CSR

Corporate Social Responsibility –
A good business decision
(what, why, who and how ?)
Goran Lazarevski
AD EuroComputer Systems-ECS
Member of Seavus Group

8th SEEITA – 7th SEE ICT Forum Meeting & 7th MASIT Open Days Conference
14-15 October 2010, Ohrid www.seeita.org

Corporate Social Responsibility-WHAT?
Social Responsibility is the responsibility of an organization for the impacts
of its decisions and activities on society and the environment, through
transparent and ethical behaviour that

• contributes to sustainable development, including health and the
welfare of society
• takes into account the expectations of stakeholders
• is in compliance with applicable law and consistent with international
norms of behaviour; and
• is integrated throughout the organization and practised in its
relationships.’
(extract from ISO CD26000, DIS Sept 2009)



The definition is distant and too academic?
Of course…
So, what is that actually ?
Despite many definitions, it’s pretty simple:

IT IS RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS !



The current situation in Macedonia…

This opinion is often to find:
“Macedonian entrepreneurs are generally
irresponsible and care only for profits…”

Would you agree? I wouldn’t...


Corporate Social Responsibility
The National Coordinating Body on CSR

In the past three years,
We held and participated in over 40 events, forums, workshops, debates,
conferences and trainings;
• We printed over 15 different publications and manuals, in total circulation
of over 10.000 copies;
• We established 7 working groups on different subjects with over
40 members from the CSR Body’s membership, supporters and
independent experts;
• We analyzed and assessed over 180 applications for the national
award and awarded over 60 projects of our Macedonian companies.

More about the Coordinating body later from Mrs. Popova from the Ministry
of economy…

Corporate Social Responsibility
From the National award 2008:


Corporate Social Responsibility-WHY?
• CSR – It sounds nice, but,
Why waste time and money on this?
It’s pretty simple: IT BRINGS PROFITS !
– It makes your company competitive
– It’s an investment for a sustainable business
– It’s not a fashion that is going to go away


Important: Business of business is business !

One opinion:
“As manager, I am responsible only to my
shareholders and not to the society…”

This sounds reasonable at first sight, but…


What do we need to have long-term profits?
- Loyal customers
- Loyal suppliers
- Loyal employees
- Good marketing tools
- Good corporate governance
CSR is the best way to achieve this…



So, the real question we should set is:

Can we afford, not to be socially responsible ?


Corporate Social Responsibility-WHO?

An opinion:
“CSR is only for rich and large corporations, it is not
appropriate for small companies like us, especially in
times of crisis…”

This also makes a lot of sense at first sight, however…


The Macedonian National award showed in the past
three years that this is simply not true !

The Macedonian IT industry consists mostly of small
and medium size companies and still it is a leader in
Corporate Social Responsibility projects…

So, we can say today: CSR is for ALL companies,
regardless of their size and industry…


Our experience at ECS as well as the Seavus Group
confirms that activities in the field of CSR are a
strong contribution to sustainable business and the
best way to build a circle of loyal customers, loyal
employees and a positive image.
Our investments in education, environment, socially
vulnerable groups, culture and many other fields,
strengthen our image and build a closer relationship
to all society stakeholders.
We are convinced this is the only way to success.


Corporate Social Responsibility-HOW?
As managers, you want the CSR to take as little
time and resources as possible to implement
and achieve as much effect as possible, as
soon as possible…

But, how do you achieve this ?
How do you save time to make more money?


Be careful:

CSR is much more than philanthropy – it’s the
way you perform your business


Of course, as managers, you must decide what to do in the
field of CSR…
But, in the process of decision making, it is always good to
- Consult your customers
- Check your previous experience
- Consult your clients
- Consult your shareholders

And of course, never forget:


Don’t do everything yourself…

The time you lose on analyzing, where and how to
organize your CSR activities is too expensive: let the
professionals provide you the best solutions, so that
you can stay focused on the core business…



It’s very important to provide monitoring and
measuring of the CSR activities…

Otherwise, how do we know if we did well?


So, after all this is done, you will be able to decide
what you choose to be:

- A leader,
- A follower, or
- A passive actor

This decision will determine your CSR strategy !


So, for now, the main question you should all
answer to yourself is:

Is my company socially responsible and what
do I need to do to improve?



Thank you for your attention.

Goran Lazarevski
AD EuroComputer Systems-ECS Skopje
/member of Seavus group /
Tel. +389 70 364 913
goran.lazarevski@ecs.com.mk

CSR

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