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Global Strategies for Global Companies: Case Studies
- DaimlerChrysler, South Africa (DCSA)
DaimlerChrysler has 4,500 employees in three locations in South Africa. The company manufactures Mercedes-Benz passenger cars and Mitsubishi pickup trucks for the South African market and exports to the United Kingdom, Japan, and Australia.
The HIV/AIDS program covers DaimlerChrysler's employees and their families, a total of 23,000 people.
- Heineken International
With operations in more than 170 countries, Heineken is the world's most international brewing group. Production is based at more than 110 brewers in more than 50 countries.
The company has had an HIV/AIDS prevention program in operation for more than 10 years in central Africa.
- Eskom
Eskom is one of the world's largest electricity utilities. Based in South Africa, it runs 20 power stations and maintains more than 26,000 KMS of transmission lines. Eskom has more than 35,000 employees.
Eskom has a comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention and education program that uses more than 1,200 trained peer educators.
DaimlerChrysler, South Africa (DCSA)
The purpose of this HIV/AIDS workplace program is to ensure a uniform and fair approach to the effective prevention of HIV/AIDS among employees and their families, and the comprehensive management of HIV-positive employees and employees living with AIDS.
The company's HIV/AIDS program was developed with the aid of demographic profiling of the workforce and through the active participation of its key stakeholders, including GTZ, the German Government's international technical cooperation agency. General principles of the policy outline are:
- Consultation: This DCSA HIV/AIDS workplace program has been developed and will be implemented in consultation with DCSA employees at all levels.
- Equity: Employees living with HIV/AIDS have the same rights and obligations as all staff members, and they will be protected against all forms of unfair discrimination based on their HIV status.
- Confidentiality: All information and test results of an employee concerning HIV and AIDS are confidential. An employee may give informed consent to release such information to individuals specifically identified by an employee.
- Rights and Responsibilities: This program is in compliance with existing South African laws regarding HIV/AIDS, as well as with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Code on HIV/AIDS and Employment. Breaches of this program will be dealt with under the normal disciplinary and grievance procedures of DCSA.
DaimlerChrysler's Response
The company determined a need for one peer educator for every 30 employees, so they needed to train nearly 150 individuals throughout three company sites. Using criteria identified by UNAIDS, employee groups were invited to select their own peer educators from the pool of volunteers. The peer educators offer monthly sessions in the workplace with informal contact between monthly meetings. All sessions take place during normal working hours. Company supervisors are also trained to support and debrief the peer educators.
The company has adopted specially designed "vending" machines that allow employees to take free condoms or pay a subsidized price as they wish.
The company and GTZ built a full monitoring and evaluation system into the program from the outset, looking at success with target groups, employee participation, changes in knowledge, attitudes, perception, behavior, HIV prevalence, cost-benefit analysis, and take-up of medical services.
Heineken International
Heineken's Health Support Program for HIV and AIDS Patients is designed to support HIV-positive employees and their immediate families through the prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections and through counseling and care for AIDS patients. The company has adopted a comprehensive approach that consists of:
- HIV/AIDS materials for employees
- Information sessions and education delivered to workforces or subsets of workforces as appropriate by external public health experts
- Increased availability of condoms in the workplace
- General protection and preventive measures
- Management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) using the company's own workplace clinics
- Promotion of voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) at sites where antiretroviral therapy treatment (ARVs) is becoming available
- Short courses of ARVs to prevent transmission from mother to child
Heineken's board defined HIV/AIDS as a key issue for the company. The board undertook a risk assessment, considering the impact of HIV/AIDS and costs of interventions in three countries (Ghana, Burundi, and Thailand). Heineken's senior management identified HIV/AIDS not just as a medical issue, but as one with enormous social implications that could not be ignored. The results of the risk assessment gave confidence that Heineken's response made sense in financial as well as humanitarian terms.
Eskom
Eskom has a long-standing HIV/AIDS program that has evolved as both the epidemic and the company's understanding of it have grown. Elements of Eskom's program include:
- Prevention & Awareness, using proven methods including trained peer educators (more than 1,200 to date) and theater to reach employees at all sites, covering human rights and HIV/AIDS care as well as HIV prevention. Condoms are available through dispensers in most company restroom facilities. The company provides treatment for STIs free of charge through its clinics. Sessions run by people living with HIV/AIDS address stigma associated with the virus.
- Voluntary Counseling and Testing, with Eskom paying for the former. Counseling is available through any agency approved by the company.
- Care and Support, including psychological support from counselors, access to antiretroviral therapy (ARVs) under the company's medical aid insurance scheme (which covers all employees and their immediate families) through approved HIV clinicians, and monitoring of tuberculosis treatment at the company's own clinics.
A key component of Eskom's program is the emphasis on monitoring and evaluation. Eskom's experience shows how reliable information on the impact of the epidemic can be used to trigger and direct an effective company response.
After the initial impact study undertaken in 1995, Eskom commissioned a more sophisticated HIV/AIDS risk analysis in 1999, taking into account the demographics of employees. This study highlighted the economic and financial impact, particularly in terms of productivity, loss of personnel, training needs, and pension and medical costs. The company also undertook knowledge and attitude studies (demonstrating 80 percent awareness and knowledge levels) and an anonymous voluntary HIV/AIDS surveillance study (showing that HIV prevalence was lower than the 1995 prediction of 11 percent). These studies have provided evidence of success to date and will help assess the effectiveness of future actions and training.
Eskom's corporate responsibility programs on HIV/AIDS, including support for the development of an AIDS vaccine, were born largely out of its workplace program and are underpinned by the conviction that the benefits of HIV/AIDS prevention and care strategies outweigh the costs of an unchecked spread of HIV/AIDS within the workplace and communities.
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