Bell Canada's Clean Capitalism: Combining Planet and Profit

When you think of the most sustainable corporations in the

world, Bell Canada may not jump to mind. Nonetheless,

Corporate Knights listed Bell as one of only eight Canadian

companies to make the Global 100 list of sustainable com

panies for 2011. Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) was also

named by Maclean's/Jantzi-Sustainalytics as one of Canada's

Top 50 Socially Responsible Corporations. It also made the

prestigious FTSE4Good Global Index. It is not surprising

that it is an active member of the United Nations Global

Compact and that it adheres to the Compact's principles on

human rights, labour, the environment, and anticorruption.

Bell is Canada's largest communications company,

providing consumers and businesses with solutions to all of

their communications needs. Bell is wholly owned by BCE

Inc. It has a number of divisions including Bell Mobility and

Bell Media (Canada's premier multimedia company with

assets in television, radio, and digital media, including CTV,

Canada's number one television network, and the country's

most-watched specialty channels).

Bell takes social responsibility and sustainability seri

ously. It has no doubt that acting responsibly is central to

achieving the sustainable business success that is essential

to achieving its corporate goal of being recognized by

customers as Canada's leading communications company.

"Corporate responsibility is not a program at Bell. It is a way

of life," said Michael Sabia, Bell's former CEO. "Our success

as a companyand as a countrywill be defined by the sus

tainability of the communities in which we live and work."

In achieving sustainability, the company stresses that each

employee has a part to play in accomplishing this agenda.

George Cope, Bell's current president and CEO, adds that

Bell operates "according to the highest ethical principles

and remain[s] committed to the highest standards of corpo

rate responsibility" in all of its interactions with customers,

shareholders, suppliers, and team members as well as to the

broader communities in which we work and live.

Bell's sustainability vision is one of contributing to the

well-being of society by enabling responsible economic

growth, connecting communities, and safeguarding the

natural environment. As Canada's largest communications

company, Bell believes that it has a responsibility to make its

services accessible to all members of society, including those

with disabilities or living in remote areas.

The company takes pride in the fact that its founder,

Alexander Graham Bell, was driven by the conviction that

he could help deaf people hear and communicate better.

"That same spiritof innovation, of altruism, of service"

remains at Bell today, more than 130 years later. Not only

does it still help those with disabilities to communicate

easily and more efficiently, it also provides telemedicine,

telepsychiatry services, and e-learning services to remote

communities.

Bell has a multi-faceted sustainability program. It

begins with the workplace, where it strives not only to have

a safe and healthy working environment, but also to have

fully engaged employees. It invested almost $15 million in

training and development, and was honoured in 2011 for its

excellence in workplace diversity and inclusiveness.

Bell conducts trend analysis and benchmark studies,

monitors stakeholder feedback, and undertakes surveys to

ensure that it is responding to issues relevant to Canadian

consumers. Its 2010 survey revealed that privacy and data

security, responsible marketing practices, protection of chil

dren in the online world, reduction of energy consumption

and emissions, and the use of responsible suppliers were

among the issues of greatest importance to its customers.

Bell has a wide range of responsible marketing pro

grams. First, protecting privacy and the use of customer

information is never taken lightly at Bell. In addition to hav

ing all of its team members review and sign its code of eth

ics on an annual basis, its representatives undergo privacy

training so that customer rights are carefully protected. It

has developed an easier-to-read privacy statement and has

posted answers to privacy questions its customers frequently

ask on its website.

Bell has been working to improve telemarketing

practices and has been working with the Canadian Radio

television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)

to encourage companies to respect the National Do Not

Call List. It works with the CRTC to investigate complaints.

Bell knows that customers want clear price information,

so it works to ensure that it provides clear descriptions of

rates and charges for its products and service plans. Bell

seeks out suppliers who have a commitment to sustainable

development, environmental protection, health, safety, eth

ics, and fair labour practices. All suppliers have to conformto Bell's Supplier Code of Conduct. Rare minerals are criti

cal inputs to many telecommunication products, but many

of these come from conflict-torn countries. Many know

the story of conflict diamonds, but other rare minerals

also may be mined in conditions that abuse human rights

or result in the support of armed conflict. Bell works with

the manufacturers of its products to avoid the use of such

minerals.

