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Fostering Responsible Behaviour in Cluster MSMEs

• Khurram Naayaab
• Partners in Change

Qutab Hotel, New Delhi 19th Nov 2008
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Partners in Change

• Established in 1995 as an independent
  not-for-profit organisation by Action Aid
  International (India) with support from Ford
  Foundation
• First organisation in India dedicated to the
  promotion of Corporate Responsibility (CR) issues

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PiC supports business through

• CR policy and strategy development review
• Community impact and needs assessment
• Strategising corporate community investment
• Strategizing CR progs. incorporating CR within
  the mgt. systems of companies
• Stakeholder Mapping
• Development of Cross-sector Partnerships
• CR across the supply chain
• Training on Business and Human Rights
• Training on Sustainability Reporting and CR
  communications

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Recent Business Clients
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• "Corporate responsibility can no longer be seen
  as a separate activity. It has to be central to
  what companies do."
• Michael Skapinker, Assistant Editor (FT), The
  Financial Times, 12 February 2008

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Responsible Business

• Understands and identifies its both ()ve and
  (-)ve impact on all its stakeholders particularly
  vulnerable and marginalized
• Integrates responsible social, economic
  environmental practices into its business
  processes this agenda is taken forward by the
  leadership of the company
• Establishes processes to manage the impact on all
  its stakeholders
• Institutionalises its CR structure, communicates
  it across the company, monitors it regularly,
  measures its impacts reports in a transparent
  manner
• Acts as per the letter and sprit of the law of
  the land or international conventions which ever
  is higher

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Current scenario

• How many businesses be it large corporates or
  SMEs are willing to focus on RB / doing their
  business responsibly especially in time of
  recession / crisis?

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• Singur crisis
• Job cut
• Cutting of Salaries
• Etc.
• Etc.

Have CSR / responsible business being swept aside
when mere survival becomes the storyline?
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• We agree to the fact that in recession time
  companies are focusing on core business
  activities / survival hence money / resources is
  limited for RB activities
• Hence Judicious and strategic use of available
  resources is the key

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So what is the way forward

• Example Aggregate Sustainability Reporting

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Sustainability Reporting?

• Cluster preparing a Sustainability Report

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Aggregate Sustainability Reporting?

• Preparing a Sustainability Report of cluster /
  aggregate / association / cooperative as per GRI

Benefits

• Will create transparency about the environmental,
  social and economic performance of the SMEs as a
  group.
• This will be useful for overseas customers or
  business partners who want to assess whether
  their suppliers are sustainable
• Will henceforth enhance competitiveness as
  sustainable SMEs when engaging in the global
  market
• Help the cluster and the individual SMEs to set
  future goal to improve their sustainability
  impact on the region and help them measure their
  actual social and environmental impact

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Current Project

• Aggregate reporting for
• SME Clusters,
• Small Holders and
• SEZs
• Partners
• UNIDO
• FICCI and
• Partners in Change
• Time frame 2009

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Thank you

• Khurram NaayaabProgramme ManagerPartners in
  ChangeC-75, South Extn. IINew Delhi 110
  049IndiaTel 91-11-4164 2348 - 51 Ext. -
  215Fax [phone]Mobile 99111
  37890E-mail khurram.naayaab_at_picindia.orgWebsite
  http//www.picindia.org