The Business Response to HIV/AIDS: Impact and lesson learned

FIGURE 8 Examples of mechanisms for LE and SME responses to HIV/AIDS

LE-SME partnership and
collective action

Large eni
* Workplac
* Extensiv
communl
* Advocacy

sized
tion
rogrammes
munity

ii. Assisting small and medium sized enterprises - business linkages
The changes in the global business systems referred to above have culminated in extensive backward
and forward linkages between LEs and SMEs. Backward linkages refer to the regular purchasing of
goods and services inputs, and forward linkages to the marketing of final products. The prevalence of
these linkages in private sector operations constitutes an important rationale for LEs to address the
issue of HIV/AIDS. LEs' capacity to operate effectively and their profitability is dependent on an
effective network of supplier and service enterprises, the majority of which are SMEs. The long-term
prospects that a company faces as a result of HIV/AIDS are steeply rising prices and reduced
productivity of associated SMEs. There are two main options available to the LEs in addressing this
issue; direct partnership with individual SMEs or collective cooperation between LEs to assist the
SME sector.
a. Direct partnership with individual small and medium sized enterprises
The majority of LEs have still not identified the indirect impact that HIV/AIDS can have on their
business operations through the impact on their suppliers and associated companies. LEs' options
include extending their education and prevention and health care programmes to their direct business
partners. The minimum response could involve advocating and advising on appropriate actions and
information on HIV/AIDS workplace policies, at no substantial resource cost to the LE. One of the
few notable and long-standing examples of such partnerships is The Body Shop and its suppliers, for
example with Get Paper Industries, a paper producer in Nepal. For a number of years now, The Body

26 THE BUSINE55 RESPONSE TO HIV/AIDS: Impact and lessons learned