What is CSR?
There are many aspects that come to mind when discussing what CSR is and what it does for the world. A good question to lead this conversation is: what can corporations do and how can they contribute to making the world a better place?
As you may already be aware, CSR stands for Corporate Social Responsibility and each company that practices CSR has a set of objectives they strive to achieve. It is important to note that Environmental Social Governance (ESG) and Sustainability are equivalent to CSR and are pillars of it.
In this article, we will focus on one company in particular, TPV (the mother company of MMD, AOC, and PPDS) among others) and what CSR means for them.
What does CSR mean?
When it comes to defining CSR, this depends on how the company chooses to practice it. TPV, a worldwide corporation responsible for manufacturing computer monitors and other electronics, has launched various initiatives under the name TPV Cares. As the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are usually used as a benchmark for CSR initiatives, TPV Cares takes the following SDGs into consideration:
- SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being
- SDG 4: Quality Education
- SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
- SDG 13: Climate Action
In the sections below, we will discuss how these SDGs are applied through various initiatives that TPV Cares, powered by AOC, MMD, PPDS and TP Vision, is implementing worldwide. Aside from measuring CSR through SDGs, CSR also promotes well-being to the general population as it pushes corporations to be conscious of their potential impact on the environment and local communities they serve.
Therefore, CSR can be described as a higher level of consciousness of corporations when it comes to the impacts they have on the world around them.
What is the purpose of CSR?
The purpose of CSR is to create a better and more sustainable world. Corporations usually do this by launching initiatives that help local communities and/or the environment. For example, one of TPV Cares’ projects, falls under SDG 3 for Good Health and Well Being and it partners with the Red Cross Netherlands to help the city of Tacloban, Philippines protect itself against the devastating effects of typhoons by planting more than 5000 mangroves. In addition, under SDG 13, TPV Cares also supports an initiative called “ForestNation”, which helps prevent deforestation in Tanzania by planting trees when a Philips green monitor is sold. This initiative reinforces the effort to minimize the negative impact electronics can cause on the environment. Therefore, as you may see through these examples, the purpose of CSR is to make the world a better place and, not to mention, a healthier one.
For more information on Philips’ green monitor line, please click here.
What are CSR strategies?
From a corporate perspective, a good CSR strategy is one that directly impacts the market and supply chain. Meaning, the company is conscious of the negative environmental impacts their industry might have and does something to fix it.
An example of this is the TPV Cares initiative that falls under SDG 12 for Responsible Consumption and Production. The project joins forces with the NGO Pact to close the loop on the illegal mining of metals used in electronics in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is done by educating local communities on safe mining practices as well as working with local governments to make miner’s rights more all-inclusive. At the end of 2022, this project’s success resulted in 3135 miners benefiting from this program.
Therefore, a good CSR strategy, as seen above, is one that can make a positive impact and one that makes the company’s industry safer and more sustainable, bottom to top and vice versa.
What are the objectives of CSR?
Finally, what are the objectives of CSR? As a general rule, the objectives of CSR should always be to improve the health of the planet and humanity through initiatives.
At TPV Cares, the mission is to help unlock the full potential of people and their communities through improving health, well-being, and education worldwide.
In conclusion, CSR is not just beneficial for the companies that practice it, but also for the world at large as it makes it a better place that is made to thrive.