Corporate responsibility

Barrientos, S. (2002). Mapping codes through the value chain from researcher to detective , in Corporate Responsibility and Labour Rights Codes of Conduct in the Global Economy Jenkins, R., Pearson, R. and Seyfang, G. Earthscan, London and Stirling, VA, 61-76. 

The author feels it his responsibility at this point to apprise the reader of the fact that there is little "hard" data on corporate responses to TSCA, especially at the management level. Hence, this paper has taken the role of an overview and qualitative look at corporate responses to TSCA rather than a quantitative document based on estimated numbers of personnel added and other costs of complying with TSCA. Such "hard" data approaches on various specific aspects of TSCA such as pre-manufacturing notification and inventory have been attempted with some successes and some failures. At this overview level,... 

So far as newly created corporate responses, the new management functions (health and environmental Vice Presidents) and additional toxicology expertise are most apparent. 

George Eads and Peter Reuter, Designating Safer Products Corporate Responses to Product Liability Law and Regulation, The Rand Corporation Institute for Civil Justice, Santa Monica, CA, 1983. 

Fig. 1. Advocacy, corporate responsiveness and competition have rednced antiretroviral prices by 95% in 3 years.

Stainer A, et al. Environment, technology and corporate responsibility. Int J Environ Pollut 1999 6 149-159. 

GSK. Corporate Responsibility Report 2006. www.gsk.com/responsibility/ downloads/CR-Report-2006.pdf, accessed April 2010. 

Finally, as a consequence of trans-European collaboration and policy coalitions, voluntary standards on safety and the environment diffused throughout the new member states. One of the main objectives of CEFIC was to promote not only EU legislation but also Responsible Care as another mechanism to level the regulatory playing field in Europe, to promote a culture of safety and corporate responsibility, and to protect the reputation of the European chemical industry. Table 15.2 presents the growths of Responsible Care participation by chemical enterprises in Central and Eastern Europe. 

The process safety professional will have primary interest in the data that indicates process safety system performance. This audience includes both process safety professionals at a given site as well as those who have multiple-site or corporate responsibilities. Process safety professionals often document and report selected metrics, but much of the raw data is generated by others, such as operations and maintenance personnel. It is important for the process safety professional to reach agreement with those generating the data on how that data is transmitted to him or her. Issues to resolve in developing a data exchange plan include, but are not limited to ... 

Rising societal expectations for corporate responsibility have created a new class of socially-responsible investors, customers, and employees and, more generally, a broader public awareness of human health and ecological risks. 

Corporate Responsibility Auditing Assuring What Companies Say to the Public is Truthful... 

Corporate responsibility auditing, a recognized management discipline first applied at APT Associates in the 1970s and later refined by The Body Shop and other companies in the mid-1990s to evaluate their environmental and social impacts, can help corporations assess how well they do what they say they do, and proactively convert rhetoric into reality. 

The premise of corporate responsibility auditing is the recognition by executives that the information provided to shareholders, as well as other stakeholders, on a corporation s performance needs to be truthful and reliable. Inherent in the auditing process is the provision of crucial knowledge that will sustain the public s trust and sharpen managements s collective focus on key nonfinancial value drives (e.g.,... 

At a minimum, corporate responsibility auditing can provide a complete picture of how well a company performs against its values, industry or global standards, peers, and the expectations of essential stakeholders. Many companies use the results to put in place, both internally and in partnership with major suppliers, credible and measurable process improvements that responsibly drive efficiencies, reduce risk, seize new business opportunities, and strengthen relationships with stakeholders. For many companies, corporate responsibility auditing also provides a verifiable and credible process for reporting to stakeholders on their social and environmental impacts and the effects on profitability. 

Corporate responsibility auditing can also identify how capital has been allocated across departments and business units of the company and the level and types of risks to which the capital is exposed. An experienced audit team will advise on whether risks in one part of the company may exacerbate or ameliorate those in another and, in consultation with employees and managers, recommend process improvements, which the audit will undoubtedly yield, where risks are too high. This information can provide management with a clearer understanding of acceptable tolerance levels for key value drivers, and reliable data with which to respond proactively to shifts in the work environment, key markets, and in society. 

TABLE 6.13. Steps in Conducting a Corporate Responsibility Audit... 

The Auditing Process. A corporate responsibility audit needs to be systemic in approach and cross-functional in scope. In addition to assessing the... 

A corporate responsibility audit can provide a system for managing change. Thus the audit team should start by assessing the corporate culture and leadership to determine early whether or not the organization has the capacity to change and how best to address obstacles (e.g., people and systems) before assessing the efficacy of the operating practices. 

In analyzing the business case for its recommendations, audit teams employ a number of accounting techniques. Because the effects of most corporate responsibility issues cross departmental and divisional lines and because activities drive costs, it is necessary to understand how certain activities and practices impact financially and strategically the entire organization. 

Conclusion. For many leading companies, operating responsibly is implicit in their core business strategy, and corporate responsibility auditing is routinely used in maximizing values drivers and in reporting honestly to stakeholders on the company s entire performance. 

Companies make money in essentially two ways - they either increase revenue and/or reduce costs. On the revenue side, the business case for CSR is more difficult to quantify reliably, for too many factors influence a company s performance. The general economic climate, industry conditions and market demands, volume discounts to distributors to clear out inventory, and acquisitions all affect revenue, but none has anything do with a company s CSR. Similarly, with stock price, while CSR companies may be more attractive to socially responsible investors (SRI), their corporate responsibility is only one of a half dozen or more factors that influence the buying decisions of money managers and stock analysts. 

However, what is new is that corporate responsibility now takes place in a context in which business is more... 

Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, The Principles for Global Corporate Responsibility Bench Marks for Measuring Business Performance, ICCR, 2003 Corporate Examiner, 31(4-6) (2003). Available at http //www.bench-marks.org/downloads/ Bench%20Marks%20-%20full.doc. 

SmithOBrien, Corporate Responsibility Audit , 1995. Available at www.smithobrien.com. 

S. Waddock and N. Smith, Corporate Responsibility Audits Doing Well by Doing Good, Sloan Management Review, 41(2), 75-83 (2000). 

The activities and trends discussed in this book represent a wave of change, but more importantly, opportunity. Companies that stand to benefit are those that carefully read the forces at work with an eye toward market creation, and cost as well as differentiation. In the face of growing challenges to business as usual - for example, demands for social and environmental accounting, transparency, and corporate responsibility - the chemical industry has the opportunity to benefit a broader set of stakeholders while better serving the financial interests of stockholders. 

Ikea, IKEA Environmental and Social Issues. Available at http //www.ikea-group.ikea. com/corporate/responsible/brochure.html. Accessed April 2005. 

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