Mixing business and idealism

10 October 2009: After a bidding round with proposals from several organizations and companies, the international consultancy company COWI was selected to be in charge of implementing the ambitious project of CSSM (MASC) in Mozambique. COWI subsidiary in Mozambique, AustralCOWI is the company now implementing the project on field. Some members of Civil Society were reacting, saying that it wasn’t right to select a commercial company for such an idealistic project – “how can they preach democracy and citizens’ rights, when all they want is to make money…?” CSSM, the Civil Society Support Mechanism, is a five-year programme (2007-1012) initiated by the Department for International Development (DFID) and Irish Aid which works to improve governance and accountability for ordinary Mozambican Citizens through strengthening and diversifying the engagement of Mozambican civil society organizations with monitoring and advocacy on governance.  Luís Magaço,  Managing Director of the company; why do you think AustralCOWI was selected to implement this project? - I belive that the experience of AustralCOWI in issues related to Governance and Civil Society is crucial for the implementation of a project like MASC. Austral, that later became AustralCOWI, was for example responsible for the creation of various non-commercial institutions such as AIMO, CTA and Ecosida. In 2003 we also conducted a study about corruption in Mozambique, which gave us a deeper understanding of the role of Civil Society in democratice processes and the fight for better governance and better social conditions for all. Do you believe AustralCOWI is able to do a better job than well experienced non-governmental organizations? - I am confident that we are able to do a good job. We have a team with a mix of good national and international consultants with a broad experience from Civil Society Organizations, and this experience is for sure useful for the success of this project. Isn’t AustralCOWI’s concern more about making money, than fighting poverty? - Not necessarily. It's true that we are a commercial company, but we have on several occasions engaged in pró-bono (free of charge) social work. Actually AustralCOWI is invloved with several filanthropic activities, promoting social corporate responsibility, not just supporting the development of the society, but also ensuring the creation of means for sustainability. “Fazendo o melhor por Moçambique” ("Making a better Mozambique") is the slogan of AustralCOWI - why is private business important for development in this country? - Civil society is the productive force of a nation, garanteeing innovation, creating production and delivery of the essencial services to the population. AustralCOWI makes strong efforts, in line with the mission of the company, to promote values, ideas and knowledge that the country needs for the improvement of the lives of all Mozambicans.  Jacob Ulrich, Business Development Director of AustralCOWI and responsible for quality control of the implementation of MASC; how do you ensure that the project is implemented with high quality? - Quality first and foremost comes from competent and motivated employees and a management structure which supports staff in developing and applying their skills. This includes that decision making should be almost democratic. The best argument - not the highest ranking person - should generally win the discussion and all staff should be encouraged to add their ideas and creativity. In addition we have a pretty strong QA team of specialists who review major outputs and in different ways advise the core team members within their areas of expertise. This aims to provide competent "second opinions" and broaden the team's understanding.  Do you understand the critical voices asking: “How can a commercial company like AustralCOWI preach democracy, when all they want is to make business…?” - I have not heard anyone say that, probably because we are not engaged in preaching democracy. On the contrary, we have been hired to provide professional services at a high technical competence level and with transparent and un-biased management. That is what we aim to do and I think we are succeeding so far. I find it quite natural that a private company can provide services to the civil society sector and the donors. It happens all the time. Civil society also uses private operators for auditing, transport, lodging, supply of stationary and a million other things. So why not fund management and capacity building which is what we do in MASC?  How do you mix business and idealism? -  COWI was started about 80 years ago by two professors who were in love with building bridges. The company has grown since and now comprises about 6000 people doing a lot of things, but the fundamental COWI spirit remains the same: professional pride and technical competence. That is in my experience what motivates most staff. Money is of course also important but somewhat secondary.  When I started in the company about 12 years ago as a junior consultant, I was surprised to learn that in my department there were serious discussions about whether the company needed a profit or not! As my colleagues said, "we and COWI are in the business to do the projects that we believe in, not to make money". Today everybody understands that we do need a positive bottom-line to continue our development. But the story tells something about what motivates COWI staff. (By Nina Bull Jorgensen, Communications Consultant, AustralCOWI) < Prev   Next >