MORE than half of 507 Singapore-based enterprises quizzed by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) in a recent survey are not aware of the term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
Singapore's first national CSR survey revealed that 60 per cent of respondents, who come from a broad range of industries ranging from agriculture to retail, were not aware of CSR.
Even after the term was explained to this group of respondents, they said they did not consider CSR to be important to their business strategy, and would not be implementing it within the next three years, said the study.
CSR is a concept whereby organisations take accountability for business decisions and activities that would have impact on the economy, environment and society. This is not legislated but is practised voluntarily by a company that wants to improve the quality of life for its employees, the environment and society at large.
The survey results were released yesterday at a seminar titled CSR in Singapore - Moving Forward, which was held by non-governmental organisation Singapore Compact for CSR and the Singapore Business Federation.
The study, conducted by MTI last year, comprised a mixture of open and close-ended questions, which were pitched to various managerial staff over the phone.
Of the 203 enterprises that knew of CSR, only 34 per cent are locally-owned. The study also discovered that awareness was twice as likely in the larger companies than in small and medium-sized enterprises.
'Real CSR means internalising good laws and social practices, such as ensuring that there is clean water and air for everyone,' said Mr Thomas Thomas, executive director of Singapore Compact for CSR.
The study showed that a motivation for most CSR-aware enterprises was corporate culture, more than a need to better customer loyalty and lower employee turnover.
It also showed that about half of CSR-aware respondents had a specific understanding of CSR beyond the general sense that it entailed 'paying back to society'. As for businesses which were aware of CSR but are not implementing any practices, they were under the perception that it was irrelevant to their business, or lacked the necessary budget, time or know-how, the study said.
This group constituted 13 per cent of the respondents.
