Covid-19 pandemic: Corporations need innovation and nuanced CSR, say industry leaders

On May 4, Mission Save Bangladesh in association with The Daily Star and Samakal arranged an hour-long live session on "Innovation and Corporate Social Responsibility during Covid-19". The panel of experts for the discussion comprised of: Yasir Azman, CEO, Grameenphone Limited, Mominul Islam, managing director and CEO, IPDC Finance Limited and Sabbir Hasan Nasir, executive director, ACI Logistics Limited (Shwapno). They discussed some of key aspects on this issue.

Nurturing Innovation 

Yasir Azman, the CEO of Grameenphone spoke about their journey of embracing innovation with their business model to evolve in their yesteryears. He also focused on engaging, empowering, and enabling employees to bring forth innovative ideas, which in turn are brought to reality with the help of a streamlined system of testing and evaluation.

Mominul Islam meanwhile stated that the use of an online platform to provide short term loans for people in need, the introduction of block-chain services and using big data analytics to determine the areas and people in most need of funds in their philanthropic ventures show how IPDC Finance Limited has embraced innovation.

Sabbir Hasan Nasir explained how Shwapno, has been implementing innovative ideas to streamline the collection and distribution of day to day goods, completely overhauling the marketplace. During the pandemic too, they have pushed for higher engagement on their e-commerce website and partnered with companies like Foodpanda and others to deliver goods to peoples' doorsteps.

CSR and Social Inclusion

The panel unanimously stated that CSR is not just limited to donation or philanthropic activities, but rather a business model that incorporates social benefits and works for solving various social problems. A key aspect of this is the success of programs like "Mission Save Bangladesh" and "Dakche Amar Desh" where a large number of corporations have come together with a collaborative mindset to put in a valiant and synergic effort to uplift the country as explained by Yasir Azman. IPDC finances various social projects with a focus on women's development, portable housing finances and an emphasis on funding cottage industries.

Shwapno has also been working to reduce the exploitation of producers by removing middlemen. The introduction of the "Sheba Package" to give back to the poor with the help of their customers is also a commendable initiative. 

Empathy and Team Management

A corporation can only function as efficiently as its team members. Yasir Azman mentioned that, during this lockdown, they have taken special measures to keep their employees connected and have focused on boosting morale. Mominul Islam and Sabbir Hasan Nasir said that they are collaborating with their workers to keep the infrastructure as active as possible. As a retail goods shop, Shwapno is managing its employees by maintaining strict distancing guidelines for both workers and the customers in order to continue smooth operation. The industry leaders put an emphasis on safe, inclusive, and encouraging system for all employees. The leaders also said businesses and corporations need to be empathetic of employees who are finding it difficult to continue work

Future outlook

Everyone speculates the economy will have to go through a difficult time enduring the ripples of the ongoing pandemic. In such a situation, influential corporations need to modify their business strategies to accommodate stable economic growth. Mominul Islam spoke about a hierarchy of compassionate communal development over selfish personal gains for everyone to survive the difficulties. On the other hand, Yasir Azman talked about riding into the new normal by identifying the evolution of customer behavior and to scale them with proper investment.

While Sabbir emphasised on collaboration among corporations, proper use of stimulus package, and a cost-conscious business model in the future. 

Sheba.xyz, The Daily Star and Samakal joined hands to serve society and we named the platform "Mission Save Bangladesh". The activities of the platform began on March 23, 2020.

The author is Head of Marketing at The Daily Star and a US State Department Alumnus.He is also the founding member of Mission Save Bangladesh