54
Furthermore, to defi ne the scope of social responsibility, seven core subjects are
identifi ed: organizational governance, human rights, labour practices, the environment, fair operating practices, consumer issues and community involvement and
development. Each core subject includes a range of relevant issues.
There are three other leading international initiatives that are contributing to the
uptake of social responsibility in business:
• The UN Global Compact is an initiative that started in 1999 and it can be seen as
“a strategic policy initiative for businesses that are committed to aligning their
operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of
human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption”.
1 Networks of businesses
that have committed to respect the ten principles and work extensively on capacity building among the enterprises have been set up at the international and
national level. The last revision took place in 2010.
• The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a multi-stakeholder initiative that was
launched in 1997 by the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies
(CERES) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
2 The GRI
Guidelines are developed as a sustainability reporting framework that standardizes enterprises’ reports on environmental, social and economic dimensions. For
each dimension, performance indicators are formulated covering similar concerns as the issues of ISO 26000 (GRI 2011 ). The fourth revision of the guidelines has been launched in May 2013.
• The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, one element of the OECD
Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises, are “recommendations on responsible business conduct addressed by governments to
multinational enterprises operating in or from adhering countries”.
3 The latest
revision of the guidelines was conducted in 2011.
These international initiatives, including their revisions over the years, illustrate the
importance given to the uptake of social responsibility. However, the question arises if
by these guiding initiatives enterprises are stimulated to develop a systematic and
coherent due diligence approach in their corporate strategy regarding the value chain.
2.2 Linking with Management
With a long history behind, a stronger legitimacy and a set of structuring frameworks, CSR has now a clear role in the sphere of management. This appears in
practice more rapidly and effi ciently in sectors where it “fi ts” naturally with a set of
1 See http://www.unglobalcompact.org/AboutTheGC/ (last accessed February 2015).
2 See https://www.globalreporting.org/ (last accessed February 2015).
3 See http://www.oecd.org/daf/internationalinvestment/guidelinesformultinationalenterprises/ (last
accessed February 2015).
B. Mazijn and J.-P. Revéret
Furthermore, to defi ne the scope of social responsibility, seven core subjects are
identifi ed: organizational governance, human rights, labour practices, the environment, fair operating practices, consumer issues and community involvement and
development. Each core subject includes a range of relevant issues.
There are three other leading international initiatives that are contributing to the
uptake of social responsibility in business:
• The UN Global Compact is an initiative that started in 1999 and it can be seen as
“a strategic policy initiative for businesses that are committed to aligning their
operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of
human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption”.
1 Networks of businesses
that have committed to respect the ten principles and work extensively on capacity building among the enterprises have been set up at the international and
national level. The last revision took place in 2010.
• The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a multi-stakeholder initiative that was
launched in 1997 by the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies
(CERES) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
2 The GRI
Guidelines are developed as a sustainability reporting framework that standardizes enterprises’ reports on environmental, social and economic dimensions. For
each dimension, performance indicators are formulated covering similar concerns as the issues of ISO 26000 (GRI 2011 ). The fourth revision of the guidelines has been launched in May 2013.
• The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, one element of the OECD
Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises, are “recommendations on responsible business conduct addressed by governments to
multinational enterprises operating in or from adhering countries”.
3 The latest
revision of the guidelines was conducted in 2011.
These international initiatives, including their revisions over the years, illustrate the
importance given to the uptake of social responsibility. However, the question arises if
by these guiding initiatives enterprises are stimulated to develop a systematic and
coherent due diligence approach in their corporate strategy regarding the value chain.
2.2 Linking with Management
With a long history behind, a stronger legitimacy and a set of structuring frameworks, CSR has now a clear role in the sphere of management. This appears in
practice more rapidly and effi ciently in sectors where it “fi ts” naturally with a set of
1 See http://www.unglobalcompact.org/AboutTheGC/ (last accessed February 2015).
2 See https://www.globalreporting.org/ (last accessed February 2015).
3 See http://www.oecd.org/daf/internationalinvestment/guidelinesformultinationalenterprises/ (last
accessed February 2015).
B. Mazijn and J.-P. Revéret