How the Semiconductor Industry Evolved from Social Responsibility to Social Innovation and How Today’s Management Systems Can Be Used to Support CSR/CSI Programs
Sandy Skees; Scott Hambleton; Melita Elmore
(BSI, San Jose, CA and Samsung Semiconductor, Austin, TX )
This panel presentation by Scott Hambleton, CSP, (Applied Materials Sr. Director, Environmental, Health and Safety & Sustainability), Sandy Skees (BSI US Practice Leader for Sustainability/CSR/ESG) and Melita Elmore (BSI Lead Auditor) will first cover the early days of semiconductor social responsibility , with initial simple philanthropy efforts, and compare those days to current semiconductor global Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. In addition, semi-conductor companies that have ISO certification are now becoming increasingly aware of the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility programs (CSR) and how those programs are merging with growing ESG requirements (amid increasing pressure from customers and investors). Semiconductor companies are now not only receiving information requests about their CSR programs but also on their Environment, Social and Governance (ESG)) or Corporate Innovation (CSI) strategies. Scott will cover how social responsibility has changed, especially within the last decade of supply chain concerns, investor interest and climate change issues. He will discuss how in the past, social responsibility meant that those programs were usually separate from the total business function and vision, and how they were driven more by philanthropic intent and EHS compliance operational activities. CSR activities were fueled by allocating siloed budget and people, and often had to be balanced with profit-making. Sandy will discuss the current and growing emphasis on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues, and the growing evolution from social responsibility to social innovation. ESG, which is slowly replacing “sustainability” within large companies with investment pressures, is becoming defined as a strategy that combines corporate assets with others (e.g. NGOs/government) to co-create solutions to complex economic, social and environmental issues, usually in tandem with the United Nations Sustainability Development goals (UN SDGs). Sandy will also discuss how within ESG and Social Innovation goals, operational and social (people) assets are fully utilized and not separate from the business functions, but rather are driven by overall business strategic intent. Melita will then present how CSR programs can have a synergist connections to existing management system approaches and describe some example CSR tools which can support EMS and/or SMS frameworks. The presentation will also address how CSR and Management Systems can also be correlated with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). The concluding theme of the presentation will be to illustrate that a management systems (MS) approach can support all areas of CSR and CSI programs, including ESG concerns and tie-in with UN SDGs. Many semiconductor companies may have either a CSR or an MS program, but even if they have both- the programs are usually not coordinated, leading to duplicative efforts or CSI/ESG inefficiencies. Correlation between MS and CSR/CSI/ESG strategies both strengthen the organizations ability to plan, to implement and to act upon critical internal and external issues, and to demonstrate their ongoing commitment to evolve and prosper as a 21st Century company.