CAMPAIGN, NEWS AND SOCIAL REPORT
TEAR PROJECT
WEAVING SUSTAINABLE NETS


Santafé, Martinho

Promoted by Ethos Institute and by the Multilateral Investment Fund (Fumin), from the Interamerican Development bank (BID), the TEAR Project – weaving sustainable net – is focused on increasing the small and midsize companies (PMEs) competition and sustainability, and to enlarge the market opportunities.

Seeking to accomplish the company’ social responsibility measures in small and midsize companies that work on the value chains of strategy companies in seven sectors of economy: sugar and alcohol; civil construction; energy; mining; oil and gas, steel mill and retail.

In each one of these areas, you can find, at least, one big company with advanced knowledge in RSE to moor the program. Concerning Campos Bay (oil and gas), the anchor company is Petrobras; being the Oil and Gas Brazilian Institute (IBP) responsible for conducting the program. In Macaé, supported by Sebrae – RJ, 16 PMEs have been selected from the value chains (among clients and suppliers), in which the anchor company is committed to work for the implementation and incorporation of a social responsible management in the internal procedures and in the interested parts relationship.

In Campos Bay

the TEAR Project is being implemented in Macaé by the following entities: Aristóteles Riani, Ethos Institute local consultant; Gabriela Levone, from IBP; Glauco Nader and Fernanda Falquer, from Sebrae-RJ. Campos Bay oil, gas and energy local productive arrangement foresees 25 actions and one of them contemplates company’ social responsibility, as said by Glauco Nader:” In May, 2006, we have accomplished a seminar in Sebrae/Sesi, discussing the Ethos Institute indicators, and we had 180 people there, which shows the interest in the topic. Identifying the suppressed demand, some other actions were made by ‘Rede Petro Bacia de Campos’, among them the implementation of TEAR Project. “The program – explains Aristóteles, Estácio de Sá University Professor, in Macaé – aims changes in the Company’s management model based on the sustainability criteria”. And Glauco adds: “The Ethos Institute has formatted a social responsible methodology more flexible to be applied in small and midsize companies.”

During this process, as an instrument of evaluation and monitoring of the obtained progresses, the participant companies will answer to Ethos Indicators of Company’ Social responsibility and will fill the Brazilian Matrix of Sustainability’s Evidence, developed in partnership among Sustainability, International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Ethos Institute.

Despite the anchor-companies, the program counts with partners (sector, region and national) which must pass the experience to other companies and value chains, connected to the same area or areas, taking it to other companies and leaving it available to the ones that are interested in it. Called inducing agents or inducing behaviors, they are institutions and business entities that can influence the company’s behavior in its area and contribute to a better environment for the RSE incorporation by the Brazilian companies.

The national program counts on nowadays with a direct participation in nine big companies that work as anchors and the 120 PMEs that belong to the eight market value chains, involving others 800 companies during the mobilization’s actions. It also counts with partnership among sector, region and national company’s entities.

Engajamento

he TEAR Project was created in an excellent moment, according to the huge research made by Ethos Institute and by the newspaper Valor Econômico, showing that the Brazilian companies, including the small ones, are more engaged on the social responsibility process than the foreign ones, a clear tendency detected at Campos Bay.

Petrobrás, a Project Tear anchor-company, recognizes this work done in Macaé, according to the manager José Luiz Reis: “ Petrobrás has as goods and services hiring policy to privilege suppliers that have RSE as strategic management. The Tear Project is contributing to the good practices of RSE in each Oil and Gas Value Chain, and to the incorporation of a sustainable management as a differential product to the participating companies. As a result of the project, Petrobrás identifies the development of a multiplier chain that comes to reinforce the RSE inclusion policy under the hiring criteria”.

Como funciona

The Tear Project, according to Gabriela Levone, from IBP, keeps monthly eight hours meetings. Besides, the methodology predicts consulting to help the company’s implementation of all the work made during these meetings. The local consultant, Aristóteles Riani, observes that Sebrae is an important part of divulgation and the program attendance.

In each of these meetings, one subject is pointed, such as principles and values, mission and vision, strategic planning, indicators workshop, essential criteria, ethics code and work relationship. Each company has an internal task, decided in these meetings, that is why the local consultant is so important.

The Tear Project has the duration of 36 months with 24 meetings; 10 of them were already made in Macaé. “In the last 60 days, the project became strong and is in the implementation phase, which results are seen. The companies are getting together in sub-groups for subjects discussions and for the practice identification that can be easily disseminated”, says Aristóteles. There are seven topics in these discussions: values, transparency and management; internal public; suppliers; consumers and clients; community; and government and society.

The evaluation works this way: the companies fulfill the on-line indicators and Ethos Institute sends reports with each ones grades. After that, they must consistency react. “Nowadays the companies are learning again to elaborate their strategic plans. And it is important that they can anticipate its plans in a sustainable way”, says Gabriela Levone.

Aristóteles sees this procedure as a fantastic opportunity to develop future company’s leaders to the new sustainable culture. “By the today’s needs, and as it’s a long turn change of habit, we need stronger actions. By now, they have been shy, seeing that 16 companies are involved into the project, in a 5,000 company’s universe that there are in Campos Bay”.

The companies

These companies are part of the Tear Project in Campos Bay: Aliminas, Drogaria Babuska, Edcontrol, Globomar, GT Náutica, Hidropartes, Jevin, K-Lund do Brasil, Laboratório Bioanálise, Ladder Consult, Falk Nutec, Óleo Hidráulica, RT Lea, Empenha, Sampling, and ThreadPipe Machine.


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