CSR Asia - Corporate Social Responsibility in Asia

Vol.8 Week 5 | 01/02/2012

by Lai Yong Wong laiyong.wong@csr-asia.com

One of the seven core subjects in ISO 26000 is community involvement and development. In this fifth article about Japanese SMEs and CSR, (previous installments were published last year on July 27, August 24, September 14 and December 7 in CSR Asia Weekly), the two SMEs featured have embedded community involvement and development into their core business and strategy. In fact, their founding mission was to revitalize an aging and ... (More)

Reducing workload to increase productivity

by Esther Teh esther.teh@csr-asia.com

While corporate social responsibility (CSR) is often used in reference to the company’s interaction with external stakeholders, the first step is to look inwards and ensure that employees of the company are valued and treated with respect. A company’s first responsibility is safeguard the health, safety and welfare of employees. However, many companies regard it as a human resource (HR) issue of little business importance. ... (More)

Malaysian corporate involvement in education

by Gabriel.Chong gabriel.chong@csr-asia.com

Providing education is a popular theme in many corporate community investment strategies in the region. However, this trend is starting to face critical examination by stakeholders who question its impact. For example, some are asking whether companies have the resources to deliver good quality education. There is also a divide between those who believe there is a danger that a company’s voluntary actions displace a ... (More)

CSR weighs heavily on image-driven Apple

by Mia Overall mia.overall@csr-asia.com

Last week, for the first time, Apple released a list of suppliers comprising 97% of its supply chain expenditures. This is a big step towards increasing transparency. As explained by Time Magazine, it means these suppliers can be independently watched and Apple’s audit reports can be cross checked. Apple also just joined the Fair Labor Association, a multi-stakeholder initiative working to improve labor conditions ... (More)

South East Asia View

by Karen Legaspi and Nichapat Nathalang karen.legaspi@csr-asia.com

Vietnam: ADB lends Vietnam $24.8 mil to foster 'inclusive growth' (www.thanhniennews.com, January 22, 2012) The Asia Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday signed a US$24.8 million support agreement to foster Vietnam’s "inclusive growth" and thus aid further poverty reduction in the country, the bank said in a press release. Through the support agreement, ADB will provide parallel financing to the Poverty ... (More)

Japan View

by Yan Sin kayan.sin@csr-asia.com

New Hokkaido Office Building Uses 70 Green Technologies to Cut CO2 Emissions in Half Major Japanese construction company Takenaka Corp. announced on October 20, 2011 that it had completed a highly energy-efficient office building, called "Ecohouse," along with a factory employing a total of 70 environmental technologies to significantly reduce environmental impact. The building and factory were built for Amino Up Chemical ... (More)

China View

by Yike Qin and Stephen Frost yike.qin@csr-asia.com

(you can also follow Stephen on Twitter at sdfrost61 or 微博 at sdfrost61) This week’s roundup includes stories about compensation paid by ConocoPhillips for an oil spill, carcinogens in cooking oil and cadmium contamination in the Long River. A [c] following a link refers to stories in Chinese; other links are to English-language reports. China View is shorter than usual this week due to the Lunar New Year break, which sees ... (More)