Thai-style CSR does not meet the international standard

I read with interest Michael Shafer’s excellent opinion piece about corporate social responsibility in Thailand. I concur with his comments, but would like to add a few points.

First, the CSR concept of responsible behaviour towards communities is not new, having been enshrined in Henri Fayol’s groundbreaking management methods more than a century ago. In the 2000s Michael Porter coined Creating Shared Value (CSV), expanding the CSR concept from a business perspective. Both have been assessed repeatedly and from different viewpoints for their efficiency in terms of financial outcomes. Thus, for many decades, businesses have known how to be responsible towards their surrounding communities.

Second, like businesses in the US and Europe, Thai firms use CSR/CSV in various ways. Corporations in Thailand like to have newspapers publish a group photo with a big sign and high-value cheque to demonstrate how much their projects are giving back to the community. It is also commonplace for temples to inscribe the names of large donors and the amounts given. 

However, giving money to a temple to rehabilitate young drug addicts would be a more direct and long-term form of “giving back” to communities.

Third, CSR has been enshrined as an international standard by the ISO 26000, with institutions such as B Lab certifying that companies comply with social and environmental requirements. Those international standards and certifications are not sufficiently known in Thailand.

Finally, in Thailand I have met many young CSR executives who don’t have enough experience, skills or ethical knowledge to create and conduct strategy plans. Getting your name at the top of a plaque is not CSR. Thus, the main problem is finding the right candidate for the job!

Gilles Bernard

Nong Khai