Where and how we take action – Our CR strategy

Our Corporate Responsibility efforts build on four strategic pillars, namely:

• decentralized diversity at our sites
• thematic relevance to our business
• long-term, sustained effectiveness
• results-oriented action

Decentralized diversity at our sites

A decentralized approach and the resultant delegation of responsibility are important elements of our corporate culture. They are also the foundations of our success. Entrepreneurial decisions at Bertelsmann are made in the corporate divisions and companies, flexibly and close to the market and our customers’ needs. This applies for our corporate social responsibility efforts as well. Where and how we get involved is up to our entrepreneurs, because they know best what makes sense and is useful in their community.

Thematic relevance to our business

Acting strategically means consciously making decisions – consciously in favor of some things and consciously against others. We systematically get involved with topics to which we can contribute our expertise and are situated along our value chain, as this is where our actions touch on the interests and needs of our stakeholders and vice versa. For instance, we are involved in a wide range of projects to promote reading and literacy – as well as education, quality journalism and next-generation media talent. This affects us, and this is what we’re good at. And for the same reason our environmental efforts focus strongly on dealing responsibly with paper. We need to make sure that our business conduct conserves natural resources.

Long-term, sustainable effectiveness

It is in our company’s interests to take a long-term approach in our thinking and actions. Our CR efforts reflect this approach. Wherever possible, we strive to take long-term action enter long-lasting partnerships and achieve sustainable effects. This doesn’t mean that we won’t deliver immediate, quick relief where it is needed. We were ready to help at very short notice when the tsunami devastated large parts of Southeast Asia in 2004. We then, however, turned this first aid for the people into long-term aid, running relief projects with the SOS Children’s Villages in the countries hit by the tsunami. This commitment was entered into for at least 10 years.

Purposeful, results-oriented action

Our efforts should not only be useful to our stakeholders in the community, but should also benefit the company itself.

When we motivate our employees by delegating responsibility and granting them creative freedom, or give them ways to build their professional skill set, Bertelsmann naturally profits from this as well. When we promote literacy, it naturally provides a lifetime of benefits for those who are introduced to reading in this way. On the other hand, it helps to ensure that there will be readers for our books and magazines in the future. Our commitment to sustainable forestry seeks to preserve an intact environment – and makes sure that we will be able to continue using natural resources responsibly to produce our media in the future.

And the list goes on. Especially because we act in such a decentralized manner, staying so close to our lines of business, our efforts always partly pay back into our business. This is one reason that we believe a systematic approach enhances the value as well as the credibility of our efforts. We believe our contribution benefits both our stakeholders and ourselves. And we pursue it with the same purposefulness and passion that we bring to our daily work.