Life cycle issues and product disposal are growing

in importance. Bell was the first company to establish a

Canada-wide collection program for reusing and recycling

mobile phones. Customers can drop off their old mobile

devices, batteries, and accessories at Bell's authorized retail

ers and at participating Caisse Desjardins, or they can ship

them back to Bell free of charge via Canada Post. Since

2003, Bell has recovered more than 879 000 phones. In 2010

alone, it also collected for reuse or recycling 4.7 tonnes of

batteries and accessories that would have otherwise would

have ended up in landfills.

Protecting children from exploitation in a complex

communication environment is another of Bell's priorities.

The company founded the Canadian Coalition Against

Internet Child Exploitation. As part of this initiative, Bell

developed Cleanfeed Canada, which reduces accidental

access to images of child sexual abuse and discourages those

trying to access or distribute child pornography. Bell is also

a lead partner in Cybertip.ca, Canada's tip line for reporting

the online exploitation of children. As well, it is the found

ing sponsor of Media Awareness Network's Be Web Aware

website, which promotes the safe use of the Internet for

children and their parents.

Bell plays a leadership role in the telecommunications

industry, and it takes environmental protection into account

in all aspects of its operations, including the deployment

and maintenance of its networks and the efficient use

of energy and resources. As its 2010 Sustainability report

notes, "Using energy efficiently not only helps the envi

ronmentit also saves money and supports our strategic

imperative of achieving a competitive cost structure."

Bell has been working hard to reduce its carbon foot

print. Since 2003, it has reduced its greenhouse gas emis

sions by 22 percent. It recycled 89.8 percent of its waste

materials. By using more electronic billing, it saved the

paper equivalent to 33 000 trees, and by using teleconfer

encing instead of travelling to distant meetings, it further

lowered its contribution to harmful emissions. Bell has a

large fleet of service vehicles. By equipping 6000 vehicles

with telematics (integrated use of telecommunications

and informatics), Bell was able to reduce fuel consumption

in 2010 by 2.8 million litres and reduce greenhouse gas

emissions by 7777 tonnes (the equivalent of taking 1900

mid-sized cars off the road for a year).

When building new facilities (called campuses at Bell),

it strives to make them as environmentally friendly as pos

sible through the use of natural light, energy recovery

cooling systems, water saving devices, and landscaping that

does not require irrigation. Its new Montreal campus was

LEED-certified by the Canadian Green Building Council, and

its Mississauga, Ontario, campus received a waste minimiza

tion award from the Recycling Council of Ontario.

Bell also supports the communities in which it operates,

including northern communities. Its employees logged more

than 256 000 hours as community volunteers. Bell targeted

improved mental health, Canada's most pressing health con

cern, as its primary cause. In 2010 alone, it contributed $15.8

million to mental health and centres for addiction across

the country. In a 2011 program called Bell Let's Talk Day, an

anti-stigma initiative, Bell contributed 5 cents for each of its

customers' 66 million text messages and long-distance calls,

raising an additional $3.3 million for mental health programs.

Bell is also one of the chief supporters of the Kids Help

Phone. The annual Walk for Kids raised $2.5 million for the

cause in 2010 and drew 15 000 participants, including 2000

Bell team members.

Bell Canada is a company that certainly demonstrates

that you can do well be doing good. It has been consistently

profitable, and it does all of these things while sustaining

the world for future generations. Indeed, Bell proves that

good business and good corporate citizenship can go hand

in hand.

Questions for Discussion

1.

Give as many examples as you can for how Bell Canada

defies the common social criticisms of marketing.

2.

Why is Bell successful in applying concepts of sustain

ability?

3.

Analyze Bell according to the environmental sustain

ability portfolio in Figure 4.2.

4.

Does Bell practise enlightened marketing? Support

your answer with as many examples as possible.

5.

Would Bell be more financially successful if it were not

so focused on social responsibility? Explain.