On 24 April 2012, the Rafael del Pino Foundation hosted - in collaboration with the Spanish Network of the United Nations Global Compact - the presentation of the book "Emprender con responsabilidad", by Ángel Pes and Norbert Bilbeny, published by LID Editorial Empresarial.
Speakers at the event included Amadeo PetitbòDirector of the Rafael del Pino Foundation; César PiernaviejaEditorial Coordinator at LID Editorial Empresarial; Juan de la MotaPresident of the Spanish Network of the United Nations Global Compact; and Angel PesThe authors were represented by the Deputy General Manager and Director of Corporate Responsibility and Brand of CaixaBank.
Angel Pes stated that the basic message of corporate responsibility is especially necessary at this time: "It is clear to everyone that the way out of the crisis cannot be approached with policies for the day after tomorrow; it has to be approached in a medium and long term horizon. This means, in many cases, passing through the initial valley of tears before reaching the hill again, the horizon that allows us to look at the world after the crisis. We have a difficult few years ahead of us, that much is clear. Precisely for this reason, planning and setting medium and long-term objectives are absolutely necessary to overcome the present moment. In the very immediate term, the problems that we encounter and that many companies are facing are, for example, problems of restructuring, staff reductions, etc. These processes, in principle negative, can also be carried out in many ways. Even to carry out this type of operations which, in the short term, are painful, it is possible to minimise this pain and, in this, the criteria of corporate responsibility also have a great application because the difficulties that have to be overcome will have a different impact if they are approached on the basis of these criteria".
The crisis reinforces the message of corporate responsibility, according to Ángel Pes: "Companies, in order to have a future anywhere in the world, must have - in addition to being efficient in the management of their business - social legitimacy; and this is obtained when society as a whole perceives companies as agents that contribute to solving problems. This approach is precisely the approach of corporate social responsibility: a company is socially responsible when its actions contribute to solving society's problems and this fact is valued by society itself, and therefore reinforces society's entrepreneurial character or capacity. I believe that the discourse of corporate responsibility not only does not suffer, but is more necessary than ever in the current context".
