Disqus - Latest Comments for asif

Re: Social responsibility requires unified approach, not double standards

Asif — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 04:00:15 -0000

Osama, Qazi and Saad please take deep breaths and relax. CSR is an ethically delicate subject and requires emotional sobriety and logical balance. We can bring that together. I am positive and hopeful about that.

Please extend the courtesy of relevant content enriched with logic, verifiable field data, diverse opinions and the choice to agree or disagree for readers to actually get attracted to this relatively unknown subject of CSR in Pakistan. Such implicating and prosecuting measures shall alienate the few readers that this space attracts now; whats worse they shall start avoinding a debate on CSR. As I said earlier this blog is just a means to an end and not the end itself. The end is the positive realization of the subject of CSR. How will this happen? Let everyone, including me, openly share opinions, question info. provided here and suggest measures for improvement. Please do not harass individuals by threatening to disclose their personal information if at all you had the privilege of being granted that info. in the first place. See this is negative and exactly the point I have been sharing since the beginning.

I sincerely wish you all the best for actually "building bridges". Harassing individuals or companies will not do that, please be assured.

Re: Social responsibility requires unified approach, not double standards

Asif — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 11:33:25 -0000

woaahhh....Saad is that you ;-)
I think I have nothing more to rationalize. Readers make the choice themselves.

A request though; please please please keep the "transparency" flag flying high not for me, not for the companies, not for this blog but only for the cause this blog was created for in the first place.
Regards

Re: Social responsibility requires unified approach, not double standards

Asif — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 11:23:57 -0000

I await the community manager's comments on this and look forward to more responsible and transparent comments and information on this space.

Re: Social responsibility requires unified approach, not double standards

Asif — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 01:38:19 -0000

Saad it is positive that you are transparent about the info. gaps in your opinions. But then these are only opinions and not credible info. In mass communication such "base-less" (since there is no verifiable data) propagation of content is referred to as "propaganda". Propaganda is a tool utilized to implicate a specific entity (companies/individuals) for vested gains. I am sure you see where publishing of such content can lead both in terms of mis-educating masses; developing wrong concepts, instilling mislead public sentiments; and "morally/ethically" discouraging/weakening companies/individuals from opening up to the media/people resulting in widened gap between the corporate and the public. Chaos becomes the result.

Spaces such as Social Bridges that gravitate around "responsibility must be a model of excellence in practising ethical communication standards and facilitating transparency between companies and masses. Comments that read, sound and lead to speculation, bad blood and repulsion actually are a dis-service to the cause.

Bear with me since the cause of CSR is closer to my heart than losing out on it due to negligence in due-diligence by the flag bearer itself; in this case Social Bridges.

Re: Social responsibility requires unified approach, not double standards

Asif — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:11:29 -0000

PTC or for that matter any company has the right to not share data which is legally not required for public disclosure. These "guilty conscious" employees are a living example of hypocrites and practitioners of double standards. My friend in cause, advocating for an ethical cause on un-ethically and dubiously acquired information only kills the case. Information collected from un-ethical sources and non-verifiable in nature does not by any standard qualify as a "fact".

Worse is that this blog, advocating transparency and discouraging double standards, is itself accomodating "un-ethical" and assumptive data. How do you think such "fictitious content" will help orient a common reader towards a truthful and logical conclusion? I am afraid such content is going contrary to the very identity and purpose of this space.

Re: Social responsibility requires unified approach, not double standards

Asif — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:35:01 -0000

Hmm... and what the is the data source (only accredited please) for PTC's emissions?

"Insider" info., "certain reliable sources" etc. do not qualify for a fact-finding and objective effort. It is still speculative.

For all I know these "insiders" are violating the very confidence the company places in them, are drawing salaries from Tobacco business and do not level up to validating inputs for an ethics based efforts.

Re: Social responsibility requires unified approach, not double standards

Asif — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:33:05 -0000

No answers..? In true spirit of this blog we can approach corporate and individual entities with a fact finding, dialogue encouraging and solution finding stance. Content with no verifiable data/studies and open to speculation will only sway the focus from constructive dialogue to public propaganda.

Re: Social responsibility requires unified approach, not double standards

Asif — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:19:38 -0000

Saad please share any "varifiable field data" on the keen observations made by you in this post? Further you seem to have a wealth of field knowledge and analytics on environmental assessment of industrial projects especially of the two companies implicated here. Please shed light on pollution control measures (benchmarked against scientific standards) of the aforementioned companies too. I keenly await your response soon since you must have undertaken an indepth field study before writing this ethically sensitive post.

Re: Can we start thinking beyond the A.B.C.’s now?

Asif — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:24:07 -0000

Infact this sheds light on the ICT4D (Information Communication Technologies for Development) concept. As aforementioned, companies can maximize "social returns" by building their CSR programs around their core business specialization strengths. However this does not mean limitation of social development areas.

Under such arrangements organizations from the private and public (or within sector) identify and assess each other's specialist strengths to contribute into a project that is a social development priority. This way optimal use of resources and better results can be ensured (improved ROI). For example, a mobile telecommunications company can contribute it's communications speciality towards a primary medical advice project for remote areas in collaboration with a NGO in basic health care services sector. Similarly a banking company can develop and provide funding products for cottage industry development project of a sustainable livelihood development NGO in rural economies.

Re: Answer: CSR because you’re a stakeholder

Asif — Thu, 15 May 2008 02:26:32 -0000

and as it turns out the companies are recently realising that the stakeholders in the immediate external environment are perhaps more important in the profitable sustenance and growth of the business.

As Osama rightly put, the immediate external stakeholders are the society and its manisfestations as business people, opinion leaders, social workers, political policy makers, customers etc. This is the platform over which just any organization rationalizes its business existence and policies.

Re: Information for all—Is it so????

Asif — Fri, 09 May 2008 02:17:00 -0000

I wonder if there is a law governing equal opportunity with defined criteria and fixed quota to ensure absorption to resources with challenges.

Further does there exist a list of organization with actual implementation of such standards and statistics of challenged resourcs working.

Re: A Question - Why should companies care about you anyway?

Asif — Wed, 07 May 2008 04:48:16 -0000

I think the single most important, productive and business relevant objective for any company to engage into CSR is the wealth of first hand market intelligence on public behaviors, beliefs, trigger points and comfort level that the corporations utilize all the way from product development, market segmentation, branding, sales and the entire business lifesycle management.