REPRESENTATIVES FROM various corporations were invited to talk about the Ateneo Management Engineering Association’s (MEA) thrust of corporate sustainability to celebrate the launch of MEA’s annually released magazine, Slate.
The speakers were Ateneo Management Instructor Marion Lara Tan, Habi Footwear co-owner Paola Savillo, Nestle Philippines Corporate Affairs Executive Patricia Rabat and Human Resoruces Manager for Global Commercial and Retail Organizations of the Downstream Business of Shell in the Philippines J.P. Salvador.
The business leaders elaborated how their companies implemented corporate sustainability and stated ways by which it can be achieved through planning and systematic cooperation with the people and communities involved.
The Slate launch was held in the Institute of Social Order Conference Room 3 and 4 on February 23. The event was the start of Intersect, MEA’s Corporate Sustainability Week.
Social responsibility
According to Intersect Project Head Aina Aquino, corporate sustainability is a means wherein social, environmental and economic aspects are taken into consideration to develop a long-lasting business.
“It entails a system that can provide for the needs of the people in the present-day, without exploiting natural resources for the people in the future,” she said.
MEA Incumbent Treasurer Riston Balolong stressed that corporate sustainability is the idea of taking into account the social and environmental stakeholders when making economic decisions.
“It’s really the idea of having this inclusive growth. It’s not only your company that gets profit, but it’s also making sure that the environment and your society grows with you,” he said.
MEA Incumbent President Angela Andaya stated that corporate sustainability is defined by the ”triple bottom line,” otherwise known as the Three Ps: People, planet and profit.
“Rather than making profit, you want to make sure that your organization has an impact on the planet,” she noted.
Development Council Representative Ronna Yee said that the Triple Bottom Line involves the use of social, economic and environmental aspects to make something sustainable and beneficial to the business while taking into account the welfare of society and the surroundings.
Meanwhile, Aquino further stated that corporate sustainability will help business majors understand the importance of using “green” methods and using environmental resources wisely.
“It will also inspire them to create or be part of a business that does not only offer and provide customer satisfaction, but also healthy work and relationships and help for the marginalized sectors of society,” she said.
Andaya said that the launching of Slate is a continuation of MEA’s efforts to advocate corporate sustainability.
Changing perspectives
Furthermore, Andaya stated that the overall theme of this year’s magazine is “Sustainability: It’s not a buzzword, it’s a mindset,” calling into account people’s superficial understanding of the word.
“We feel that people know it, but it seems like a buzz word. There’s no depth to their understanding. Slate was really meant to communicate what sustainability means, not just in business, but in life,” she added.
The speakers invited by MEA talked about the implementation of corporate sustainability in their respective companies.
According to Rabat, multinational corporations such as Nestle have a duty to help those it does business with.
“It’s such an irony that in the Philippines we’ve increasingly become more economically stable, but despite that, poverty hasn’t changed in so many years. [Companies such as Nestle] need to approach [poverty reduction] in a way that creates shared value,” she said.
Salvador said that Shell strives to “deliver benefits using the products that we produce over time, and reduce the impact to the environment that we work in.”
According to him, Shell sees its efforts in social responsibility and sustainability as its “license to operate,” and views its activities as integral to the corporate operation.
Campus sustainability
In the event, Tan also delivered a brief summary of the contents of the Ateneo Sustainability Report, the first sustainability report of the Loyola Schools.
The report, released last July 2014, was authored by a group of Ateneo professors and was prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative G4 Guidelines, the most widely-used sustainability reporting guidelines in the world.
The report compiled various statistical data and facts that described the conditions of the Ateneo’s environmental, economical and social impacts.
Tan broke down the report around the aforementioned Three Ps.
Regarding profit, Tan said that the Ateneo, although a non-profit organization, relies on its income to maintain its operation.
“As a university, we have to stay afloat. If we don’t stay afloat operationally [by taking care of our capital], how can we serve the needs of our students, as well as our employees,” she said.
However, she also stated that the university made it a goal to “consume less resources.” Tan cited the water recycling programs of the school, as well as the installation of energy-efficient light bulbs throughout the campus as indicative of the university’s green drive.
As for the social investments of the university, Tan said that the university greatly values the welfare of its faculty and staff.
“We also look at what benefits we provide to our employees: we provide them with fair compensation… healthcare facilities, security, privacy, and good labor relations,” Tan said.
Nevertheless, she stressed the importance of the continuity in implementing sustainability projects in the maintaining the effectiveness of the policies.
“Our report on sustainability is not [only about] what the Ateneo has done; [the projects] have to be continuous,” Tan said.
