final report costa rica workshop 12-13 august 2013

8/14/2019 Final Report Costa Rica Workshop 12-13 August 2013

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Final Report

Workshop: Awareness to Action: How to Implement CSR in SMEsSan Jos, Costa Rica

12-13 August 2013

I. Workshop O er iew

O!"ecti es:

Understand the opportunities that CSR can generate for SMEs, especia ! "! i#pro$ingco#petiti$eness and pro$iding access to ne% #ar&ets'

(ro$ide an o$er$ie% of the current state of CSR, inc uding CSR princip es' )e$e op a tai ored CSR action p an for each SME that can "e i#p e#ented o$er a period of si*

#onths'

#e$ materials co ere%:

+$er$ie% of CSR princip es and ad$antages' o% to de$e op and i#p e#ent a CSR action p an for an SME this inc udes. #apping

sta&eho ders, diagnosis, "ench#ar&ing, strategic p anning, i#p e#entation strateg!, e$a uationand co##unication'

o% to ta&e initiati$e once an action p an is de$e oped'

Workshop str&ct&re:

/ntroduction. o" ecti$es, e*pectations, introducing participants' CSR a%areness. current state of CSR, "enefits and o"stac es of i#p e#enting CSR in SMEs,

CSR and "eco#ing #ore co#petiti$e interactive sessions: CSR in a SME, benefits of CSR. +$er$ie% of CSR princip es. interna pu" ic, e*terna pu" ic, supp iers, en$iron#ent, responsi" e

#ar&eting and co##unit! re ations gender and hu#an rights ; interactive session: responsible practices in my SME.

/#p e#enting CSR in an SMEs "usiness strateg!. de$e oping a #ission, $ision and $a ues#apping sta&eho ders CSR diagnosis, incenti$es, opportunities and cha enges strategicana !sis creating an action p an e$a uation co##unication interactive sessions: mappingstakeholders, diagnosis and benchmarking; business case for key CSR principles; and

presenting action plans. o o% up and conc usion. ne*t steps for de$e oping a tai ored action p an, +AS ro e and support

present dip o#as'

Workshop participants:

participants, #ost of %hich %ere SMEs fro# $arious sectors inc uding. touris#4hospita it!,#anufacturing, trade, ser$ices, and others' ro# the participants, 23 %ere #en and 25 %ere

%o#en'

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II. Workshop Res&lts

Emer'in' themes:

)uring the t%o da! %or&shop, the Costa Rican SMEs de#onstrated strong interest and co##it#entto earning a"out ho% to i#p e#ent CSR in their "usiness strategies in order to i#pro$e theirco#petiti$eness and reputation' Man! SMEs had pre-e*isting &no% edge of CSR and so#e %erea read! i#p e#enting CSR practices "ut the! did not ha$e a c ear idea of ho% CSR %as in&ed to the

"usiness case and ho% it can add $a ue to their products and4or ser$ices'

6he %or&shop generated an e*ce ent e*change of CSR practices a#ong the participants, %hich"enefited the SMEs, %ho indicated that a p atfor# to faci itate the e*change of "est practices %ou d"e usefu in the region'

6he gender co#ponent of the %or&shop %as a ne% topic for "oth the SMEs %ho %ere #oread$anced in their CSR practices, as %e as those %ho %ere ess ad$anced in the area of CSR' +neof the SMEs co##itted to i#p e#enting gender-sensiti$e recruit#ent and retention practices duringthe %or&shop'

)uring a "ench#ar&ing e*ercise, the SMEs de#onstrated strong e*isting practices in the areas of.supp iers 78 9:, pu" ic po ic! 7839:, go$ernance 7819: and interna audience 75;9:' 6he

participants e*p ained that the e e$ated pu" ic po ic! score %as due to successfu efforts on "eha f ofthe go$ern#ent and the oca CSR organi


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(articipants= &no% edge of CSR increased "! 19 o$er the course of the %or&shop, according tothe sur$e! that %as ad#inistered prior to and fo o%ing the %or&shop'

o o%ing the %or&shop, the SMEs ac&no% edged that in i#p e#enting CSR, the! shou dinc ude gender sensiti$e practices' According to the sur$e!, this perception increased "! 8 9

o$er the course of the %or&shop'

SMEs considered that the fo o% up process added a great dea of $a ue to the %or&shop"ecause it %ou d assist the co#panies in co##itting to the CSR i#p e#entation process'

(articipants $a ued the interacti$e nature of the %or&shop "ecause the! fe t the! cou d earn fro#one another in turn, the discussion %as inspirationa for SMEs "ecause the! cou d i#p e#entsi#i ar CSR practices in their o%n "usinesses' 6he instructor=s e*tensi$e &no% edge ande*pertise faci itated participation and generated rich discussion'

At the end of the %or&shop, #an! of the SMEs ac&no% edged that i#p e#enting CSRinto their "usiness #ode s did not re>uire a significant econo#ic in$est#ent'

)e*t steps:

6he +AS %i "e fo o%ing up %ith the Costa Rican SMEs' 6he SMEs %i ha$e to su"#it the action p ansthat the! de$e oped during the %or&shop for +AS re$ie% and reco##endations' 6hereafter, the SMEs

%i se ect a fe% &e! aspects of the action p ans that the! %i i#p e#ent o$er the ne*t si* #onths %ith thesupport fro# +AS' 6he training, as %e as the si* #onth fo o% up, shou d pro$ide the SMEs %ith a so ididea of ho% to i#p e#ent the re#ainder of their CSR action p ans'

6he +AS CSR (rogra# %i a so "e ho ding %or&shops for SMEs in the fo o%ing countries.

1' (ana#a 7+cto"er 2013:.o Status. in con$ersation %ith the oca partners' +AS is fina i


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III. Workshop +ict&res

final report costa rica workshop 12-13 august 2013

Documents