4 - Workplace: Corporate Social Responsibility Flashcards
Evolution of CSR
- Includes a broader range of a decision or action’s effects on a broader field of stakeholders.
- Attention has moved from the corporate periphery to center stage.
- Integrated into organizational mission and core business strategies.
Triple Bottom Line
Applies the 3Ps principle of sustainability (people, planet, profits)
Social Audit Areas
- Ethics
- Environment
- Community
- Staffing
- Human Rights
- Society
- Compliance
Forces Shaping Today’s CSR
Technology
- Corporate actions are more knowable.
- CSR impacts are more measurable.
Environmental Concerns
- Increased sustainability regulations and requirements.
- Increased sustainability opportunities.
Economic Pressures
- Bigger payback potential for sustainability efforts.
- Enhanced value of CSR to employees.
Sociopolitical Forces
- Increased pressures from civil and social rights groups.
- Rapidly evolving diversity and environmental concerns.
CSR Maturity Curve
CSR and HR
HR has the opportunity to become a CSR resource for corporate leaders.
Key opportunity areas:
- Culture change
- Corporate strategy
- Organization effectiveness
- Human capital development
Compliance
- Being in accordance with all national, federal, regional, or local laws, regulations, and government authority requirements for all the nations in which an organization operates
- Focuses on fulfilling the technical requirements of regulations
Corporate ethical issues can overlap with compliance issues.
Ethics
- A set of behavioral guidelines that an organization expects all of its directors, managers, and employees to follow to ensure appropriate moral and ethical business standards
- Focuses on acting according to “core ethical beliefs and convictions”
Corporate ethical issues can overlap with compliance issues.
Ethical universalism
Fundamental principles apply across all cultures, without regard to local ethical norms.
Cultural relativism
Ethical behavior is determined by local culture, laws, and business practices.
Supply Chain Responsibilities
Ethical supply chain behavior =
- Better products
- More satisfied customers
- More sustainable working communities that support the growth of business
Areas of concern:
- Workplace safety
- Child labor
- Sustainability
Governance
System of rules and processes an organization puts in place to ensure compliance with:
- Local and international laws.
- Accounting rules.
- Ethical norms.
- Environmental and social codes of conduct.
When an organization lacks good governance and fails to recognize and respond to ethical issues, its stakeholders may perform that task for it, to its detriment.
Three Spheres of Sustainability
Sustainability Sweet Spot
Where sustainability becomes an engine of innovation and a way to identify business opportunities, generating new products, processes, markets, and business models.
Sustainability Stakeholders
- Expands how an organization interacts with stakeholders.
- Seeks out internal and external stakeholder input through engagement opportunities and strategic social partnerships.
OECD Guidelines
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
- Established in 1976.
- Voluntary guidelines based on ILO (International Labour Organization) Conventions.
- Cover:
- Disclosure
- Human rights
- Employment and industrial relations
- Environment
- Combating bribery, bribe solicitation, and extortion
- Consumer interests
- Science and technology
- Competition
- Taxation
Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Reporting Standards
(GRI Standards)
- Universally accepted standard for reporting results of sustainability programs.
- Adoption improves transparency in reporting results to stakeholders and enables meaningful and consistent comparisons of organizations’ sustainability performance.
- Cover economic, environmental, and social topics.
CSR Strategic Process
Executive Commitment
Assessment
Purpose:
- Provide a detailed picture of where the organization is now.
- Visualize the direction in which the organization can go.
Process:
- Review organization’s systems and procedures.
- Gather input from internal and external stakeholders.
Infrastructure Creation
Questions to answer:
- Will there be a single head of CSR?
- Will there be a separate sustainability department?
- Will HR spearhead strategic implementation?
- How will data be collected and evaluated?
- Who will organize and administer the effort? Will outside consultants be needed?
For a global organization:
- Will there be local departments, divisions, or individuals responsible for local efforts?
- How will these be coordinated with global goals and initiatives?
Implementation
Key tasks:
- Set the strategy.
- Set priorities and objectives:
- How will intermediate, tactical steps lead to long-term objectives?
- How will results be measured?
- Who is accountable?
- Implement the action plan created.
Implementing a Compliance Program
Compliance programs ensure that codes of conduct are understood and applied to issues as they arise.
Key Components
- Organizational leadership and culture
- Training and education
- Disciplinary and preventive measures
- Reporting and investigation
- Monitoring, auditing, and evaluating program effectiveness
Evaluation
- Use GRI Standards criteria.
- Ensure that all objectives have corresponding metrics.
- Ensure that measurement and evaluation are keyed to specific goals and objectives.
- Systems must be in place for:
- Reporting and evaluating.
- Data sharing with marketing and other areas that can profitably leverage the data.
Reassessment and Revision
Based on evaluation of results…
- Revise tactics and strategic goals.
- Where is the organization along the sustainability maturity curve?
- Provide the entire organization with a clear sense of:
- Progress achieved.
- Victories won.
- Next steps needed.
Corporate Philanthropy
- Charitable donations
- Foundations
- Strategic partnerships with nonprofits
- Custom (owned) entity
Employee Volunteerism
Types of benefits:
- Individual
- Team
- Organizational
- Business
Corporate Social Responsibility
CSR & Effect on HR Functions
