corporate social responsibility

Majestic Global CommunicationCorporate Social Responsibility Implementation Program

(CIP)

Proposal for OmniComm Data Services

This is a business writing sample created as part of the Professional Development Program at the University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business. It is written as a proposal for a Corporate Social Responsibility implementation program, on behalf of a hypothetical company (Majestic Global Communications), presented to another hypothetical company (OmniComm Data Services).

© 2005, Jesse Kedy Professional Development Program www.jessekedy.net University of Richmond


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Contents

Executive Summary 2

The Problem 3

The Solution: CSR 4

The Plan: CIP (CSR Implementation Program) 5

The Steps to CSR Implementation 7

Qualifications 8

Costs 8

Schedule 9

Measuring Success 10

Conclusions and Our Proposal 11

References 12


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Executive Summary

Today’s consumer-centric economy is characterized by consumers who are

quality-conscious, selective, less brand loyal than ever before, hard to please, and

highly savvy. The public and the media are naturally skeptical and have led to the

ruination of numerous companies based on issues of reputation and perceptions of

character.

Consumer Social Responsibility (CSR) is the best solution to the changing

global environment, addressing all transparency and community outreach issues,

including all customer touch points. MGC’s Corporate Social Responsibility

Implementation Program (CIP) is tailored to fit the needs and goals of mid-sized

companies and to maximize the potential benefits for your company.

MGC’s credibility and past success qualifies it to be your guide to a successful

CSR program. Unlike other solutions, CIP’s cost will be in direct proportion to its

success for your firm. You will set your company’s goal, which will in turn measure

CIP’s success rate. As a company of utmost integrity, we know that CSR already fits in

with your organization’s values. We urge you to contact us to obtain more

information about CIP or to schedule an appointment with a CIP representative.

Let us now demonstrate how CIP will improve OmniComm’s brand loyalty,

public perception, and bottom line.


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The Problem

In today’s consumer-centric market, the customer has ultimate control and

decides who becomes an Alta Vista and who becomes a Google. Unlike the past,

today’s consumer is more price and quality-conscious, more selective, less brand loyal,

harder to please, and more savvy (with access to all information pertaining to a

purchase). This trend can be attributed to the Internet, information technology, the

myriad companies sprouting up in most industries (increasing competition for limited

customers), growing concern for the environment, and factors in the global economy.

Besides the direct consumer, the public and the media are very skeptical and

have led to the ruination of many companies, big and small, whose practices they

perceived as questionable. Pressures to become more transparent and to communicate

better are bearing down on companies on all fronts (such as from customers,

shareholders, regulating bodies, advocacy groups, and international bodies; in short,

from all Stakeholders).

Many companies have already jumped on the Consumer Social Responsibility

(CSR) bandwagon, turning it into an expectation, not a pioneering initiative.

Investment in social and responsible funds is at an all-time high of $4 trillion. A

world-wide survey of 136 senior executives and 65 institutional investors found that

85 percent of respondents ranked corporate responsibility as “central” or “important”,

compared with just 44 percent in 1999, an increase of almost 100 percent.

Companies that are beginning to understand the importance of CSR are

realizing that it takes time to embed CSR into their corporate “DNA” in terms of new

value adoption, or simply implementation; this is not a good sign. CEOs and analysts

agree that soon, companies that hope to be seen as credible will have to have a strong


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CSR program. In the near future, when directives are issued by legislators and

regulating groups, companies with no CSR experience are going to be in trouble.

The Solution: CSR

Consumer Social Responsibility (CSR) is a term used to describe the overall

efforts of firms in terms of two main components: transparency and community

outreach.

Transparency refers to all facets involving company operations and account-

keeping. For example, in 2005, Nike’s CSR department released a report disclosing

the names and locations of the hundreds of factories worldwide that produce its

products; this was the first such report ever disclosed by a major shoe and apparel

company.

Community outreach includes all efforts to communicate with stakeholders,

help sustain the environment, give back to or contribute to a community, and so on.

For example, Nike’s CSR department recently took part in the decision to use a

minimum amount of organic cotton in a portion of all of its products. Rather than

dominating the world supply of organic cotton (Nike is the largest world retail organic

cotton purchaser), Nike decided to bring together a consortia to increase the world

supply of organic cotton.


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The Plan: CIP (CSR Implementation Program)

You are receiving this proposal because we know that OmniComm holds itself

to exceptionally high standards and already conducts some aspects of CSR. At MGC,

we recognize the growing need to expand, organize, centralize, and monitor CSR. Not

long ago, MGC was a small company with global aspirations.

Scale

Companies of a similar size may believe that CSR mainly concerns large

corporations with the resources to formulate and implement a large-scale plan.

