CSR '06

Last Thursday (11/9/2006) I was asked to attend and participate at a conference in Bucharest. The conference was just two days and would start on Tuesday (11/14/2006) which gave me just a couple days to prepare a presentation on a topic I knew very little about. I was still excited though. I was excited at the prospect of doing something a little bit different; to represent my organization, the Peace Corps in front of some of the largest company’s in Romania. The conference about CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). At the same time I was nervous. This conference included members of the government, business leaders and directors of high profile NGO’s from around the world. Needless to say I felt just a little out of place. After all aside from reading what did I really know about CSR?

So what is CSR anyway? Basically it a concept that revolves around the idea that companies of all sizes have a responsibility to their employees, customers, shareholders and the community at large. That they have a duty to provide for greater good beyond just making profits. To developing their employees, providing solid goods and services to their customers, and in a pie in the sky view help make the world a better place. By comparison in the US business has long operated on the Friedman model which states “the business of business is business”; nothing like using the same word 3 times in a six word sentence. Breaking this argument down, business should focus on two things; reducing costs and increasing profits within the framework of the law of course. It is one of the reasons why millions of manufacturing and now service jobs have been shipped over seas. Some may debate that CSR’s main goal would be to socialize companies, make them act in the common good just not their own. This is starting to change as people realize how interconnected we all are. Instead of getting into an ideological debate between bottom line thinking and CSR I will just say that a comprise between the two would do wonders for businesses and communities the world over.

As I was preparing for my presentation I received a call from the organizer of the event the day before the conference asking me to speak in a second session. I had just spent the better part of the weekend polishing my first speech and now I had a little more than 48 hours to prepare another one, with a ten hour train trip and a day long conference to attend and participate in. I left Oradea on Monday night on an overnight train to Bucharest which would allow me to arrive Tuesday morning just in time for the start of the conference. After catching a cab to the hotel and overpaying (as I have a tendency to do…I have to learn to check the prices of cabs before I get in) it was into the conference. The entire conference was great, it was a good chance to learn what is being in Romania and around Europe. The breaks were also great times to meet others in business and government and I walked away with some good contacts that my organization may be able to interact with.

My first presentation was at 4:00pm, and while I was a bit anxious all day long when I finally got up on “stage” the anxiety vanished and things went well. I was able to involve the audience and got a couple laughs (not to worry they were planned). All in all, I was greatful for the opportunity, glad it is over and thrilled I didn’t botch it.