Insights
Strategy Documents
I05/2011
Public Affairs
How to manage CSR
programs efficiently and
convert them into feasible
projects
Which Project Management codes should be applied in the direction of
Corporate Social Responsibility programs? Why and where do projects which
do not end well fail so often? Which possible criteria or indicators are the most
appropriate for selecting the best CSR projects to be carried out?
Frequently, we develop projects within an
organization: the company or business directors
plan their programs annually and fill them with
projects to be executed with the objective of
putting such projects into action, converting them
into reality. But usually there are initiatives that
do not fit into this framework, isolated initiatives,
results of improvisation, or processes that are
repeated one after the other.
Company directors undertake 3 fundamental types
of initiatives in their day to day, according to Jaume
Ribera, Professor of the Department of Production,
Technology and Operations Direction at IESE:
1. Improvisation: without responding to any plan,
they are difficult to follow, to learn from and,
therefore, to teach at a later stage. In order to
improvise well, with a guarantee of success,
you must be a great expert on the subject. In
the current cycle of accelerated disruptive
innovation and the appearance of highly
innovative companies, the space for innovation
and no preparation has once again opened up,
although in a different and, to some extent,
planned manner. As the once Prime Minister
of Britain Winston Churchill said: “I am just
preparing my impromptu remarks.” This is
planned improvisation.
2. Processes: these are repetitive sequences of
actions which we often carry out, as a response to
something continuous and specific. Professional
routines in each area or sector fall into this
category. The processes are essential in order to
carry out 80% of work in many organizations,
but within them lies the seed of a failure or
difficulty to innovate. It is important to discover
which tasks are being processed needlessly, and
the other way round.
3. Projects: these are drawn up or developed
periodically, in a single sequence. What is
important is how we do not prepare for them.
Document prepared by Corporate Excellence – Centre for Reputation Leadership with reference to, among other sources, the
intervention of Jaume Ribera (Professor of the Department of Production, Technology and Operations Direction at IESE) during
the sessions of the Executive Education Program “Making Social Responsibility Work: The Cornerstone of Sustainable Business”
organized by IESE Business School in Barcelona in July 2011.
How to manage CSR
programs efficiently
and convert them
into feasible projects
Projects, as well as processes and unlike
improvisations, can be analyzed, followed, learnt
and taught, we can form an opinion from them
and undertake a continuous improvement.
Projects represent a coordinated effort within
the entire organization which extends over a
determined period of time, they start and they
finish, to achieve an objective under certain
specifications, involving a complex series of
elements and resources of a differing nature.
In fact, to create a process we initially create a project,
that is to say, companies that propose drawing up their
first Corporate Responsibility report initially prepare a
project, the first Sustainability report, which thereafter
must become an annual process, repeated every year,
not necessarily a routine but a permanent collection,
analysis, selection and publication of data.
‘One of the
key skills
needed to
achieve
success in
the
development
of projects,
especially in
intangible
areas, is
flexibility and
the capacity
to adapt.’
Obviously the projects show a greater interest, they
are more interesting than the processes, as there is
an intention of achieving something more specific
and they form part of a complete program, in this
case the global CSR program of a company.
What dimensions do projects have?
Ultimately, we can describe 3 key aspects which
every project must include and which must be
managed correctly:
1. Cost: what is the economic cost for drawing up the
first report, following on from the last example, or
for updating of the workspace and converting it
into a healthy and sustainable area?
2. Time: how many weeks, months or even years
are needed to implement, develop and finish
the project, what time span are we talking
about and is it acceptable by the organization,
as in the case for cost?
Project life cycle
Initiation
Post
Implementation
Review
Closure
Project
definition
MPMM Project
Life Cycle
Monitoring
and control
Planning
Detailed
Planning
Execution
Source: MPMM, 2011.
3. Specifications: what scope does the project have,
what areas are involved, is all the organization
included or not, and quality as well, what level of
quality, excellence and precision? Do we want,
for example, to develop a good stakeholder
map, including a detailed categorization and
prioritization depending on different variables?
One of the key skills needed to achieve success in the
development of projects, especially in intangible areas
such as Corporate Social Responsibility, is flexibility
and the capacity to adapt to circumstances or events
which are necessarily changing. It is important
to prioritize, in this case, depending on acquired
commitments by the Managing or Executive Board
and other authorities in the company: CSR committee
and department, other departments involved, etc.
With regard to the dimensions of a CSR project,
according to Professor Ribera we can describe 5
different ones:
1. Efficiency: meet deadlines, honor the schedule
set initially.
2. Impact: to third parties, be they consumers,
employees or other stakeholders.
3. Team: impact on its members, especially
on their commitment with the project and
possible desertions.
4. Results: return on investment, increase in the value
of the brand, capacity to attract better resources, etc.
5. Preparation: for the future, new technologies
and tools to apply, new capacities and talent to
incorporate.
