approaches.

• Standards Compliance: adhering to high standards for workers' rights, environmental protection, or other development issues

• Charitable Giving: through a company foundation or by supporting public or non-profit charitable organizations

• Resource Engagement: directly contributing a company's goods or services

• Commercial Leverage: companies doing well by doing good

• Development Entrepreneurship: where an explicit commitment to the poor is the core business strategy

• Policy Advocacy: using the company's influence to improve the policy environment for development, in the host country or home country.

It also offers practical anecdotes about what has worked for corporations (and what hasn't), and explains some of the advantages companies have found in pursuing a developmental agenda, including reputational benefits and attracting informed customers. One of the guiding principles of the report is that companies bring much more to the table than money. Financial resources are often necessary, but corporations' skills, ideas, and ways of operating in the marketplace can make a much greater contribution…..”

 

 

 

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