In 2002, Hong Kong Council of Social Services launched the Caring Company scheme with the view to creating a platform for and facilitating effective communication between the business and the social welfare sectors. It also promoted the concept of corporate social responsibility to encourage employers to show greater care of their employees and enhance mutual relations.

In the past, there were misunderstanding and even conflicts between the business and social welfare sectors, Chan said.

"The business sector thought welfare was a burden and the social welfare sector thought businessmen were unscrupulous people," Chan remarked. "To the businessmen, corporate social responsibility meant only donating money. In fact, when businessmen donated money, they did not know who would benefit and there was very little staff participation. Equally, the beneficiaries did not know where the donations came from."

The culture has changed as the Caring Company scheme has developed. "In the past, only employers donated money. In recent years, employers encouraged their staff to donate money and do volunteer service to demonstrate united efforts and a positive corporate image," he said.

With Hong Kong just one of many economies suffering from the financial tsunami, corporate social responsibility raises some pertinent questions.

"Does corporate social responsibility mean that enterprises cannot fire their staff? Are enterprises disallowed to fire their staff when they are making profits? These are very big questions," Chan asserted.

"I don't think so. My understanding of corporate social responsibility does not mean enterprises cannot sack any staff, not even in foreign countries. Otherwise, we will be practicing socialism or communism."

Chan went on to say that nobody can stop companies from firing people. To survive in the financial tsunami, it may be necessary for companies to cut staff in order to minimize the cost of business.

His group of companies did not sack any people, Chan said, but they needed to adopt cost-saving measures like many other businesses.

"However, it does not mean companies can just send their staff away. There are companies who provide various types of exit services for outgoing staff, including training to help them switch to another sector," he said.

In his view, enterprises in Hong Kong are under pressure from public opinion and politics to enforce greater corporate social responsibility. If consumers exert strong enough pressure, he is sure that enterprises will be more proactive in fulfilling their corporate social responsibility.

"If consumers are in a strong position, they can boycott certain companies by not buying the products of the companies that they think are not caring companies," he said. "This may not happen in Hong Kong, but it is possible in foreign countries because their consumers have more choices of products. Consumers have, somehow, to pay the price because enterprises who spend more on staff welfare will sell their goods at higher prices."

(HK Edition 07/03/2009 page4)