CSR in SMEs: Implaser, a Spanish Successful Case
Implaser is a small enterprise which sells safety signs and industrial adhesives. Implaser’s factory is located in Alfajarín (Zaragoza); however, its market covers the entire national territory. Moreover, since 2010, they commercialize their products in more than 20 countries in Latin America, Europe and Asia. Implaser was established in 1999 as a Limited Liability Partnership by four founder members, who are the Board of Directors of the enterprise. Currently, 67% of the employees are worker partners and own company stocks. Since its creation, Implaser has experienced a rapid growth; changing from a 280 m2 rent warehouse and 5 employees, to a 2000 m2 owned factory and 38 workers.
Despite its size, Implaser is one of the few Spanish small enterprises which annually publishes a CSR Report. Implaser believes that there is no possible economic growth without an environmental and social concern. Thus, they try to find a balance between their economic, social and environmental impact. Additionally, transparency and horizontal communication with their stakeholders are ones of their main values. Some of the reasons behind their CSR strategy are personal believes, responsibility with the environment and innovation. The latter is considered a key aspect in their strategy, as a way to achieve a competitive advantage and differentiation from the competitors.
This way, Implaser focuses their efforts on satisfying their stakeholders’ specific needs; who are: customers, suppliers, shareholders, employees, partners, communities and the environment. To do this, satisfaction surveys with customers and workers are annually developed, as Implaser considers them the most important stakeholders. In order to measure their impacts, these can be divided into the following categories:
Economic:
The most important aspect of Implaser economic strategy is that all the benefits are reinvested in the company, in order to achieve the growth and sustainability of the company. Despite the economic crisis which Spain is facing those years, Implaser has maintained its turnover and workers. According to their employees and suppliers, Implaser prefers to hire people of the community and maintain close relations with local suppliers; with whom they encourage personal and direct communication.
Social
Current development in this field includes programs such as Teaming, Implícate or Conflictman. On one hand, Teaming is a project in which each worker can participate making a donation of 1€. The implementation of this project in 2011 was a complete success, obtaining donations of 86% of the employees and 274 euros. These funds were reinvested in Pies Descalzos Foundation, Cruz Roja España and Medicus Mundi Aragón. On the other hand, they have developed Implícate, which main aim is to involve their workers in terms of respecting the environment, CSR and occupational risk prevention. To do this, Implaser organizes meetings the first Friday of every month. Finally, Conflictman is a European project which consists of creating methods and channels to prevent harassment in the work place.
Environmental
According to its environmental impacts, Implaser has made important progress in the recent years. In 2004, they eliminated Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in their production process. Furthermore, Implaser calculated its carbon footprint in 2012 (317 Tm of CO₂) to try to reduce it in the upcoming years. Additionally, they have fixed some objectives to promote responsible energy and resources consumption patterns.
Besides, Implaser has received national and international recognition for its action. In 2013, it was awarded as the best Spanish SMEs in terms of Corporate Social Responsibility by Expansión. Moreover, they were selected as finalists in the European CSR Awards for their project Conflictman. Additionally, Implaser was a founder member of “Asociación Aragonesa para el Desarrollo de la RSE”, an association which attempts to promote CSR initiatives in SMEs by sharing their best practices.
To know more:
http://www.implaser.com/senalizacion_de_seguridad_pdf/memoria_actual.html
Comments Off on CSR in SMEs: Implaser, a Spanish Successful Case /
19 Apr 2014
por
martagomezmanchon
IMSD /
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