However, it was precisely because of our embracement of CSR early on that we were

able to fuse it into our company’s DNA. In reality, OmniComm’s size is an advantage

over multinational firms trying to plow their way into CSR. We have tailored CIP to

the needs and resources of medium-sized companies, such as yours. Finally, we have

developed an industry-specific version of CIP, based on your existing platforms, which

will reduce the integration time and effort.

Objectives

During the three-year development process, several clear objectives have driven

our focus. First, a specially-assigned staff will educate your employees about social

responsibility. Before people change their behaviors, they must be intrinsically

motivated; they must believe in “the cause”. Our staff will conduct skill sessions as

part of the program. Further, CIP will help you build and/or maintain your

reputation. As described below, this includes transparency, outreach, accountability,

initiative, and obtaining positive media attention. The first two goals lead to the third:

improving internal and external relations. It has been shown that satisfied employees


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are far more productive and experience less turnover; also, positive customer

perceptions lead to increased loyalty and purchase frequency.

The next objective is based on the principle of “CANĪ” (Constant and Never-

ending Improvement). To this extent, CIP includes several coinciding systems that

continuously monitor your company’s CSR rating. These systems receive real-time

data from dozens of variables (ranging from emissions levels to customer service

inquiry response times) and produce a weekly summary and rating of your company’s

overall CSR standing. The report shows which areas are lacking based on the goals

you set. These objectives have kept in mind one other goal: the bottom line. CIP has

been created with the ability to analyze every project in terms of the desired ROI and

a specified timeframe. CSR is no longer based on theory; it is now based on

measurable results that can significantly impact on the bottom line of your company.


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The Steps to CSR Implementation:

The following is a brief outline of the CIP implementation process:

1. CIP will help you identify your core competencies, the needs of stakeholders, any

pressing issues, and potential markets that have not been reached.

2. Through the education process, CSR will be embraced by the entire business, from

the very top, flowing down. Developing an inter-departmental CSR task force will

help achieve this.

3. Through a specially-targeted campaign (involving free publicity), OmniComm will

gain customer-level support for its initiative (which will aid in the next step).

4. Demonstrating initiative by engaging in CSR communications and community

programs.

5. At the same time, a set of organizational values and principles for employee goals

and performance will be developed. This will include values of transparency,

accountability, evolution, integration, integrity, engagement, and diversity. Self-

imposed standards of performance, customer service, product quality, environment

sustainability and consistency/ honesty will also be created.

6. Treating CSR as an investment, CIP will help develop company goals in terms of

performance, financials, brand image, and risk. These targets should be revisited

every six months.

7. Throughout the integration process, stakeholder feedback will be utilized.

8. CSR must be continuously evaluated as a strategy and included it in long-term

plans.

9. The final step will be to evaluate the success of your CSR plan and measure its

affect on the bottom line.


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Qualifications

The key indications of a company’s qualifications are customers, results, and

credibility. MGC has maintained an average growth rate of 27 percent since 1987.

Our services have helped clients increase their average revenue by 17 percent and their

average net income by 21 percent (over a one-year period).

Though demand is increasing, we pride ourselves in never accepting more

customers than we can handle; we will never compromise service levels to increase

client revenues. Further, we only contact businesses whose levels of integrity match

our own and whose needs we feel we can meet.

Presently, we can accept 20 clients for CIP, allocating a full-time staff to each.

While CIP is an innovative program, we have implemented many other CSR-related

systems (such as Majestic Crisis Management Platform, Supply Chain InfoStreamer,

and ECOmmunicator) with much success. This has earned us the title of Best

Streamlining Process Software Provider (2002, 2003, 2004) and Number One

Communications Business to Work For (2003, 2004). We encourage you to browse

our CSR website (www.MGCresponsibility.com) and decide for yourself whether CIP

is the right fit for your company.

Costs

At MGC, the price of our service is determined by the results produced for you.

We would not want to pay for a service that does achieve what it promises, and

neither should you. Hence, the cost of CIP will be determined by its results. Your

MGC representative will meet with you to develop and quantify clear and realistic

goals.


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We will help you state your goals in terms of CSR and set deadlines for their

attainment. There is a base price, depending on your company’s size, which covers

CIP staffing costs. Based on the feasibility of the goals we set, the remainder of the

price will be set as a percentage of your company’s gains attributed to CIP; the smaller

the gains, the smaller the payment. In other words, your cost will be paid in

increments: the longer it takes CIP to help you reach your goals, the more time you

are given to pay for CIP.

