Corporate Social Responsibility Essay

In general, Corporate Social Responsibility can be described as an approach by which a company: * recognises that its activities have a wider impact on the society in which it operates and that developments in society in turn impact on its ability to pursue its business successfully. * actively manages the economic, social, environmental and human rights impact of its activities across the world, basing these on principles which reflect international values, reaping benefits both for its own operations and reputation as well as for the communities in which it operates. * seeks to achieve these benefits by working closely with other groups and organisations – local communities, civil society, other businesses and home and host governments. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been a critical part of the Sunway Group for the past three decades. Sunway Group company is one that instils and celebrates the culture of giving to society. The Group recognises the significance of developing and harnessing human capital excellence in driving the development and growth of the company, the community and our country. Winning the Anugerah PMCSR is a form of encouragement for The Group as it has truly brought CSR to an entirely new level. Sunway Group also has been recognised for outstanding achievements in CSR. The Sunway Group’s CSR programmes are wide-spread and aim to protect and promote human capital excellence above and beyond the company. In enhancing human capital excellence through education, if I the director of Sunway Group, I would implement the programmes which is: * Raising the level and standards of education in the country * Providing for the less fortunate members of the community. * Growing a healthy and sustainable knowledge-based workforce in Malaysia. The corporate social responsibility that Sunway Group provided are : 1) The Jeffrey Cheah Foundation The Sunway Education Trust Fund was established in March 1997 for the purpose of managing and administering surpluses from the institutions for the benefit of students be it for reinvestment into the institutions or for the disimbursement of scholarships and research grants. The Jeffrey Cheah Foundation was formed to perpetuate and crystallise the vision of a credible vehicle that will serve the cause of bringing good and quality education to the nation. Shares are transferred under the Sunway Education Trust into this Foundation where they will be held for perpetuity and can never be sold. Total profits from the Sunway University College and 70% of the profits from the Monash University Sunway Campus are ploughed back into activities to deliver higher quality education, to grow research capabilities and for the upgrading of facilities. From January to June 2010, more than RM4 million worth of scholarships were given out. 2) The Public School Adoption & Restoration Programme The Sunway Group has contributed to primary and secondary-level education schools over the last few years. Some of these projects have involved direct and active participation in restoration works, where the Group has dedicated consultancy, labour and construction resources into the refurbishment projects. In recent years, about RM3 million was contributed to schools such as SMK Bandar Sunway, SCK Chee Wen, SMK Klang Convent, the Gunung Hijau Primary School, SRK Bandar Sunway and SMJK Yuk Choy, Ipoh. To date, total contributions to public schools add up to RM10 million. 3) The Job Placement Programme Recognising that every person deserves a chance to feel a sense of belonging and purpose in society, the Sunway Group runs a Job Placement Programme endorsed by the Ministry of Education, Malaysia. Special needs students from the Sunway sponsored SMK Bandar Sunway are trained on basic work-related skills and ethics. Upon graduating, these students are presented with certificates of accomplishment to seek employment, where they are able to progress as independent members of society’s workforce. To date, the five-year old programme has helped a total of 58 special needs students. In 2010, the fifth batch of 10 students commenced their job placement at Sunway’s subsidiaries starting March 2010, and two were hired under the year’s Job Placement programme. 4) CSR Bowling Besides fostering education and life skills from an intellectual perspective, Sunway also embarks on education and skills in the physical sporting arena. This programme is for those aged between 14 and 22, and endeavours to train participants in the physical recreational sport of bowling Bowling training consists of one hour per week at the Sunway Pyramid Bowl for a total consecutive duration of 23 sessions. There are about 30 students in this programme who attended the Bowling Tournament 2010 on 21st September. To date the Sunway Group has trained about 150 special students. 5) The New Straits Times (NST) School Sponsorship Programme The programme was launched in August 2005 with the aim of bridging the urban-rural gap among the student population with regards to English language acquisition, information access and skills development. The group identified seven schools under Sunway’s CSR programme to receive complimentary copies of the NST everyday for one year commencing May 2010. The identified schools are SJK (C) Gunung Hijau, SMK Bandar Sunway, SRK Bandar Sunway, SMK Convent Klang, SRK Convent Klang, SJK (C) Chee Wen, Subang and SMK Tambun, Ipoh. Other CSR initiatives undertaken by the Sunway Group include the Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah Distinguished Speaker Series and the Sunway Medical Centre Public Health Forums. The Sunway Group reaches out to people at different levels of society through its CSR activities and aims to enhance the learning experience in the classroom and beyond. The Group hopes to improve the standard of education, quality of life and ultimately leave a positive change in turning Malays ia into a high-income nation.