I watched Metropolis, the 1927 sci-fi classic, last night, and it explored the concept of two classes of citizens trying to destroy each other, with the net result being they destroyed themselves. This is true in today’s world as well, we, the society needs the corporate world, we need stuff to be made and created, but equally they need us to need the stuff and that is why CSR is necessary, because without society there is no need for corporations. Metropolis had a wonderful tag line:
“There can be no understanding between the hands and the head unless the heart acts as mediator.”
As a young engineer keep this thought in mind when you are deciding where to put the road, or what chemicals to use in the production process.
EA recently ran a workshop on corporate social responsibility (CSR). The YEA National Committee, representatives from EWB, YEA-V and EA staff attended a day workshop event facilitated by Net Balance Foundation to attempt to identify what CSR is, what it means to EA as an organisation, and what it means to our members and the profession.
As warfare has morphed over the past century, so has the concept of ‘corporation’. Where in WW1 it was all about trench warfare, finding something you were good at, and just sticking to it. In WW2 it became more about agility, pre-emptive reactions and the surprise of the Panzer divisions, this then transitioned through the Vietnam era, where the guerrilla enemy was relatively unknown, their tactics a mystery and the only option was to remain as flexible as possible and react as quickly as possible. We are now in the 21st Century and the nature of the war we fight has changed again, we now exist in what is sometimes referred to as the ‘Three block war’. No longer are soldiers heading out to kill a known enemy who lives in a trench across the field, they are walking streets with women, children, fathers and grandparents, of which any and all may be the enemy or equally none of them may be the enemy. A war is only as successful as the number of people that believe in it and hence it is critical a solider conquers the hearts and minds of the street.
The corporate world has also morphed through similar phases and is now at a point where the people of the streets have the information, knowledge and power to question the corporate world, and critically, the ability to take their money elsewhere (to the enemy).
It is a corporation’s responsibility to act in a way that society sees as fair, true and beneficial to the majority of the population, including the shareholders, however, they can do it for several reasons, people will like them and therefore buy more of their product, which is one end of the scale, all the way to the other end, which is, it’s the right thing to do. I will provide some examples.
Changing your processing plant so you produce less waste is beneficial to society, but people are unlikely to be aware of it, and it is unlike to affect their decision to do business with you, but it’s the right thing to do.
Giving work experience jobs to troubled teens that are dropping out of Year 9 and 10 will definitely cost you money, but there is a reasonable chance that these kids will straighten out and be contributing members of society. It is the right thing to do, and it might make your customers look fondly on you and buy more of your product.
You only supply paper bags to your shoppers and you charge a fee for their use. Customers will come to your shop, because they feel they are making a socially responsibly decision, but you are on charging the cost, and the driver is, it will make you money. The corporation is not being socially responsible; they are facilitating the end consumer to be socially responsible.
So what does it mean to you as a practicing engineer, who is a long way from owning their own company? Every action and decision you make has an effect on society, consider those effects:
- Are they positive or negative?
- What are the follow-on consequences?
- Would you like to be on the receiving end?
When you are comfortable answering these questions, get your boss to start asking them and your peers, ask the simple question…So What?
Gamila MacRury
YEA-Victoria
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