Sabancı, Koç and Turkcell lead "socially responsible companies"

Survey maps companies' responsibility to society

Sabancı Holding, Koç Holding and Turkcell lead Turkey's “socially responsible companies,” a survey by monthly “Capital” reveals. The annual survey, sponsored by Philip Morris and Sabancı, maps the nation's business leaders and leading companies in corporate social responsibility (CSR).

The “Social Responsibility Leaders” survey consists of two parts, one based on interviews with the public, and the other focused on the business world. This year 376 business leaders and 1,321 people “on the street” were surveyed, according to the magazine's March issue.

In the public part of the survey, Sabancı Holding, Koç Holding and Turkcell got the first three ranks respectively, just like in 2007. “Consciousness on social responsibility for us means to produce solutions through creating a difference and to meet the needs of the public. It is also a fundamental part of business understanding,” said Güler Sabancı, Sabancı Holding chairwoman.

The Sabancı Foundation allocated most of its CSR budget for education, according to Ahmet Dördüncü, Sabancı Holding CEO.

In the business leaders part of the survey, Turkcell topped the list as the leading company, as in 2007. Turkcell is the leading Turkish company in CSR activities, according to 44 percent of business world participants. “We have provided Turkcell scholarships for 18,400 students since 2000. We increased the number of students we support from 5,000 to 10,000 in 2007,” said Filiz Karagül Tüzün, chairwoman of the Turkcell Corporate Communications Department.

Education comes first:

Education stood out both in 2007 and 2008 in the context of CSR works, said Fulya Durmuş, assistant general manager at GFK Turkey, a market research institute. “It is followed by contributing to medical services, supporting environmental works and charity work. Preventing family violence, contributing to projects concerning female rights are also among the prior subjects,” she added.

Even though there are many global companies that have CSR works, the history is not so long, said Ernst Ligteringen, chairman of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). “There were only 26 companies that introduced the CSR concept to the world through sustainability and CSR reports 15 years ago.”

During this decade, the number of companies that prepare CSR reports climbed to 800, while last year all companies on the Global Fortune 250 list published sustainability reports, said Ligteringen. “Last year, 2,300 sustainability reports were published. That means sustainability and CSR activities tripled in three years.”

In Turkey, there are only two companies that publish CSR reports and that are registered to the GRI. Nevertheless, investments in this area are on the rise, as shown by the survey.

The public perception:

Some 72 percent of public participants of the survey think that CSR works are among the responsibilities of the business world. Only 13 percent of participants believe that business world has no duty in social responsibility. As a challenging point, 43 percent of the public follow CSR activities. The CSR works of companies are sufficient, according to19 percent. Some 31 percent of interviewees emphasize that the companies should increase their CSR works and “widen their horizon.”

The perception of 19 percent of the public is that companies “do not care about the country's problems,” and that “their sole concern is their own interest.”

Some 24 percent of the public thinks that education should be taken as priority, while 18 percent believes that companies should invest in medical sector as CSR activities. Environment is among the most important issues for CSR activities, according to 12 percent of the public.