Jan Devens of DSM and Z. H. TANK Produce Webinar on Corporate Social Responsibility in China

Online, May 18, 2012 (Newswire.com) - To most companies, corporate social responsibility is a poorly integrated afterthought in a profit-driven agenda. But one company has proven that not only is CSR a business driver for growth, it is essential to profitability in the long run. In collaboration with Z. H. Tank, Jan Devens, Vice President of Operations and Responsible Care at DSM in China, sat down to tell the world how CSR could be an effective lever for business success.

In "Leveraging Corporate Social Responsibility to Gain Competitive Advantage in the Chinese Business Climate" webinar, the macro-landscape of the business world where CSR get practiced is examined in depth. According to Devens, the new Chinese Five-year plan "points to CSR," and CSR fits well with the principles of harmonious society.

In today's world where many companies with poor track records in product stewardship or process safety get exposed, Devens advises that top management focus not only on the risk management part of CSR, but also the business opportunity side of sustainability.

"It's not just really about advocacy...If we can provide business solutions that are profitable, indeed with a better ecological performance and also ensure product safety, process and operation safety and take care of our workers and the stakeholders around us, then I believe we have a very good chance to be successful for another 100 years in business," Devens says.

In Devens' view, CSR is not something as "add-on", but a natural element of business. He further expands in detail to share with the webinar audience a set of steps, tools and practices that upper-level managers can take away and put to their work in CSR auditing, planning, implementation and reporting.

So far, the excerpt of Jan Devens' webinar has been featured on a couple of top media outlets in China, including China.org, and China Economic Net.

Jan Devens is the current regional leader at DSM for sustainability. He has over 30 years experience with DSM at various locations, starting his career as an engineer, purchaser, large capital project manager, and a plant and site manager. Since 2009, Mr. Devens has been based in China to guide the grow ambitions of DSM, both strategic- and operational-wise, and in charge of large capital projects in China.

DSM is a global leader in health, nutrition and material sciences, with annual net sales of around €9 billion. The company is listed on NYSE Euronext.

About Z. H. TANK
Z. H. TANK, a sister-brand of Z. H. STUDIO, is a knowledge dissemination platform with a library of customized webinars for Chinese elite business executives and professionals. Through webinars, homegrown and global industry leaders share with the audience the latest trends, best practices, hot topics, and technologies that impact the world of business. The bilingual library of webinars also aims to enable the seamless integration between global perspective, know-how and local business insights and wisdom.