Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

What is your view of the term Corporate Social Responsibility?

J.M.C.: This is a practice that can be found in some companies and it has a relatively short history of 10-15 years. Corporate social responsibility is a relatively new management approach in the sense that it is not a collateral issue, but something that is closely linked to the very strategy of the company. The dynamics of CSR are unstoppable and there are more and more companies making a commitment to this practice, in order to meet the demands of society, and also in response to the expectation that those companies which have the makings of being leaders will progressively embrace responsible management.

Is La Fageda an example of a corporately responsible company?

A.R.: We have never claimed to be an example of a responsible company, but perhaps we conform to a social paradigm that has been pigeonholed into something which, as Professor Canyelles says, has become a fashion or something that is necessary for society.

You were recently listed among the 100 best companies in Spain in the Merco general ranking and you stood at 22nd in the ranking of the most responsible companies. What is your secret?

A.R.: Well, I have to admit that there is a secret I am yet to discover, because we work in Catalonia; this is a Spanish ranking and I don't know how our working model has become known throughout Spain. What we try to do is to be coherent and sincere in what we say, what we produce and the image we project. I believe that in this way we exercise our responsibility towards society.

There are not many companies like La Fageda.

J.M.C.: La Fageda is a very special model because, furthermore, it is an organisation with a social contract in its actual mission. When we refer to responsibility, the organisation or company doesn't necessarily have to be one that includes this social purpose in its mission. In fact, many organisations that have a social, non-profit mission think that social responsibility is implicit in this. It is indeed true that because they are non-profit, they already have certain values, but it is always worth pointing out that this does not presuppose that the organisation has a responsible management model.

Ever since La Fageda was established, you have opted for a type of company that is different from conventional companies, have you not?

A.R.: La Fageda started out in the opposite way to a conventional company. We had the workers, who were people that nobody wanted because they had just left a mental institution, but we didn't have a business or any capital. And so we looked for an activity that could be economically sustainable to give a real job to these people, generate wealth and satisfy a market need. In this respect, it is indeed a different company.

J.M.C.: In my opinion, the case of La Fageda, besides being an excellent business case, also shows that it is not enough to have a social purpose; those organisations that aspire to social excellence must manage the responsibility they assume towards society. And this goes well beyond the actual mission of a company.

Are companies very wary of taking steps to become more corporately responsible?

J.M.C.: Some years ago, when the debate about social responsibility was in full flow, there were interest groups and business organisations that were wary of developing social responsibility, because they thought that if those promoting this practice had their way, social responsibility would end up being imposed. Social responsibility is an approach and a practice that is adopted freely and voluntarily by any company; what is obligatory is compliance with the law. Therefore, I believe that these ideological misgivings have faded, and now more companies have made a commitment to responsibility.

Is much of this wariness due perhaps to the view of entrepreneurs that business success and corporate social responsibility are incompatible?

J.M.C.: The great majority of companies think that social responsibility is an extra expense and something they pursue because they have to. Responsibility does not mean that a company has to do more than it might be expected to do as a company, but rather that it must do what it does in a different way. A company does not have to aspire to be an NGO; it should continue making money, but in a more legitimate manner, creating value in social as well as in economic terms. When organisations understand that entrepreneurial responsibility is a way of being, not a collateral value, they lose their wariness.

A.R.: La Fageda is a not-for-profit concern, but that doesn't mean that we don't earn money, because if we didn't, we would not be sustainable and we would have to close, because we cannot support ourselves through subsidies. The difference lies in the fact that the money we make does not go straight into an owner's pocket; we reinvest it in the company itself and its workers.

Is there an attitude at La Fageda of "we have to be responsible because there is no choice"?

A.R.: We do not espouse the NGO model, we focus more on the entrepreneurial model. We try not to lose our raison d'être, but with respect to tools and the way we operate we are much more of a company; what's more, it is therapeutic for the handicapped people who work with us to develop this sense of responsibility. In other words, these yoghurts must be sold, and if the yoghurt isn't properly weighed or correctly packaged and it isn't sold, you won't earn your salary.

In the case of La Fageda, besides contracting handicapped persons and persons with mental disorders, you also monitor them once they have retired. This commitment to people goes beyond your responsibility as a company towards your workers.

A.R.: Yes, we believe that we have an integral responsibility for a person as long as he or she may need such a commitment. This is why we have set up a social club for retired workers and they are happy coming here. Fortunately, we are based in the country and there is room for everyone and work for everyone.

So this has been a positive experience.

A.R.: Without a doubt. In the same way, there was a time when an accommodation service was needed, and we decided to cover this need by building some social housing for the workers that required this. Many of our workers may be categorised as severely disadvantaged, not only intellectually, but also socially.

How do businesses and entrepreneurs in Spain and Catalonia view the issue of corporate social responsibility?

J.M.C.: It was from 2003-2004 that people began to talk a lot about corporate social responsibility. Looking beyond CSR as a news item and a talking point, if we take all the companies in the country and we look at how many are responsible, we might feel frustrated at how few there are; but then, of course, the same thing would occur if we analysed how many of them comply with the law. Some 10-15% of companies can aspire to social responsibility, and these have already begun to work on quality in order to achieve excellence with a more socially oriented outlook. Here in Catalonia, many SMEs are in no doubt that responsibility forms part of their business model.

A.R.: It should also be taken into account that this "fashionable" component of responsibility can be a little hypocritical, and I hope it doesn't compromise the genuine movement towards social responsibility. But there is the cosmetic and marketing aspect of social responsibility, it cannot be denied. If there is not a sincere intention and a real change, the end result is detrimental due to a lack of coherence.