Dialogue【CSR and Company Image】
Today I am here with Bill Day, the CEO of Mercury Athletics, to discuss CSR practices and modern business.
Welcome, Bill, thanks for joining us.
Thank you, Naomi. It's my pleasure.
Mercury Athletics is known as a leader in corporate social responsibility.
Mercury: 水星
Venus: 金星
Earth: 地球
Mars: 火星
Jupiter: 木星
Saturn: 土星
Uranus: 天王星
Neptune: 海王星
athletics: 田径运动
But that wasn't always the case, was it?
No, it wasn't.
In fact, about ten years ago, we were involved in a pretty major scandal with one of our overseas suppliers.
The supplier had illegally outsourced our order to another factory that used child labor.
outsource: 外包
I remember there was an infamous article in New York News,
which heavily criticized Mercury for being a "heartless corporation".
Right. That was a huge wake-up call for us.
We had to terminate our contract with our supplier, which was 100 million dollars.
It was an expensive decision, but it became an opportunity for our company.
infamous: 臭名昭著的
What do you mean by "an opportunity"?
It was the chance for us to be a better kind of company.
Since then we have been conducting quarterly inspections of all the factories we work with, and publishing the results online.
And we only outsource products to factories that meet our standards.
It costs us more, but it sends a clear message that we take our standards seriously.
You can't put a price on your values.
conduct: 进行
put a price on: 定价
It seems that your efforts have paid off.
The press you've been getting these days is much better than it used to be.
Well, thank you. We've definitely been trying.
And yes, we're proud to have won awards for our efforts to promote safer working conditions.
As a multinational company, we believe we need to do more than just meet the bottom line.
press: 报道
promote: 促进
So tell us what the future holds in store for Mercury.
Well, most recently, we have been sponsoring sports activities for teenagers and children in local communities.
And we're continuing to improve supply chain sustainability, to make production more environmentally friendly.
The goal is that by the end of next year we will be able to implement sustainable manufacturing processes across all our suppliers.
That is an admirable goal. I wish Mercury the best of luck.
Thank you. It was great talking to you, Naomi.
admirable: 令人敬佩的
Question
- How did Mercury's supplier handle its order?
> they illegally outsourced it - The article was a huge wake-up call for them.
- They want people to know that they take their values seriously.
- What have Mercury won awards for?
> promoting safer working conditions - What have they been sponsoring in local community?
> sports activities for children
