中国社会责任投资 China SRI

E-discussion: Corporate Responsibility in China- -

                                      

E-discussion: Corporate Responsibility in China

October 3-14, 2005

Hosts:  World Bank Institute, UN Global Compact, UNIDO?

Background: As China becomes increasingly integrated at the heart of a "flatworld" economy, Chinese firms and business leadership are fast adapting to the demands of globalization.  As important members of the international business community, there is growing interest in business practices supporting a more sustainable global economy.  Corporate responsibility, both social and environmental, is an essential component of business strategy, and it therefore an opportune moment to consider how corporate responsibility can contribute to China's development.
With the support of the Government of the People's Republic of China, the UN Global Compact and partners will host the Global Compact China Summit, 30 November - 1 December 2005. About 800 corporate leaders, policy-makers and civil society representatives from around the world are expected to gather in Shanghai for the largest ever high-level corporate responsibility conference in China.

Objective:   This e-discussion will provide an opportunity for those who will participate in the Global Compact China Summit to engage with each other and share their views in advance through a carefully structured discussion. The format will allow business leaders and thought leaders to engage in a more in depth assessment of the status of CSR in China, the acceptance of CSR as a better way of doing business, and debate its relevance and implementation in the Chinese context.   This discussion will help provide an advance base point for the debate at the Summit itself, where the key recommendations will be presented.  It will help to identify key opportunities, constraints and priorities for action to improve the business environment and impact, as well as capture local best practices.

Participants:  Participation by invitation only.   Invitation will be extended to those participating in the UN Global Compact launch event in Shanghai. The core audience will be private sector representatives both from local firms and from international firms operating in China.

Process:   The e-discussion will be held over two weeks, with structured themes and questions for each week.  Those who ask to join the e-discussion, will be sent confirmation by email (after approval by the project team).

Participants have the option of receiving the messages via their email in-boxes, or they can opt to only view them via the e-discussion platform website, which will also archive each message.   There is one additional option - to receive a daily digest of all the messages from one day, rather than receive each message individually as they are approved.  This helps to avoid in-boxes being overwhelmed by messages, but does mean that participants contribute less regularly.  Moderators will encourage participation and help to shape the discussion.  Participants will be allowed to contribute in both English and Chinese.  All messages are reviewed and approved by project staff before they are released to other participants.  This will mean needing someone available on China's business day to monitor and approve messages, to keep the
discussion flowing.  WBI and UNGC can review and approve during US business hours.

The e-discussion can be structured as one discussion in which all participants join and view all messages.   Alternatively, we can explore having separate concurrent discussions on different themes (such as labor issues, or environmental).   There are merits to both.   One factor will be the number of participants who join the discussion.   Our experience is that one discussion, with different themes for different weeks or days, is effective even for large numbers of participants.   Typically while 500 participants might follow the discussion, only 200 might actively contribute, and so to split into different discussions dilutes the engagement further.   Of course, messages should be sent with relevant subject lines, so that the "threads" of individual topics can be followed, archived and reviewed separately later via the e-discussion platform, where all messages posted are stored.

Some Possible Questions:
- How can CSR contribute to sustainable and proper growth in China?
- What does it mean to be a responsible company in the Chinese context?
- What are the implications of introduction of social standards for Chinese
firms?
- How do Chinese companies balance the often conflicting demands of lower
prices
and increased social responsibility?  How do state owned enterprises cope
with the challenge of CSR?
- What are the main obstacles to greater corporate responsibility in China?
- Can you suggest good examples of corporate responsibility in practice in
China?  What are the factors contributing to their success?  Can they be
replicated?
- How does the legal and policy framework support or hinder corporate
responsibility in China?

- 作者： CSRI 访问统计：　2005年07月11日, 星期一 23:47 加入博采