The social competition is speeding up

The “Corporate Social Responsibility Leaders” survey which Capital has carried out with GfK Turkey clearly shows the transformation that has occurred in this field.  The survey was conducted for the ninth time this year and it is once again full of important data...

The results reveal the attitudes of both the public and the business community to CSR and the most responsible companies and leaders.

Click images to see the tables.
In the public perceptions part of this year’s survey, Turkcell was named “Most Responsible Company” and Güler Sabancı the “Most Responsible Leader”, while in the survey of the perceptions of the business community it was Koç Holding and Rahmi Koç which ranked first.

Turkcell’s Kardelenler was ranked the “Most Successful CSR Project”, followed by “Baba Beni Okula Gönder” and “Haydi Kızlar Okula”.

THE CHANGE IS STRIKING
In fact, there is no significant change in the main structure of the list. The giants who come to mind whenever someone mentions CSR are in the list almost every year. But there is a notable change in their respective positions.

For example, there has been a change in the leader of the list of the “20 Most Responsible Companies” based on public perceptions. After a gap of two years, Turkcell, which ranked second last year, has once again taken top spot. It is followed by Sabancı Holding, Koç Holding, Yıldız Holding and Arçelik.~
Avea rose fastest in the 2014  data on public perceptions. The company, which was 17th in 2013, ranked 7th in the list. Nor are the changes confined to respective rankings. There are also a number of new entries in the list.

The new entrants in the list based on public perceptions are Petrol Ofisi, PepsiCo, Hürriyet Gazetecilik and Teknosa, The list based on the results from the business community has Anadolu Grubu and Yapı Kredi as new entrants in the list of “Responsible Companies”.

It is not only in the results of the survey of public attitudes, the winds of change can also been seen in the votes from the business community. The rankings of the “Most
Responsible Leader” based on the results from the business community are almost completely different.

One of the winners this year is definitely Koç. Because the top five in the business community’s list of the “Most Responsible Leader” includes three members of the Koç family. Rahmi Koç, who was in 6th place last year, has risen rapidly to the top of the rankings. He is followed by Bülent Eczacıbaşı. Güler Sabancı is in 3rd place, whereas Ali Koç, who was not included in the list last year, is in 4th. Mustafa Koç ranks 5 th.

WHAT MESSAGES HAVE BEEN GIVEN?
The survey not only identified which are the most popular companies, projects and leaders in CSR but also revealed the public’s expectations and what are regarded as negative points.

The messages from the survey, which included 1,238 participants from the general public and 305 executives, were as follows:
- The results of the survey of public attitudes showed that a large proportion of the participants believe that the business community must behave more responsibly when it comes to CSR.~

59.2 percent of those who participated in the survey say: “I believe that private sector institutions/the business community have responsibilities on social issues.” The proportion of white collar workers who thought like this was 97.7 percent.

- The rate of public awareness of the CSR activities that are being conducted was striking. 31.6 percent of the participants in the survey responded to the question “How much knowledge do you have of the activities of private sector institutions/the business community in the field of corporate social responsibility” with the reply “I have no knowledge at all”. 39.4 percent said that they had “some knowledge”, while 5.6 percent said that they had “sufficient knowledge”.

- The survey also assessed the extent to which companies are launching new CSR projects. 51.8 percent of the white collar workers who were asked the question “Did the
company in which you work launch a new CSR project in 2013?” replied “Yes, they did”, while 35.7 percent said “No, they did not” and 12.5 percent responded “I do not know/I have no idea”.

IS IT SUFFICIENT?
So does the public believe that the activities being conducted by companies in the field of corporate social responsibility are sufficient? 50 percent responded to this question by saying “It is neither enough nor not enough”.

This means that one in every two people thinks like this. The number of those who said “Yes. I think it is sufficient” rose by 3 percentage points compared with last year to 29 percent. 17 percent of respondents said: “I do not think it is sufficient”.~
The views of the 305 white collar workers from the business community who participated in the survey were a little more clear cut. Only 12.8 percent of white collar workers thought that the activities that were being conducted were sufficient.

48.9 percent said “I do not think that they are sufficient”, while 8.5 percent said “I do not think that they are sufficient at all” and 28.5 percent said that “It is neither enough nor not enough”.

22.2 percent of the members of the public who participated in the survey gave the “reason why it is not sufficient” as “There is not much activity, not enough time and organization is devoted to the activities”. 18.2 percent replied that “They should do more and expand their activities and make their voices heard more.”

When asked to give the “reason why it is not sufficient”, at 13.7 percent, the largest proportion of white collar workers said “The activities are insufficient and are only being conducted for advertising or for financial purposes”.

12.6 percent of the participants said “A small number of companies are contributing”, while 11.1 percent said “There is no continuity in what is being done, they should be more decisive”.