|
 Corporate citizenship in practice takes on a variety of forms. Large and small companies, different industries, and unique cultures all adapt the principles of corporate citizenship to fit their needs. In Argentina, this interpretation often takes on a very innovative approach, using a foundation of entrepreneurship and ingenuity in order for business to support social development.
After an economic crisis plunged Argentina into a situation of financial instability in late 2001, companies, governments and communities have worked to rebuild the economy.
As a way to support this process, the US Embassy in Argentina has sponsored a series of workshops on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to support the needs of local and national economies.
Recently The Center's Kristen Zecchi traveled to four cities throughout the country to learn about the development of corporate citizenship in Argentina first-hand while giving a series of workshops on measurement and evaluation. Co-hosted by local NGOs and think tanks in each city, the workshops were attended by a mix of representatives from large multinationals, locally-owned small- and medium-sized businesses, students, and NGOs.
The range of issues discussed was as diverse as the audiences and changed according to the needs of each locale. In the northern city of Catamarca, for example, issues around mining and indigenous stakeholders were most pressing. In the mountain town of Bariloche, concerns around environmental sustainability relating to the tourism industry were hot topics. For each city visited, local community economic development is a key concern, reflecting the continued recovery of the Argentine economy from the 2001 crisis and a poverty rate that still hovers around 40%.
Jorge Rodriguez, director of the Information Resource Center at the US Embassy in Buenos Aires, explains the impetus for the Argentine CSR program, which began in 2000: “Introducing CSR – with its focus on ethics, transparency and social issues – to businesses was seen as a way to influence government and the civil sector over the long run as businesses would eventually expect government and civil society organizations to operate in accordance with similar high standards of ethics and transparency.”
Zecchi says that the questions people asked were revealing. “What I found interesting was the assumption that American companies must be further ahead in their corporate citizenship programs because the U.S. government mandates it,” she said. “In every location, someone questioned me on the many laws that they assumed the U.S. has to regulate corporate citizenship. It was hard to convince them otherwise.”
Zecchi says she was impressed by the innovative spirit that infused many of the local CSR efforts. “From environmental recycling programs to workforce development, I saw a tremendous amount of resourcefulness and balancing of needs of multiple stakeholder groups,” Zecchi says. This ingenuity has allowed governments and businesses alike to apply the principles of corporate citizenship to both the formal and informal sectors, allowing artisans and cottage industries to benefit as much as larger scale businesses.”
Additional resources on the corporate citizenship in Argentina:
|
