Doing Business in Developing Countries. Room: A
Nowadays few would question the key role of business in development. Business has huge potential as an engine of economic and social development, but can also cause considerable harm when operating in environments of weak institutional infrastructure and lax regulative frameworks. How do we maximize the positive and minimize the negative effects of doing business in developing countries?
In a recent issue of Harvard Business Review, strategy guru Michael Porter argues that corporations should shift from a “do good” and PR-based approach to CSR towards maximizing and measuring tangible social impact. Extended, enlightened corporate self-interest works far better than the traditional philanthropic approach: The most important thing a company can do for society and community is to contribute to a prosperous economy. Do governments and NGOs tend to forget this basic truth?
But would this calculating, business-based approach to social responsibility benefit the poorest among the poor? Is there a “fortune at the bottom of the pyramid”, as suggested by Professor C. K. Prahalad, a pot of golden opportunities for business and development waiting to be grasped by those who have the wisdom to do so?
In designing and implementing CSR strategy and social programs, corporations venture outside the realm of their core competencies. How can major pitfalls, e.g. “social” investments being misused as vehicles of corruption, be avoided? And how can business, government, academia and NGOs work together for the best possible results?
The session speakers will share their wide-ranging experience through case stories and dialogue comprising a variety of stakeholder perspectives.
Moderator:
- Anne Kristin Sydnes
Senior Adviser for Country Analysis and Social Responsibility, Statoil, Norway
Rapporteur:
- Olav Hypher
Telenor, Norway
Speakers:
- Willy Engset
CSR Manager, Statoil, Norway
- Jorge Parente Frota Júnor
Vice President, CNI, Brazil
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- Arthur Henrique da Silva Santos
Presidente Central Unica dos Trabalhadores (CUT), Brazil
- Ole Bjørn Sjulstad
Senior Vice President, Telenor, Norway
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- Karin Beate Theodorsen
International Department, Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions, Norway
- David Ugolor
Director, African Network of Environmental and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Nigeria
- Torbjørn Urfjell
Political Adviser, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway