John Comana sat at his desk, headache pumping and a queasy feeling in his stomach. \u201cI\u2019ll take responsibility!\u201d he\u2019d volunteered. Now it didn\u2019t seem such a smart move.<\/p>\nJohn Comana sat at his desk, headache pumping and a queasy feeling in his stomach. \u201cI\u2019ll take responsibility!\u201d he\u2019d volunteered. Now it didn\u2019t seem such a smart move.<\/p>\n
He, like many other corporate officers, has discovered that there are many different facets to environmental and social responsibility and although John Comana may be fictional, the headache is a very real one for many businesses.<\/p>\n
No firm guidance exists on what corporate responsibility is, which activities should be measured or how data should be presented.<\/p>\n
Instead there is the simple regulatory requirement that there must be analysis of \u201cenvironmental … social and community issues”, including an appropriate measure of the company’s performance.
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\nTo try and resolve this we\u2019ve divided various social reporting instruments into standards, schemes and certificates. It’s not an absolute division and there is a lot of overlap between the various areas.<\/p>\n
However we hope it will help to clarify the situation and relieve the headache a little.<\/p>\n
Standards<\/strong> Standards are commonly expressed as a set of indicators and are audited by an independent body. Usually the company will be awarded a certificate if the audit is successful.<\/p>\n Available CSR Standards include:<\/p>\n In addition to these, ISO 26000 is due for publication in 2010. This is a broad standard aimed at addressing social responsibility across both public and private sectors.<\/p>\n Schemes<\/strong> Some schemes ask companies to sign up to a set of principles, which they are then expected to observe and uphold. Others are a collaboration of businesses seeking to identify and promote best practice in one or more areas.<\/p>\n Some of the best known schemes are:<\/p>\n Generally, schemes are more co-operative in nature where standards are more prescriptive.<\/p>\n Certificates<\/strong> Examples of current certification schemes include:<\/p>\n Certification is an increasingly popular way of introducing regulation to the market place. A lack of certification in particular areas will start to be seen as a mark of poor performance and could even attract regulatory fines.<\/ul>\n Supply chains are commonly seen as being the next target for certification, especially for manufacturers and businesses that offshore some part of their labour.<\/p>\n The Future<\/strong> In the meantime if there is any particular issue you’d like us to address, please don’t hesitate to drop us a line.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" John Comana sat at his desk, headache pumping and a queasy feeling in his stomach. \u201cI\u2019ll take responsibility!\u201d he\u2019d volunteered. Now it didn\u2019t seem such a smart move. He, like many other corporate officers, has discovered that there are many different facets to environmental and social responsibility and although John Comana may be fictional, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,31],"tags":[88,91,8246,54,89,87,35,92,90],"class_list":{"0":"post-316","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-csr","7":"category-guides","8":"tag-assessment","9":"tag-awards","10":"tag-best-practices","11":"tag-corporate-social-responsibility","12":"tag-gri","13":"tag-measurement","14":"tag-online-corporate-communications","15":"tag-schemes","16":"tag-standards","17":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n
\nThese are instruments used to ensure that a business is meeting a common set of guidelines in its internal processes. Often they’re used as the foundation for best practice and express a guarantee of quality.<\/p>\n\n
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\nSchemes differ from standards because they do not result in a measurable outcome.<\/p>\n\n
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\nCertificates tend to concentrate upon one aspect of a business rather than its activities in general. Many are derived from standards or schemes and often, though not always, they\u2019re industry specific.<\/p>\n\n
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\nIn the coming months we\u2019ll be looking at each of these areas in closer detail. We\u2019ll be examining the best way for information and results to be posted on a company\u2019s website and what specific issues different sectors may face.<\/p>\n