Companhia Brasileira de Distribuição (CBD) is committed to the building of a fairer and more sustained society and believes this mission only will be accomplished with the effective participation of its different types of public. In this regard, it maintains permanent dialogue channels with customers and consumers, employees and family members, suppliers and partners, the Government and society. The result is a boost in the manner CBD conducts its business: pursue for sustainability focused on ethics.
If in our last year Social Balance Sheet we pointed out that our pact with the development in Brazil was clearly evidenced by the fact that CBD is the largest employer in Brazil, now this reality is even more solid. CBD's association with Grupo Sendas resulted in Companhia Sendas Distribuidora, with the incorporation of 63 stores, and increased the number of Company's workers from 55,500, in 2003, to nearly 64,000, in December 2004.
CBD's Social Balance Sheet, published since 1998, witnesses the experience acquired in the management of corporate responsibility and in the expansion of actions concerned with a sustained development. For the first time, our publication incorporates the guidelines proposed by Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), an international organization establishing an international model of sustainability report adopted worldwide by leading companies. The sustainability reports represent a type of evolution of the annual reports, as they incorporate social and environmental dimensions, besides economic-financial dimensions, by means of observable indicators. Our goal is to expand over the next year, the utilization of GRI principles and indicators. Hence, this increases the possibilities of dialogue with our strategic public and society is able to follow our performance, our achievements and challenges.
The review process of the Code of Ethics, which took place in 2004, exemplifies our transparent management, based on dialogue. The document, which represents the global way of thinking of CBD, relied on the contribution of all Company's sectors. There is an accurate description of the roles of strategic public and guidelines on the best manner to relate with each one. In this regard, the "Ombudsman do Fornecedor" (Supplier Ombudsman), pioneer in the segment of Brazilian retail, and "Casa do Cliente" (Customer's House) play a fundamental role in improving even more our relationship with these partners.
CBD strongly believes that moving towards a sustainable world is an imperative task for all society, and that social responsibility practices can assure continuous improvement in quality of life in our country. In addition to reaffi rm our commitment to the development of Brazil, we hope this Social Balance becomes an inspiration for improving our work and for those who read it.
The Company is aware that its great assets are employees and family members, with the force of the regional, cultural and social diversity. From the experience of senior employees, the youth of our apprentices and power of women, until the capacity of impaired employees, this cohesive group molds CBD's success. They constitute a pillar of the Company, creating valuable manners of interaction with the communities and customers. The "Voluntariado" (Volunteer Program), for instance, involved two thousand employees in 2004. The Store Committees, on their turn, enabled customers to give their opinion about the management of Pão de Açúcar flag stores and suggest initiatives. Another important accomplishment was the development of a pilot plan, which enabled the job opportunity and integration into the Company of youngsters from Febem (São Paulo State Foundation for the Youth Welfare) under social-educational measures.
The integration among corporate areas consists of another factor responsible for CBD's social advances. In 2004, this movement has intensified, optimizing the management of programs and Company's actions. The performance in corporate social responsibility is followed-up by the Social Responsibility Committee, which relies on the coordination of Instituto Pão de Açúcar de Desenvolvimento Humano (IPA) and representatives of Business Units, Corporate Marketing, Commercial and Human Resources.
The social investment in the community by means of education is the mission of Instituto Pão de Açúcar de Desenvolvimento Humano (IPA), which, in its sixth year of existence, created more than 31,000 opportunities to youngsters. One of the innumerous achievements was a replica of "Projeto Acordes" (Chord Project) - which teaches boys and girls to play musical instruments - in four Unified Educational Centers (CEUs) of the São Paulo local government. IPA enables the access to a cultural universe generally restrict, supporting youngsters and family members to transform their reality and build a more promising future.
The external recognition validates the path adopted. In 2004, the Company's management model received the awards, such as "Guia Exame de Boa Cidadania Corporativa - Empresa modelo de responsabilidade social; o Prêmio Valor Social - Categoria Grande Prêmio" (Exame Guide of Good Corporate Citizenship - Model company of social responsibility; the Social Value Award - Big Award Category); "CBD - 4ª empresa mais respeitada do País - Financial Times/PricewaterhouseCoopers" (CBD - 4th more respected company in Brazil); and Retail Community Service, annually granted by the New Yorker magazine Executive Technology to the best projects of community relations and social responsibility performed by retail companies.
The Management |