The cycle and processes of
Project Management
There are four technical phases through which all
projects should pass, bearing in mind, as we have
defined, that it should always have a beginning
and an end:
1. Beginning: analyze the viability, document the
case with examples of the same CSR practices in
other companies, preferably of the same sector, and
choose the team (internal or multidisciplinary).
2. Planning: draw the roadmap outlining the plan
for the project (Human Resources, Finance,
Quality, Communications and Relationship
with Stakeholders).
3. Execution: create the deliverables and control the
scope, costs, quality, associated risks (reputation
itself) and key issues that may arise, damaging
issues that may ruin the project.
4. End: reduce the project by gradually releasing
people from the team, managing the deliverables
at the discretion of the company and later
making a complete review of the entire project.
At times, projects have a different nature and we
must know what we want to accomplish and how
we want to do it:
1. Traditional: we know the ‘what’ and the ‘how’
(Number Painter Syndrome).
2. Adaptive: we know the ‘what’ but not the ‘how’
(Search Syndrome).
3. Emerging: we don not know the ‘what’ but we do
the ‘how’ (Hammer Syndrome).
4. Extremes: we do not know the ‘what’ nor the
‘how’ (Lost in Fog Syndrome).
Insights
2
How to manage CSR
programs efficiently
and convert them
into feasible projects
Projects also go through different psychological phases,
depending on the mood of the team and its progress:
• Enthusiasm: especially at the beginning.
• Not knowing what represents
success in the project.
• Disillusionment: with the first problems.
Depending on the phases, the problems tend to be:
1. Beginning:
• The plan has been imposed.
• There is an excess of optimism.
2. Planning:
• There has been no negotiation of deadlines.
• Important actions have been ignored.
• There is no real team.
• It is a linear plan, when it should be
iterative (various actions occurring at the
same time, not one after the other).
3. Execution:
• Bad management.
• There is no monitoring.
• Bad communication.
• There is competition to obtain resources.
• There are no rapid results.
4. End:
• The project is not closed down
in time if it is not successful.
• There is no learning from mistakes made.
• Panic: with the serious problems
and the first desertions.
• Search for a guilty person: with
the negative turn of events.
• Blame the most innocent person:
with the failure of the project.
What makes a difficult project fail?
‘We can
establish
certain
criteria which
are useful
for the
classification
of projects
in the
company
which have a
natural link
to CSR.’
There are 5 factors which can lead to a project
experiencing different types of complications and
even go into a spin:
1. Novelties: an issue derived from another that
was not initially considered, a break with what
was established at the beginning.
2. Technology: depending on the low, medium,
high or very high level of technology which we
are using.
3. Complexity: a need to assemble different aspects
and create interaction systems.
4. Master copy: the most complicated issue to manage.
5. Rhythm: three types possible, normal,
competitive, critical in time.
The unknown as the cause
of project failure
What
we know
What we know
we don’t know
What we
don’t know we
don’t know
Indicators for the selection
of CSR projects
We can establish certain criteria which are useful
for the classification of projects in the company
which have a natural link to Corporate Social
Responsibility. In any case, we must first establish
2 categories:
1. Requirements: they are qualifying criteria which
must be present, so that the projects are initially
taken into account, pass the first screen.
2. Facilitators: they are winning criteria that decide
which projects finally win and become ongoing.
Possible CSR criteria:
• Social impact.
• Alignment with mission, vision and values.
• Alignment with business strategy.
Source: Boston College, 2011.
• Link with people and employees.
• Transparency.
Projects fail for different reasons:
• The team has been badly chosen.
• Measurable impact.
• The project has been badly chosen (it
is only an unrealizable dream).
• Innovating character.
• Incorrect prioritization.
Conclusions: some advice
not to be forgotten
• The objective is not well defined.
• Disregard that there is more
than one ongoing project.
• Not all affected stakeholders
are taken into account.
• There is a lack of commitment in the team.
• There is no common objective.
• No serious and responsible
team at one’s disposal.
• Support from CEO.
Projects tend to grow by nature and it is therefore
important to limit them from the start, to know what
goes in to the project and what remains outside it.
Selection is key to know which projects to develop
and overcome the usual dichotomy project volume/
time to execute it. CSR criteria should help us to
choose correctly and must be as precise as possible,
also adapted to each organization.
Insights
3
Leading by
reputation
©2011, Corporate Excellence - Centre for Reputation Leadership
Business foundation created by large companies to professionalize the management of intangible assets and contribute to the development
of strong brands, with good reputation and able to compete in the global market. Its mission is to be the driver which leads and consolidates
the professional management of reputation as a strategic resource that guides and creates value for companies throughout the world.
Legal Notice
This document is property of the Corporate Excellence - Centre for Reputation Leadership and has as its objective to share business
knowledge about Brand, Reputation, Communication and Public Affairs Management.
Corporate Excellence - Centre for Reputation Leadership is the owner of all the intellectual property rights of the images, texts, designs
and any other content or elements of this product and has the necessary permission for its use, and therefore, its copy, distribution, public
release or transformation is prohibited, without express authorization from the owner.