Schedule (The following table summarizes the time of completion for each task)

Timeframe Task At your earliest convenience

Meeting with CIP Consultant

Week 1 Evaluation of current operations Developing goals with executive team CSR seminars, top management (Monday through Wednesday) CSR seminars, middle and lower management (Wednesday through Friday) CSR seminars, Departmental CSR Publicity campaign, development

Week 2 Systems implementation (week 2 - 5) Development of organizational values/ principles and self-imposed standards CSR Publicity campaign, implementation (perpetual)

Week 3 Obtaining and implementing stakeholder feedback (perpetual) Week 4 Revising long-term plans to include CSR Week 5 Program evaluation and improvement (perpetual)

End of Quarter Measuring Success


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Measuring Success

Once the steps are implemented and the company has embraced and embodied

the core values, and once evaluation systems are in place, CIP will measure the success

of your CSR plan. At MGC, rather than using ROI, we refer to ROV (Return on

Value).

The values your company will exhibit are not quantifiable, but their results are.

Because you will have already set your company’s CSR goals, measuring the program’s

success will be made simple. In fact, your continuous CSR rating system will provide

you with weekly progress reports. OmniComm’s success will be based on the quarterly

goals you set. An anonymous employee survey will also be administered every quarter.

Your CIP representatives will meet with you for the first four quarters and help

evaluate your company’s progress. They will also make recommendations based on

your changing needs. This service is offered to you at no cost.


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11

Conclusions and Our Proposal

We hope that we were able to convey to you the growing need for a correctly-

implemented Corporate Social Responsibility program in today’s consumer-centric

market. Our solution to this problem is our newest innovation: CIP (CSR

Implementation Program).

The benefits of CIP include its focus on medium-sized companies, complete

customizability, centralized and continuous data monitoring platform, weekly

summaries (based on many factors) and ease of use. We hope that we have

demonstrated MGC’s qualifications as a CSR plan provider, and that CIPs costs are

clear to you. In the final sections, we discussed the timeframe of CIP’s

implementation and the steps involved, which can be altered based on your needs. We

would again like to stress that CIP’s cost will be determined by its success; MGC’s

compensation will be based on its enhancement of your business.

As mentioned, it is clear to us that OmniComm is of the utmost integrity and

we are proud to be able to share our newest service with you. We recommend that you

respond to this proposal and schedule a meeting with a CIP representative specializing

in your industry. He or she will gladly address any questions you may have regarding

CSR in general or CIP, more specifically. While the benefits listed above are

numerous, there are other, unmentioned benefits that apply specifically to your

industry. We would also suggest that when you contact us, you request a DVD copy

or the CSR seminar that we held recently. We will gladly overnight you a copy of the

40-minute video and recommend you watch it with your executive board. According

to your needs, we can either schedule an in-person meeting or an interactive

teleconference presentation with you. We look forward to partnering with you.


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References

1. Nolan, H. (2005). Nike boosts CSR program by issuing factory report. PRweek. (U.S. ed.). 8 (17), pg. 3

2. Middlemiss N. (2003) Authentic not cosmetic: CSR as brand enhancement. Journal of Brand Management, 4 (5), pg. 353

3. Anonymous. (2003). CSR resources. Baylor Business Review 21 (1), 8 4. Dawkins, J. & Lewis, S. (2003) CSR in stakeholder expectations: And their implication for company

strategy. Journal of Business Ethics, 44 (2/3), pg. 185 5. Anonymous. (2004). CSR activities generate higher performance-official. Women in Management

Review, 19 (5/6), pg. 280 6. Henderson, J. (2004). The Best Laid CSR Plans Often Go... Well, You Get The Message.... PR News,

60 (47), pg. 1 7. Van Marrewijk, M. (2003). Corporate sustainability conference 2002: The impact of CSR on

management disciplines. Journal of Business Ethics, 44 (2/3), pg. 89 8. Anonymous. (2003). Gazing into the CSR crystal ball. Strategic Direction, 19 (6), pg. 36 9. Van Marrewijk, M. (2003). Concepts and definitions of CSR and corporate sustainability: Between

agency and Communication. Journal of Business Ethics, 44 (2/3), pg. 95 10. Nickbarg, S. (2005). Building A CSR Program from the Ground Up. PR News, 61 (21), pg. 1 11. Survey. (2004). CEOs take lead in CSR programmes. Employee Benefits, 8 12. Brown, A., Deetz, D., & Korn N.(2003) Partnerships, Buy-In, Clear Vision Vital to Effective CSR

Programs. PR News, 59 (25), pg. 1 13. Donohue, P., Getto, G., Gladu, J., Paine, K., & Lawrence M. (2003) Developing Internal Task Forces

to Promote Your CSR Programs. PR News, 59 (19), pg. 1 14. Anonymous. (2005). Putting CSR at the heart of business. European Business Forum, (21), 71 15. Nickbarg, S. (2005) How CSR Is Driving The Way Companies Conduct Business. PR News, 61 (22)

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