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Quake disaster tests corporate social responsibility

By Li Huayu (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-05-14 13:56

COSCO and COSCO Charity Fund donate 10 million yuan to the quake-hit areas in Sichuan province on May 13, 2008. With the confirmed death toll from the severe earthquake climbing over 12,000, more and more enterprises and individuals are taking action to help the disaster-hit areas. [Xinhua]

With the confirmed death toll from the severe earthquake that jolted Sichuan Province climbing over 12,000, more and more enterprises and individuals are taking action to help the disaster-hit areas.

Rough calculations suggest that as of 10 a.m. today, more than a thousand companies had joined a charity campaign, including 18 with donations of over 10 million yuan ($1.43 million) each and about 170 companies donating over 500,000 yuan each.

The confirmed national death toll reached 12,300 by 2 a.m. today, nearly all in Sichuan, according to the temporary disaster relief headquarters headed by Premier Wen Jiabao, who arrived in Dujiangyan, to oversee the rescue work just hours after the quake.

Another 9,404 were buried in debris, 7,841 were missing and 26,206 were injured, according to the headquarters.

"This rare natural disaster is a test of the benevolence and responsibility of every Chinese citizen," said Chen Bufeng, a professor of economics with the Peking University and a researcher with the China Corporate Culture Institute.

"As corporate citizens, enterprises should also go all out to help their host country weather huge events and natural disasters," Chen said.

Should enterprises donate? The answer is not a uniform "Yes".

Milton Friedman, a conservative economist, said in 1970, "There is one and only one social responsibility of business - to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game."

"I don't agree," Thomas Schiller, managing director for China of Arthur D. Little (ADL), a global management consulting firm, said in an interview with chinadaily.com.cn.

He said, "From an investor's perspective, the purpose of the business is to maximize profits. But that's not the purpose for other stakeholders - for customers, employees, suppliers, and the community."

The execution of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an important part of an enterprise's strategic management, said Schiller. "CSR also serves the long-term interests of the business."