CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ITS IMPLICATION ON COMMUNITIES: WELLS FARGO’S IMPACT

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 In our quest to utilize the resources of the earth, we mostly find that the most precious commodities needed to man are tucked away in some remote corners of the globe or amongst a people little known to us. To benefit from such discoveries, we have to seek the consent of such fortunate people in order to explore the resources they have been endowed with. For most of the years, such activities of bridging this gap between the seekers of such resources and the custodians of these resources have led to several misunderstandings even leading to civil unrest in some parts of the world in some circumstances. Case in point, Devon Energy Companies agreeing to pay about $6.15 million for underpaying royalties for gas on United States Federal land (www.justice.gov) and there again the ensuing battle for Lithium, gold and other natural resources by criminal syndicates in the Democratic Republic of Congo (De Jong, D., and Stewart, J., 2019).



The contrast between Wells Fargo and others: CSR in play

Wells Fargo has on the other hand, chartered a name for itself as a globally-acclaimed “we-care bank”. According to Petricevic and Teece (2019), the large nature of multi-national companies gives them an equally large responsibility to protect the economic environment within which they are situated ergo their physical surroundings too. Wells Fargo has undertaken several of such community-impact projects and this is a proof of their sensitivity to their society. The quest for better products has come with a  lot of companies dedicating a lot more of their yearly budgets to Responsible Research and Innovation (Von Schomberg, 2013). This inclusion of the term “responsible” is a public gesture of the conscious efforts of such firms in committing to the realization of the SDGs. Why then is our focus on Wells Fargo, a bank whose effects in the global economic chain are felt in people’s pockets and the fundings and budgets of large corporations and even governments?



A commitment to CSR: Wells Fargo way

Wells Fargo has created an avenue for its staff to engage in activities that give back to community. In one of such instances, the bank touts the over 24,000 hours given in service to charities towards the building of sustainable homes for people in surrounding communities by some of its staff over a month-long period of volunteer activities; all available with Wells Fargo as a conduit for community impact for its employees. There again, over the period of the pandemic, in a bid to again show a sense of community spirit, Wells Fargo again committed to a $10,000 grant to national non-profit Big Sunday which was all meant for health workers in California. Wells Fargo invested $455 million in grants to several countries across and in 50 states across the United States of America. These funds were all allocated for the basic needs of those in these states and countries. Such acts of good will have seated the firm among the most sensitive and community-thoughtful organizations across the globe. (www.wellsfargo.com) 

In conclusion, Wells Fargo is contributing its quota to meeting SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities and it is incumbent on each of us as individuals to be circumspect in assessing our contribution to these SDGs. In the words of Wells Fargo’s Bill Daley, Vice Chair of Public Affairs at Wells Fargo, they are on a “journey to create greater community impact through business and philanthropy” (https://stories.wf.com/).

 




References

De Jong, D., & Stewart, J. (2019). Illicit Exploitation of Natural Resource. In C. Jalloh, K. Clarke, & V. Nmehielle (Eds.), The African Court of Justice and Human and People’s Rights in Context: Development and Challenges (pp.590-618). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Doi:10.1017/9781108525343.022

Petricevic, O., Teece, D.J., 2019. The structural reshaping of globalization: Implications for strategic sectors, profiting from innovation, and the multinational enterprise. Journal of International Business Studies 50 (9), 1487-1512

Von Schomberg, R., 2013. A vision of responsible research and innovation. Responsible innovation: Managing the responsible emergence of science and innovation in society, 51-74

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/devon-energy-companies-agree-pay-615-million-settle-false-claims-act-allegations-underpa [Accessed on 22th February, 2023 at 4:50am.]

https://stories.wf.com/supporting-communities-wells-fargos-455m-impact [Accessed on 23rd February, 2023 at 6:00pm]

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