CSR Offers Opportunities for Real Market Differentiation

Mria Sillanpaa, Founding Director, Sustainability Advisory Group, will be in Lagos later this month as lead speaker in the seminar, Positioning the 21st Century Corporation through Sustainability Learning and Development.

Sillanpaa, an internationally recognized sustainability leader and practitioner, has held pivotal roles at The Body Shop International, KPMG and Accountability. In her 20 year career in this field, She has made pioneering contributions in the areas of strategy development, stakeholder engagement, supply chain management, reporting and assurance. In this on-line interview as precursor to her CSR speaking engagement in the country, she says CSR offers significant opportunities for real market differentiation, innovation and increased competitiveness.

How are you looking forward to the Nigeria experience from March 22-26, 2010?
There seems to be real enthusiasm in Nigeria for the topic – Positioning the 21st Century Corporation through Sustainability Learning and Development. I am looking forward to interacting with Nigerian executives to push this agenda forward. There is a change agenda in the global market place at the moment. And it is catching-up on emerging or even expanding markets as well. With the growth showing in the sector in Nigeria, I see Nigeria becoming a place to learn or study how CSR and sustainability is shaping stakeholder engagement and how that in itself is having a positive influence on the bottom-line.

What is your current view on the CSR sector in Nigeria?
It is clearly emerging fast judging by the interest being shown by various sectors and commentators.
However, I think the key everywhere is to see that CSR is not just a compliance agenda but an innovation agenda. Good CSR is not just good for reputation and risk management but it offers significant opportunities for real market differentiation, innovation and increased competitiveness.

How do you think CSR practice in Nigeria rates with other parts of the world? How come we don’t get many best practices signposts coming from the African region?
In many countries where CSR is perhaps further down the track than in Africa, it may well be that this is due to three factors: consumers have been demanding it from companies for longer and more forcefully, regulators have been pushing it by both carrots & sticks, the media and civil society have been campaigning for long to effect requisite change. I also see that the Nigerian situation is very interesting. Regulations haven’t exactly been pushing for compliance. And if they have, it must be a recent development. But I am impressed by the number of companies willingly taking-up interest with issues of governance and sustainability and the need to do what is right. Playing at this level I see a situation where very soon, we will begin to see best practices from Nigeria and the continent.
Besides that, I think that knowledge sharing between evolving sectors and developed sectors will also help to bridge the gap. And I am happy to work with TruContact who I can see are spearheading the cause in Nigeria at the moment.

Sustainability in CSR programs seem a key issue in the sector in Nigeria. How would the training in March address this?
The training is strongly focused on helping executives understand the business case for CSR and to design robust management programmes to make CSR stick. CSR is not a series of ad hoc initiatives and goodwill gestures. It needs to be managed strategically and systematically like any other corporate issue. Otherwise it won’t add value to anyone. This will be the key message at the training and our aim is to enable Nigerian executives to do just that. I believe I have a lot to share with the executives of Nigerian businesses. I featured at the core of setting up the AA1000 Assurance and the Stakeholder Engagement Standards and I am currently on the technical advisory committee of Global Reporting Initiative. I also was involved in the crafting of ISO 26000 on Social Responsibility. I believe I have a lot to share with the Nigerian business class, and also to learn from them as well.

Could CSR be a veritable tool in positioning a corporation favourably in the eyes of its stakeholders in a world where crisis of confidence in business leaders has become the bane?
Sure! Evidence is mounting on this from all corners of the globe. Good CSR is simply good for business but good CSR doesn’t come without a genuine commitment to make it work. It takes thoughtfulness, sincerity and true support from leaders. Otherwise there is a danger that it becomes a sticky plaster and won’t serve as a facilitator of true change and journey towards excellence.