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Activity day:2016-11-21
Published At：2016-11-21
Views:467
2017-02-12 updated
Innovation is not complete without embracing diversified values. This has long been the spirit of NTU EMBA. To carry forward this heritage, NTU EMBA has organized a series of social innovation forum. The second forum, with Mr. Wu De-Fong (Class 2011), Deputy Chairman, PwC Taiwan, as the moderator, had Ms. He Li-Mei (Class 2000), senior VP, CFO, and spokesperson of Taiwan Semiconductor Corp., Ms. Cheng Shu-Fen, Chief Investment Officer of Cathay Financial Holding Co., Ltd., and Mr. Lin You-Xin (Class 2005), General Manager of X4GPS, to talk on social innovation and enterprise sustainability from the aspects of corporate governance and supply chain management. Together they made the forum exceedingly fruitful with plenty of new ideas that greatly satisfied the audience.
Professor Tang Ming-Zhe, of NTU International Business Department, addressed at the beginning of the forum and pointed out that total competition market system may fairly distribute efficiency of economy to people making contribution to the society. With such given system, there is no need at all to discuss about CSR. As there is no such a thing as total competition market in this world, hence the necessity of global awareness of CSR, where innovative initiatives are the key to a win-win situation for both enterprises and the society. For example, Starbucks USA teaches African farmers to plant coffee beans, and that is a great example of a win-win situation.
Enterprises should actively internalize CSR spirit as a part of enterprise culture.
Looking back on Taiwanese companies, TSMC, the benchmark of CSR, thoroughly incorporates its 3 missions in its governance: integrity, environment, and benevolence. TSMC does not stop at CSR; as a member of Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition, TSMC vows to stipulate that more than 80% of its supplies to comply with various protocols like material supply, process management, and employee care. He pointed out that suppliers failing to comply with the Labor Standard Act and remedy such non-compliance were not allowed to continue their business with TSMC. She confessed that “such initiatives on supply chain management will definitely cause costs to increase, but for the long-term, if innovative measures can be adopted, both enterprise value and financial interests will be very rewarding.”
Both Cathay Financial Holding Co., Ltd. And TSMC are Taiwanese companies included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes. To further fulfill CSR, Cathay in 2014 renamed its CSR Committee to Corporate Sustainability Committee and added a Responsible Investment Team. In responding to the global green finance calling, Cathay United Bank, a subsidiary of Cathay Financial Holding, adopted the Equator Principles, making it the first Equator bank in Taiwan.
According to Cheng Shu-Fen, when Cathay reviewed credit applicants, it gave more weight to applicants’ practices on environment protection and CSR efforts. For example, Cathay is promoting solar energy loans among farmers of fishes and produces, whereby encouraging them to install solar-power generating system that not only may satisfy their own power needs, but also sell extra power back to TaiPower. Cheng believes that enterprises must internalize CSR as belief to make CSR more innovative and committed.
X4GPS is a paradigm of win-win between corporate and society. Starting with GPS for mobile phones, X4GPS used its expertise in global positioning technology to develop a new pattern of social innovation and satisfy society’s needs and his company’s profit. For example, X4GPS’ Village Safety Box initiative allowed corporate material surplus to be shared over internet and delivered to people in need. Currently the project supports 700 households every month. Lin You-Xin pointed out that defining needs is a crucial process for social innovation. He said, with smile: “I am the number one votes broker in Taiwan,” because he made acquaintances with some 2,300 village chiefs in Taiwan by helping county/city governments to develop e-document delivery platform. Through the eyes of these village chiefs he saw many needs of the underprivileged. “I also see our responsibilities and what we can do,” he believes that those who insist on doing good will do well eventually.
After the brilliant sharing from the 3 guest speakers, Xie Ming-Hui, CEO of NTU EMBA, was also deeply touched and exhorted all alumni members to respond to the calling of “Keep a Kind Heart, Act Kindly, and Make Big Bucks”. At the same time, in order to fulfill diversified innovation spirit, NTU EMBA has renovated its curriculum constantly in the past few decades. In addition to the inclusion of Corporate Governance in its core curriculum, Entrepreneur Fulfillment is also offered. As the pioneer that urges Chinese EMBA to fulfill social innovation, we invite all alumni members to join us and pass the spirit of social innovation to more individuals and companies until it is pervasively practiced.
Concurrently published on Common Wealth website
*Read<<NTU EMBA 20th Anniversary Special (e-paper): http://20th.emba.ntu.edu.tw/ebook
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