Orange: There's nothing mutually exclusive about profit and social
Lausanne (ots)
Orange is both aware of its social responsibilities and acts upon them
For Orange the main focus is on people. That is why Orange is introducing a worldwide Corporate Social Responsibility Programme. The aim of the programme is to be aware of its social responsibilities as a company and thus to contribute towards a sustainable development of society. Orange UK, Orange France and Orange Switzerland in Lausanne will be taking part in the pilot project. Orange is the first Swiss telecommunications operator to join the Philias network, which brings together socially aware, responsible companies and organisations.
Orange has now been operating in the Swiss market for a good three years. During this time the mobile operator has proved that profitability and social responsibility are not mutually exclusive. Quite the contrary in fact. Through a range of partnerships (such as with UNICEF or the Zurich Opera) and projects (such as the working group for environmental issues) Orange has already been living and working according to the principles of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for some time. Thanks to these commitments Orange Communications SA will be playing a leading role in the Orange Group's worldwide CSR programme.
The next steps
Orange has created a full-time post for Corporate Social Responsibility in Zurich. Gianluca Galdenzi is responsible for the CSR programme in Switzerland. He will be supported in his demanding role by a working group made up of representatives from the widest possible range of Orange's activities.
"The work group is focused on the collection of key performance indicators and the development of a structured stakeholders dialogue", explains Gianluca Galdenzi. "This is a pre-requisite for the definition of the next steps and the achievement of our goals in this field."
"The Orange Group will publish shortly our new Business Principles, that will be the basis of our activities worldwide" continues Galdenzi. "The next step will be the publication of our first CSR Report, which will also allow us to identify projects and activities that may best suit our objectives:
- Support activities focused on communications (as our sector of operations), that help people to participate more fully in society. We also wish to put our technologies at disposal for this purpose, whenever applicable.
- Develop new collaboration opportunities with NGOs and public bodies, based on the "Public Private Partnerships" scheme recently highlighted by the Johannesburg World Summit.
- Identify new opportunities in area where we are already active (like education and culture), and also in additional sectors. This in order to combine business development and social growth, and integrate CSR within our business strategy.
The Philias Foundation
Philias (www.philias.ch) is both the network for socially responsible companies in Switzerland and the platform for exchanging ideas and experiences with public institutions and non-profit organisations. 20 companies currently belong to the network; now with Orange that makes 21. Philias
- promotes new approaches to social commitment,
- supports exchanges of experience,
- develops pilot programmes,
- supports companies that want to carry out a thorough analysis of
their role in society,
- promotes dialogue between companies and their partners to
ensure that social responsibility becomes a key issue,
- publishes a yearly report listing all the projects and actions
that have been completed or are planned by members.Further Links
www.orange.ch more on Orange's partnerships and projects
www.philias.ch more on the Philias Foundation
www.worldcsr.com more on Corporate Social Responsibility
Contact:
Orange Communications SA
World Trade Center
Av. de Gratta-Paille 2
Case postale 455
CH-1000 Lausanne 30 Grey
Therese Wenger, Media Relations
Phone +41/21/216'10'16
Fax +41/21/216'10'15
Orange +41/78/787'10'16
mailto:therese.wenger@orange.ch
Internet: http://www.orange.ch