Bell is Canada’s largest communications company, providing consumers and businesses with solutions to all 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 seriously. 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 company—and as a country—will be defined by the sustainability 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 president, and CEO adds that Bell operates “according to the highest ethical principles and remain[s] committed to the highest standards of corporate responsibility” in all of its interactions with customers, shareholders, suppliers, and team members as well as with the broader communities in which people 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 spirit—of 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, but it also provides telemedicine, telepsychiatry services, and

e-learning services to remote communities.

Bell has a multifaceted 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 honored 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 children 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.

The company also has a wide range of responsible marketing programs. First, protecting the privacy and the use of customer information is never taken lightly at Bell. In addition to having all its team members review and sign its code of ethics 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 also works with the CRTC to investigate complaints.

Bell seeks out suppliers who have a commitment to sustainable development, environmental protection, health, safety, ethics, and fair labour practices. All suppliers have to conform to Bell’s Supplier Code of Conduct. Rare minerals are critical 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 may also 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. 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 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 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 environment—it also saves money and supports our strategic imperative of achieving a competitive cost structure.”

Bell is continually working to reduce its carbon footprint. Since 2003, it has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 22 percent. It recycled 89.8 percent of its waste materials. By using more electronic billing, it saved the paper equivalent of 33 000 trees, and by using teleconferencing instead of traveling to distant meetings, it further lowered its contribution to harmful emissions.

When building new facilities (called campuses at Bell), it strives to make them as environmentally friendly as possible 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 minimization award from the Recycling Council of Ontario.

As well, Bell is 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 by 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:

1. Why is Bell successful in applying concepts of sustainability?

2. How Bell is serving the environment and society.

3. Explain the challenges that Bell has faced since its inception till today.

4. How geographical and cultural factors have changed with time for Bell?

5. Based on your understanding, summarize the case in your own words.

Sources: Extracts and other case information are from Bell Canada 2010 Corporate Responsibility Report, “Let’s Talk About Sustainability” (available on the Bell Canada website, BCE.ca), and

Bell News Release, “Bell Recognized Nationally and Internationally for Leadership in Corporate Social Responsibility,” July 2007, both accessed January 2012.