Corporate Social Responsibility
The past thirty years the responsibilities of companies have been intensely debated. During the 70’s and 80’s the attention was primarily focused on the impact on the external environment. However, in the 90’s focus has been expanded to embrace social responsibility and a widened economic responsibility.
Corporate ethics is a term often used to cover the standards of "good corporate behaviour" with regard to the "people" and "planet". But defining ‘ethics’ is in itself a task that has occupied philosophers for centuries. However, because of its pragmatic character, the legal aspect of this responsibility has had more success. The human rights are employed more and more to judge the behavior of the companies.
While the ethical responsibility for the companies faces the challenges of the inaccuracy, the superficiality and the break in comparability, these founded on the human rights, and thus on international legal instruments and national laws, constitute a clear framework for the companies that supports clearness, the uniformity and the comparability of the performances of CSR.
The globalisation of the markets and the technological revolution accentuate the conscience of the societies on the importance of the human rights, which do the hopes possible in the way in which the companies should behave. To transgress these rights and to disappoint these hopes damage the good most established reputations and destroy confidence.
The Sustainable Development is a main concept, that is defined for businees by the Triple Bottom Line, popularly described by the three Ps: People, Planet, Profit, describing how business can assist contributing to sustainable development. As a common appellation the concept can be framed as Corporate Responsibilities, consisting of social, environmental and economic responsibilities.
The issues to be covered under the sustainability considerations are multifarious. Lawhouse.biz supports the proposed delineation of the ‘social bottom line’ in accordance with the International Bill of Human Rights.
The corporate responsibilities are multiple and are framed by a series of standards and specific rules.
To know its own social responsibility for a company requires, beforehand, a clearly knowing of what it does, why and for which it does.
Certain answers will have more importance than others for the managers, the shareholders and all the stakeholders. Each stakeholder has waitings which must be the analysed, because which waiting is in the center of the CSR, and thus in the plan of the corporate activities.
The CSR's strategies and politics adopted and implemented translate the answers of the company to these various waitings, and most be reported in the balance sheets (financial, social and environmental reports) annual.
The practice and the communication of the company must be credible and have sense for all the stakeholders, as well the internal as external, in order to make to company a responsible social actor.
With its broad and solid international experiment Lawhouse offers a range of CSR services to assist you in developing and implementing a CSR strategy that will improve the overall performance of your business.
Lawhouse offers a range of services to you to assist you, after the identification of the zones of risks and opportunities, to develop and put into practice an adequate strategy and specific policies of CSR, which will improve the realization of your beneficial business and also the business of your sphere of influence.
· Analyses of threats and opportunities in relation to CSR
· Coaching in designing strategies to address CSR challenges adequately
· Assistance in responding to media/NGO criticism
· Assistance in establishing stakeholder dialogue
· Issue Management – alignment of organisational activities and stakeholder expectations
· Assessments of concrete CSR projects
· Assessments as part of due diligence (affiliates, branches, investment opportunities, suppliers, licensees or other partners)
· CSR screening systems for investments
· Coaching in designing and implementing concrete CSR projects
· Analyses and assistance in implementing CSR into existing management systems; e.g.
· Assistance in reporting on CSR, hereunder in accordance with GRI, AA 1000 etc.
· Assessment of legal implications of CSR reporting and advertising
· Providing assurance statements on CSR reporting in relation to scope, relevance and compliance with international standards
Previous assignments include:
· Revision of codes of conduct and advise on sustainability strategy, LEGO Group, November - December 2005
· Survey on working climate and ideas for diversity management in relation to ethnic minorities, Danish Ministry of Finance, March - June 2005
· Developing generic compliance tool on non-discrimination, Danish Institute for Human Rights, 2004 - 2005
· Development of policies and strategies on Corporate Responsibility for the Borealis Group – 2004 and ongoing
· Desk-assessment of legal component in relation to CSR of Danida Business Sector Program in Vietnam – May 2004
· Background papers on human rights and CSR to British American Tobacco. 2004 – and ongoing
· CSR Strategies and content for Sonofon A/S, a Danish mobile network provider. January 2003 and on-going
· Developing human rights guidelines, Novo Nordisk. 2002 - 2005
· Programmes on equal opportunities and diversity for Novozymes and Novo Nordisk. 2001 – 2003
· Social review for the Novo Group of companies. 2001
· Human rights review, Novo Group of companies. 2001
· Programmes on the right to health for Novo Nordisk. 2001
· Briefing papers on the right to health, the right to privacy, knowledge management and innovation. 2000
· Study on equal opportunities, Novozymes Latin America Ltd., Brazil. November 2000
· Human rights assessment as part of triple bottom line review at Novo Nordisk Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc, North Carolina, USA. November 2000
· Advise on corporate social responsibility in relation to the strategies on business development, the Danish Ministry of Industry. May - August 2000
· Advise on corporate social responsibility in relation to consumer information systems, the Danish government. May - August 2000
· Field study on human rights and business, Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals Ltd., India. December 1999
· Human rights SWOT analysis, Novo Nordisk. December 1998 – March 1999
· Drafting proposal for a human rights strategy for Shell International, London. February-May 1998
Corporate Risks and Opportunities
Companies that choose to ignore CSR may encounter many consequences.
The risks can be summarised as follows:
· Increased civil and criminal litigation against companies and management;
· Loss of top talents;
· Loss of investors;
· Increased cost of capital;
· Decline in stock value;
· Loss of customers and business partners;
· Loss of public contracts and public procurement procedures e.g. Word Bank, European Union, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development;
· Loss of business partners;
· Exposure to naming and shaming campaigns and blacklisting campaigns;
· Loss of brand value.
On the other hand, there are many opportunities available to companies who choose to implement CSR strategies and incorporate CSR into company policies
· Enhanced corporate image and added brand value
· Attract and retain top talents;
· Access to quality business partners;
· Obtaining the status of a "preferred partner";
· Customer satisfaction and loyalty;
· Improving risk management;
· Enhancing job satisfaction, loyalty and identification;
· Favourable access to capital markets;
· Attracting Socially Responsible Investment (SRI), which is mushrooming;
· Establishing a good footing with public authorities and the general public;
· Creating a basic reference point and language for partnerships;
· Public relations opportunities;
· Contribution to the development of stable global markets.
