To promote the understanding of corporate social responsibility (CSR) across different sectors in Hong Kong and to highlight the importance of CSR to small and middle enterprises (SMEs), the Department of Management and Marketing of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has compiled the Hong Kong SME Business Sustainability Index for the third year, with the support of the Hong Kong Productivity Council and the Hong Kong Council of Social Service. The Index was announced today (12 December) at the Announcement and Recognition Ceremony held on PolyU campus. The 43 indexed SMEs were also recognized for their excellent performance in CSR, encouraging them to sustain effort in putting CSR into practice.
Officiating at the ceremony were Mr Nicholas Yang, Executive Vice President of PolyU; Dr M.K. Leung, Acting Dean of PolyU's Faculty of Business; Mrs Agnes Mak, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Productivity Council; Professor Wing-mo Leung, Member of the Education and Publicity Sub-Committee, Council for Sustainable Development; Mr Cliff Choi, Business Director (Public Engagement & Partnership) of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service; and Dr Edward Lam, Chairman of the Hong Kong Small and Medium Enterprises Development Association. They also presented Certificates of Recognition to representatives of the 43 indexed SMEs.
PolyU is committed to promoting sustainable development, which includes providing support in the areas of research, teaching and assisting the industrial and commercial sectors. One of the key missions of PolyU's Faculty of Business is to nurture corporate management talents with a sense of social responsibility. Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Nicholas Yang said, "The "Sustainability Management Research Centre" officially established today will join forces with the industrial and commercial sectors to assist SMEs' sustainable development. The Centre will also run a Master of Science programme in business sustainability to provide training to industry talents, thereby leading business corporations in achieving sustainable development".
The Index was compiled by assessing the performance and achievements of the 43 SMEs in three areas in 2013: the value of corporate social responsibility and sustainable development, their management and CSR projects, and their positive contribution to economic, social and environmental sustainability.
The mean score of the Index was 63.96 (the maximum being 100), compared with 58.30 in the first year and 62.08 last year, indicating that local SMEs have become entrenched in the second stage of performance after progressing from the initial stage of business sustainability in the previous year. Most worthy of attention is the score for management of sustainable development, which has increased from 53.37 (2011) and 56.32 (2012) to 68.28, indicating that SMEs have started to take CSR planning more seriously, making it more effective for them to translate their CSR beliefs into practice. As for the impact assessment of sustainable development, this remains SMEs' weakest aspect in their CSR endeavors.
It is necessary for SMEs to undergo a long journey in sustaining their effort to promote CSR. Individual SMEs must not only continuously improve their knowledge and understanding of CSR management and practice, but also maintain long-term dedication and commitment to CSR. The announcement of this Index serves to encourage the entire SME sector to pay serious attention to the commercial and social benefits of CSR. Now into its third year, summing up the past two years' experience in compiling this Index, and the feedback from the industry, together with funding support from the Sustainable Development Fund, we have revised the scheme and system of the index to launch a corporate sustainable development online reporting platform. This platform will help conduct an annual assessment for each indexed SME's practices and achievement in CSR, and to build up a database for sustainability management. On the basis of this assessment, we can make constructive suggestions to individual SMEs for continuous improvement so as to boost their confidence and enhance their capacity to pursue sustainable development.
Representatives from the Index's top five scoring SMEs, Dr Jimmy Lau, CEO of Richform Holdings Limited; Ms Jamie Cheng, Senior Public Relations Manager of Baby Kingdom; Mr Daniel M. Cheng, Managing Director of Dunwell Enviro-Tech (Holdings) Limited; Miss Daisy Chow, COO of Intimex Business Solution Co., Ltd.; and Miss Ophelia Lin, Managing Director of Meiriki Japan Company Limited, shared their insights on practicing CSR for the achievement of business sustainability.
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