CSR is about companies taking responsibility for their impact on society and is a key new strategy for the European Union.
Clearly there is a pre-requisite on companies to comply with local laws and agreements, but in addition,
CSR requires businesses to consider and integrate different values into its ways of working, including:
- Social - work, training, gender equality, health and safety
- Environmental - biodiversity, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), efficiency in the use natural resources.
- Ethical- fair conditions and way of doing business, anti-corruption.
- Human Rights
- Consumer Rights - accessibility and privacy.
ISO 26000, SA8000, SR10,
SEDEX-SMETA are the main tools for
Corporate Social Responsibility management.
Other standards related with the supply chain such as
GlobalG.A.P. GRASP, GlobalG.A.P. Chain of Custody, UTZ Chain of Custody, PEFC Coc, Friend of the sea, Biodiversity Friend, etc. all promote the integration process with all stakeholders in the supply chain.
UNI EN ISO 26000
The European community in the document
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO EUROPEAN PARLAMENT in
October 2011,
recognized three kinds of distinguished guidelines, especially useful for those companies searching for a formal approach to CSR.
The standard UNI EN ISO 26000 is one these and it defines how to implement corporate social responsibility.
All types of companies can use this guideline. In fact, cooperatives societies or family-run businesses have, by their very nature, an ownership structure and a governance particularly suitable for a CRS standard of certification.
According to ISO 26000, CRS principles are:
- Accountability
- Transparency
- Ethical behaviour
- Respect for stakeholder interests
- Respect for legal rules
- Respect for international norms of behavior
- Respect for human rights.
ISO 26000 is a guideline, it is not a management system, because the standard cannot be implemented, rather it is followed and comes to life inside the company, when it is integrated with the core business strategies.
To that end, it is not possible to provide evidence of due diligence through a certification process, but there are other tools available to report on a company’s social responsibility achievements, which can be certified.
CSQA methodology:
- We help companies to integrate the guidance into their strategies, practices and targets, in order to facilitate the 'paradigm shift' that companies must undertake when implementing ISO 26000.
- We help to identify the key performance indicators that the company should adopt to enable clear communication on its targets and progress to its stakeholders.
- We help any kind of business, both large and small, to integrate social responsibility throughout its organization, by considering its social, economic and environmental systems, its priorities and the specific requests place on it by stakeholders.
Benefits of Social Responsibility for a company are:
- Increased competitiveness (risk management, cost reduction, access to capital, improved customer relationships, better human resource management and innovation).
- Increased ability, through constant dialogue and interaction with customers and stakeholders, to anticipate the expectations of the market and to make the necessary adjustments to products and services to meet those expectations (ability to deal with social, economic, environmental changes).
- Improved company reputation and credibility.