Corporate social responsibility in Turkey’s financial sector

The term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has gained wide publicity in recent years. Large international companies have popularised it by promoting sustainable business strategies and dedicating funds to social and ecological projects. CSR has not only gained importance for large economic players, but also for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as stakeholder and consumer awareness rises. Additionally, CSR brings together stakeholders and other businesses, thereby encouraging its employees to manage their environmental impact and/or engage with the community.

adelphi had been tasked to support the Halkbank, a key player in the financial sector in Turkey, with their CSR Capacity Building Programme. Services included training marketing personnel on CSR, while focusing on topics relevant to SMEs, e.g. cleaner production, social management systems and environmental approaches. adelphi helped the Halkbank to incorporate the SWISS Bank future loan appraisal models within their CSR credit programmes. This was accomplished by screening all international practices for loan appraisal. The result was published as manuals, templates, easy to use guides and on the job training for personnel.