CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) & GROUPON

Presented by Princess Allen, Abbey Mackenzie Kerl, Helen Ning from The University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy

Today’s agenda  Defining corporate social responsibiltiy  Outlining our process: research, interviews, GRI indicators  Developing the scorecard: Groupon's score & future plan  Recommendations  Q&A

Defining corporate social responsibility Economic impact

Environmental sustainability

Firm culture

Social innovation

CSR

Why CSR?  Stability  Less exposure to risk

 Investors value CSR  Sustainable investing is up 22%

 Reputation & loyalty  Ben & Jerry's socially conscience ice cream

 Shared value  The coincidence of company’s objectives and society's needs

Our roadmap External research • CSR indices • Certifications • Best practices

Interview stakeholders • Dept roles • Mission & values • CSR awareness • Roles in CSR

Evaluate GRI indicators • Selection criteria • Calculate steps

Develop recommendations:  Appropriate indicators  Overall CSR strategy  CSR short-term, mid-term, & long-term plan

Research tells us...  Alternative CSR indices or certification  

B Corporation Certification: Ben & Jerry, Patagonia SAM’s Corporate Sustainability Assessment: Siemens and Unilever

 Different CSR approaches  Overall compliance vs. specialization  GRI stands out as the gold standard of CSR

Interviews with internal stakeholders  Interviewed 15 departments

 Included department-specific questions  Extracted lessons learned from the following general

questions related to CSR

What is Groupon's mission? Groupon says…  Being an operating system for local commerce

 Meeting customer satisfaction  Providing a discovery tool for consumers

What is your definition of CSR? Groupon says…  Treating employees & customers fairly  Doing the right thing  Creating impact, avoiding halo effect

What could your dept’s role be in CSR? Groupon says…

 Meeting merchants' needs  Enhancing subscribers' experience  Engaging employees

Lessons learned  Direct & indirect economic impact  Groupon cares about its bottom line  Helps create market efficiencies  Customers are key stakeholders

Lessons learned (cont’d)  Environmental sustainability  Green Committee is making strides  High awareness, but most departments overlook potential connection between their role & the environment

Lessons learned (cont’d)  Firm culture  Departments interpret Groupon's values differently, creating a challenge to find CSR focus  Everyone agrees upon a clear mission statement  Groupon takes pride in its fun personality

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)  Non-profit org committed to promoting sustainability  Offers a set of reporting guidelines  Measures performance across: 

Social



Environmental



Economic



Governance

Why GRI?  Defines sustainability broadly  Allows for flexible reporting  Facilitates benchmarking

 Adds value through process 

Helps formalize sustainable vision



Leads to internal process improvement



Facilitates communication



Increases employee loyalty

GRI Indicators

"Grouponizing" the GRI Core to Groupon’s business functions?

54 Recommended Indicators • Economic

Impact on sustainability efforts? Meaningful to key stakeholders?

• Environmental

• Labor and Decent Work • Human Rights • Society

• Product Responsibility

Ability to track?

Recommended indicators 8 Economic • Standard financial disclosures • Indirect economic impacts 13 Environmental • Recycling & Green Committee • Impact of data centers

12 Labor Practice and Decent Work • Safe & healthy work environment • Meaningful employee development • Diversity

6 Human Rights • Manufacturer vetting process

10 Society • Impact on local communities • Anti-corruption • Public policy efforts 5 Product Responsibility • Marketing & communications • Customer satisfaction

Calculating steps to indicator

1 STEP

No Policy

2 STEPS

Policy

3 STEPS

Implement

Full Report

Economic indicator: SEC filings

1 STEP

No Policy

2 STEPS

Policy

3 STEPS

Implement

Full Report

Environmental indicator: energy usage

1 STEP

No Policy

2 STEPS

Policy

Design energy efficient policy & initiatives

3 STEPS

Implement

Implement energy efficient practices

Full Report

Analyze and report external impact

Labor practice indicator: employee training

1 STEP

No Policy

Policy

Employee training policy

Implement

Collect training results by gender & employee category

Full Report

Where is Groupon now? Economics

Environmental

Labor Practices

Human Rights

Society

Product Responsibility 0

Already Fulfilling 2 Steps

5

10

1 Step 3 Steps

15

Where is Groupon going?

19 indicators

9 indicators

Right Now Medium Term

16 indicators

10 indicators

Short Term Long Term

Recommendations Translate effort into benchmarks   

Understand external stakeholders’ expectations around CSR Develop a sustainability report using GRI as a guideline Consider adding unique “indicators” to each category

Communicate Groupon's economic impact 

 

Conduct economic impact analysis in local communities Develop tools to measure impact of Groupon Grassroots Establish Local Merchant Initiative

Engage internally  

Streamline core values Use CSR to help drive employee engagement

Q&A