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values that characterizes the domain. This is the case of “social economy” and
cooperatives where the notion of social utility is already present. They are a fertile
ground for placing CSR and related tools at a central place in the company’s
management strategy. The same holds true for the socially responsible investment
sector. It is also a fact that large corporations are more prone to adopt CSR and
adjust their management accordingly than small enterprises.
From a managerial perspective, CSR is the company’s response to societal
interpellations by producing different strategies, management tools, methods of
control, evaluation and reporting. This implies that the company deals with societal
issues such as public health, security, environment, which usually belong to the
public sphere and therefore call for a political democratic debate (Capron and
Quairel-Lanoizelée 2012 ). It therefore creates a kind of positive competition
between companies and the State to produce public values (Bozeman 2007 ). The
company will have to operationalize the concept of stakeholders and know their
stakeholders through a mapping exercise. They will have to consider the conditions
of production not only on their sites but also with their suppliers. This is why supply
chain management often starts through the adoption of a responsible procurement
strategy, one of the fast developing new management tools.
As there is a clear obligation of transparency, societal reporting has become a
public objective that constraints companies to develop measuring tools for the social
and environmental impacts of their activities. The numerous new standards and
labels analyzed above are becoming new management tools to certify certain characteristics of products or processes that allow to act on different dimensions of
production, in different parts of the world, through economics.
2.3 About “Due Diligence”
“Due diligence” is defi ned as a “comprehensive, proactive process to identify the
actual and potential negative social, environmental and economic impacts of an
organization’s decisions and activities over the entire life cycle of a project or organizational activity, with the aim of avoiding and mitigating negative impacts” (ISO
2010 ). Another important consideration relates to “rule of law” versus “international norms of behaviour”, mentioned as one of the points of attention in the ISO
26000-defi nition: “An organization should respect international norms of behaviour, while adhering to the principle of respect for the rule of law” (ISO 2010 ). In
the international standard, this principle is linked with the notion of “complicity”,
indicating that this has both legal and non-legal meanings: “In this context, an organization may be considered complicit when it assists in the commission of wrongful
acts of others that are inconsistent with, or disrespectful of, international norms of
behaviour that the organization, through exercising due diligence, knew or should
have known would lead to substantial negative impacts on society, the economy or
the environment. An organization may also be considered complicit where it stays
5 Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment: A Tool for Exercising Due Diligence…
values that characterizes the domain. This is the case of “social economy” and
cooperatives where the notion of social utility is already present. They are a fertile
ground for placing CSR and related tools at a central place in the company’s
management strategy. The same holds true for the socially responsible investment
sector. It is also a fact that large corporations are more prone to adopt CSR and
adjust their management accordingly than small enterprises.
From a managerial perspective, CSR is the company’s response to societal
interpellations by producing different strategies, management tools, methods of
control, evaluation and reporting. This implies that the company deals with societal
issues such as public health, security, environment, which usually belong to the
public sphere and therefore call for a political democratic debate (Capron and
Quairel-Lanoizelée 2012 ). It therefore creates a kind of positive competition
between companies and the State to produce public values (Bozeman 2007 ). The
company will have to operationalize the concept of stakeholders and know their
stakeholders through a mapping exercise. They will have to consider the conditions
of production not only on their sites but also with their suppliers. This is why supply
chain management often starts through the adoption of a responsible procurement
strategy, one of the fast developing new management tools.
As there is a clear obligation of transparency, societal reporting has become a
public objective that constraints companies to develop measuring tools for the social
and environmental impacts of their activities. The numerous new standards and
labels analyzed above are becoming new management tools to certify certain characteristics of products or processes that allow to act on different dimensions of
production, in different parts of the world, through economics.
2.3 About “Due Diligence”
“Due diligence” is defi ned as a “comprehensive, proactive process to identify the
actual and potential negative social, environmental and economic impacts of an
organization’s decisions and activities over the entire life cycle of a project or organizational activity, with the aim of avoiding and mitigating negative impacts” (ISO
2010 ). Another important consideration relates to “rule of law” versus “international norms of behaviour”, mentioned as one of the points of attention in the ISO
26000-defi nition: “An organization should respect international norms of behaviour, while adhering to the principle of respect for the rule of law” (ISO 2010 ). In
the international standard, this principle is linked with the notion of “complicity”,
indicating that this has both legal and non-legal meanings: “In this context, an organization may be considered complicit when it assists in the commission of wrongful
acts of others that are inconsistent with, or disrespectful of, international norms of
behaviour that the organization, through exercising due diligence, knew or should
have known would lead to substantial negative impacts on society, the economy or
the environment. An organization may also be considered complicit where it stays
5 Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment: A Tool for Exercising Due Diligence…