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August 11, 2009
Michael Liffman, director of CSI partner, the Asia Pacific Centre for Social Investment and Philanthropy at Swinburne University, recently delivered a paper on ‘Mobilising Corporate Social Responsibility for Strategic Philanthropy' in Kuala Lumpur.
The conference, ‘Enhancing the role of philanthropy in challenging times,' is believed to be the first of its kind held in Malaysia, attracted speakers from all over the region, the US and the UK.
Professor Liffman's paper gave a fresh take on contemporary corporate philanthropy by updating a schema first proposed by the twelfth century Egyptian philosopher Maimonides on the eight modes of charity, ranging from the least to the most virtuous.
Maimonides least virtuous form of charity - "to give sadly" - converts to "giving for purely self-interested commercial reasons" in Liffman's update. The most virtuous form of giving identified by the philosopher - "To give a loan or a job rather than a gift, so preserving the recipient's self-respect and encouraging self help" - converts to a contemporary model for corporate social responsibility, "To give as part of a programme of strategic social investment, which has been developed in consultation with stakeholders, is consistent with other aspects of the corporation's conduct, and is informed by a wider vision of sustainable social improvement".