An executive encourages business leaders to volunteer their time and skills to make the world a better place.

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.

The quote in the title of this article is from Mahatma Gandhi. It presents a challenge for companies to transform the way they think about business for companies that believe that sustainable economic development depends on weaving social and environmental considerations voluntarily into their business strategies.

This paradigm argues that cutting-edge innovation and competitive advantage can result from operating a business in a manner that meets or exceeds the ethical, legal, commercial and public expectations that society has of business. In simple terms it is about companies that strive to do well and at the same time do good.

Take for example Jia Sirui, a member of my staff who, while being a pleasant, unassuming young lady who works hard and strives constantly to learn in her job is also no ordinary individual. Tina, if you call her by her Western name, is a Special Olympics athlete and a gold and bronze media list.

Special Olympics is an international movement which has more than 1 million athletes who compete year round. It is a participatory movement that believes that people with mental disabilities can, with proper instruction and encouragement, learn, enjoy and benefit from participation in sports. Through sports training and competition, people with mental disabilities benefit physically, mentally, socially and spiritually; families are strengthened; and the community at large — both through participation and observation — comes to understand, respect and accept people with mental disabilities in an environment of equality.

As one of those athletes, Tina has travelled widely and met dignitaries such as American presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton in the White House and their Chinese counterparts Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin. Indeed, she told Hu that she worked for Bayer when she met him in 2005. She is an extraordinary ambassador, not just for our company but also as a Special Olympics Global Messenger. She represents a change that we all need to see in the world: the awareness that persons with intellectual disabilities need to be given the opportunity to live with dignity and be integrated into our communities and workplaces.

Corporate social responsibility is not simply fancy words on a power point to your CEO of a news release—it is about doing and putting words into action. It is true that actions speak louder than words and in the context of corporate entities, it reinforces the view that individuals working in unison are capable of forming and shaping societies.

Indeed, it was Tina's speech at a corporate social responsibility meeting at AmCham in Beijing in 2002 that so inspired me that I asked for a meeting with Special Olympics staff the very next day. From that meeting, a wonderful partnership has evolved between Bayer and Special Olympics on both a corporate and personal level. Not only has Bayer China entered the “Adopt-a-School” program by adopting three special schools, but staff take part in Special Olympics bowling competitions (we are regularly beaten), visit local special schools, organize outings for the students and give their time to be a part of actions aimed at making a difference.

Our company has been in China for a long time–Bayer's links with China go back to 1882, when it fi rst began marketing dyes. Today Greater China is Bayer's second largest single market in Asia, with sales of around 1.26 billion euros in 2005.

Bayer believes it has a responsibility to give something back to the community and stakeholders in addition to customer orientation, particularly when operating in a foreign country. We understand that maintaining a strong sense of social responsibility enhances our standing and therefore our value. We commit to causes in line with both our core business competencies in healthcare, crop science and material science as well as our values in public health, environment education, community engagement and innovation.

Worldwide public concerns
Every business, either in China or elsewhere, now has to consider the importance of CSR issues that impact directly on image, reputation and branding. After Enron, Tyco, and World.com cast a gloom on the public opinion of businesses, people everywhere are demanding that businesses demonstrate good ethics and high values. We are beginning to see this even in China where there is increased recognition of the importance of sustainability and ecological issues, and public pressures for companies to be environmentally responsible.

Even if they wanted to, companies can no longer hide their mistakes. The media in China is more and more eager to report commercial scandals and corruption, as we see the emergence of a full-time information–driven economy. A mistake in one country will be reported globally and can cause damage to a brand worldwide. In addition, the relative roles of business, state and civil society are changing.

Here, the private sector is increasingly being required to take part in multi-sector responses aimed at tackling some of the biggest problems countries are facing. This underscores the thinking that business and society are interwoven rather than distinct entities. As someone once said, “ethics is much more than damage control, it's about mission control.” You must be proactive, not reactive.

Taking China's HIV/AIDS epidemic as an example, here companies have an essential role to play in a multi-sector response to stop the spread of the disease which now ranks at the top of China's list of major health concerns. The realization that HIV/AIDS is not just a health problem, but even more so a developmental problem, which impacts productivity, the social fabric and markets with widespread economic and social implications, is driving companies to address this immediate threat. This realization has already placed this issue on the radar screen of many companies in China.

As a member of the Global business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Bayer is also working to mobilize companies to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS, through advocacy and leadership to rally companies to use their unique skills and expertise, and to harness their power and infl uence to stop the HIV/AIDS epidemic in China starting in their own workplaces. An example of this is a public-private partnership between one of China's top universities, Tsinghua, and Bayer. The “Tsinghua-Bayer Public Health and HIV/AIDS Media Studies Program” is an ongoing project, which was established with Tsinghua's School of International Communications and Bayer's Corporate Communications in Beijing. The concept behind this innovative initiative is to create a national platform for healthcare reporting by engaging and training media professionals to promote the development of leaders and experts dedicated to reporting on HIV/AIDS, and healthcare related issues in China.

The aim is to create a network of informed media experts who will serve as a forum for balanced reporting, scholarship, debate and information sharing. By encouraging leadership among key media professionals and by providing them with vital skills that look beyond current strategies, the environment for dialogue and support is being enhanced and the capabilities of a professional and informed media are increasing in order to combat HIV/AIDS and promote other public health issues in China.

Of course companies must meet an economic responsibility to be profitable and legal responsibility to abide by the laws of respective communities. Although regulatory compliance is necessary, it is not sufficient. Companies also have a responsibility to follow behaviours and norms that society expects of businesses, including a discretionary role to assume responsibility where society does not provide clear-cut expectations.

		The author is general manager of Corporate Communications, Greater China, Bayer BY: WILLIAM VALENTINO (Source: China Daily, September 4, 2006)