How active should companies be in advocating human-rights changes globally? QUESTION B
TOP50 DIVERSITY
2010
3TRANSLATING CORPORATE VALUES
Joe Husman NATIONAL MANAGER, INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY, TOYOTA FINANCIAL SERVICES (TOYOTA MOTOR NORTH AMERICA IS NO. 36 IN THE DIVERSITYINC TOP 50) “What really helped end apartheid in South Africa? For many years, people decided from a business perspec- tive that they were going to continue to participate and change the country from the inside out. But when it became clear to many people that this wasn’t going to work, a lot of businesses said, ‘End of story, we’re not going to do business here anymore.’ Let’s think about women in the Middle East. Are we going to help women and girls and their rights in the Middle East by not par- ticipating with countries and companies in the Middle East? Or are we going to help women’s rights by send- ing women executives into those locations and serving as role models? There’s no right answer, but compa- nies have to work through that and decide what their approach is going to be.”
Why
They
CARE
Eugene Kelly COLGATE-PALMOLIVE “We believe that what happens within the four walls of our company needs to be consistent because the world is driven by values. We actually do, from time to time, take a look at if there are any areas that are a real controversy in terms of human rights. We found that we’re not really in any of those places, and we’ve actually shut down before to leave places. One of the things we also say is that we don’t have to operate in a country. We can supply it but we don’t have to operate in it if it’s going to affect the treatment of our employees. For example, we have a joint venture in Pakistan; we’re not the sole owner of the busi- ness in Pakistan. One might say that women are not really equal in Pakistan, but we have a women’s network and they get the same ability to do whatever they want from a professional-development standpoint and so although they are not treated in a certain way outside, as soon as they walk in the door, it’s a whole other thing. We try to focus on the value system. We all just call it different things. We call it managing with respect.”
Jonathan Beane
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DIVERSITY
AND MULTICULTURAL INITIATIVES,
TIME WARNER (NO. 39 IN THE
DIVERSITYINC TOP 50)
“My own personal view is that
even if you feel like a country
or a culture or a law is unjust
… I believe that companies still
should feel OK from a moral perspective, and also from a
business perspective to do business there, particularly in
Asia and the Middle East. We can support nonprofit organizations that are fighting to go against some of the oppressive
restrictions within that society. That might be our way of doing
it. I still think you should have a presence and be a part of
the solution.”
What
They
Linda Jimenez
WELLPOINT
DID
“We would be doing a whole
lot of research with regards to that
country’s human rights. What was their political
stance, what are their laws and regulations, do
they match their values or do they not? Once we
made the decision to enter, then I think it would
be a case-by-case basis. How serious was the
infraction? How difficult was it and then what’s
the level of involvement that we would need
talking with our contacts in that country? When
a country’s values seriously conflict with one of
your values, that may drive your decision not to go
into that country.”
Key TAKEAWAYS
; Again, no cookie-cutter approach. Examine
each situation individually and make decisions
about values vs. business vs. activism
; Consider alternatives to setting up actual
locations in countries with human-rights
violations, such as using acceptable suppliers
; Work within cultural norms to improve the
factors impacting disadvantaged groups in
countries where you do business
118 DiversityInc
