HR Corner Labour of love by Christy Liu Corporate social responsibility programmes offer long-term benefits Companies in Hong Kong are increasingly embracing the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Campbell Soup is one such company which also adopts a long-term perspective for its CSR endeavours. Established in the US in 1869 and subsequently entered the Hong Kong market in the 1930s, Campbell Soup has invested considerably in CSR initiatives, with the aim of helping to educate children and promoting family harmony and whole person development. Currently the company manages four brands in Hong Kong: Campbell soup, Swanson broths, V8 and Arnott's biscuits. "Our products are family-oriented. We believe that enjoying soup together as a family is not only a dining tradition, it also represents the love of parents that brings harmony to the family and provides their children with a happy and healthy childhood," explains Adolf Ho, managing director, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Campbell Soup Asia Ltd; and vice chairman of Campbell Soup Trading (Shanghai) Ltd. "Therefore, our social responsibility and marketing activities are closely related to children. An integral part of our corporate mission is to enrich children's lives. We emphasise this and allocate our best resources to spreading the message of love and care to every family in the city." Keen focus Over the years, Campbell Soup has organised a number of events in collaboration with local charity organisations and education institutions. The company has harnessed its slogan, "Love Campbell, love your child", to focus and structure its charitable endeavours to implement relevant child-focused activities. One such initiative that the company is sponsoring is The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts' Academy's Best Pianists Fundraising Concerts, which feature 28 pianists from the academy and will be held in June this year. Proceeds are going directly to the academy. "We want to make music accessible to every child," Mr Ho says, "In addition, we will continue to provide children with opportunities to study music. We are also planning to donate 20 Campbell's Soup pianos to charity organisations in the near future." "Corporate social responsibility is not only about doing the right thing" Long-term values Mr Ho believes companies implementing corporate social responsibility campaigns should look beyond short-term values. "For example, we are a food manufacturer, but we would not run a food-donation campaign because it could not be adopted as a long-term CSR plan. Instead, we strive to educate and support children to grow up healthily. Therefore, most of our social responsibility activities are education-driven," he notes. "We also review our policies regularly to ensure that our initiatives will achieve the ultimate goals." Well-structured corporate social responsibility programmes can benefit companies in the long run, since they can act as a platform to promote brand awareness. "By launching corporate social responsibility campaigns, we cultivate closer relationships with existing and potential consumers," Mr Ho says. "For instance, our target customers are housewives who buy our products to prepare meals for their families. Our campaigns therefore focus mainly on promoting family harmony and the importance of nourishing our children. From this perspective, we are contributing to society and at the same time promoting our products to our target consumers — housewives and children." Activities that involve the community provide the ideal opportunity to deliver complete and interactive messages, Mr Ho adds. "Corporate social responsibility is not only about doing the right thing. It also provides companies and society with a range of benefits," he concludes. Salient points * Corporate social responsibility benefits society and companies * CSR policies reach beyond short-term values * Whole person development a focal point * Community activities deliver complete message Taken from Career Times 30 May 2008, p. A20 Your comments are welcome at [email protected]