Posts Tagged ‘reporting’
By Katja Blomé
At the time of writing, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is about to launch its “fourth generation of sustainability reporting guidelines”; G4. GRI is one of the most widely recognized and respected frameworks for corporate social responsibility and many large organizations use it to demonstrate their commitment to CSR. GRI aims to stay up to date with, and map out, the route for the ever-changing and evolving business environment of the 21st century. The guidelines have been modified on a regular basis since the first version was launched in 2000. Using GRI to report on corporate sustainability has always been a choice – not an obligation. The voluntary nature of these kinds of frameworks has been questioned before, and the launch of G4 once again raises the topic. I argue that now is a good time for Sweden to make sustainability reporting mandatory…again.
Sabrina Vetters concluded, in her blog from September 2012, that a mandatory approach to corporate responsibility would have a positive impact. She noted the need for an effective implementation mechanism and assessment of a number of questions regarding the implementation of such a system. Sure enough, making companies legally abide to social and environmental issues would most certainly demand a major change of the system. But.. wait a minute. Haven’t we done this before?
Environmental law has been firmly manifested in Sweden since 1999, when the major guidelines were reassessed, altered and reinforced. Today, pretty much all activity that has any impact on the environment is regulated. Much of the regulation applies to companies, as they constitute the main producing facilities and thus, the major polluters. Corporations are obliged to set up systems and routines that monitor their operations, and are scrutinized to controls regularly by the local authorities. The result is a, globally speaking, quite impressive system where the damaging activities are visible, measured and controlled. The strong enforcement of environmental law has created a large demand on expertise and most universities now offer programmes on environmental subjects. All larger producing corporations have at least one person working full-time with environmental matters. Could not social, economic and governance sustainability be regulated?
Law enforcement is a controversial topic that raises classical dilemmas such as that of the involvement of the state. This is a source of debate in any country. What can be said for Sweden is that the state is strong enough to exercise this kind of control. A large number of states are too weak and the governments simply don’t have enough power capital to put any kind of pressure on national or international corporations. If the government decided to put more pressure on corporations, Sweden would risk losing short term business. In the long term, however, the country would reaffirm its position as a world leader in sustainability matters. We should, like GRI, aim to stay up to date with, and map out, other countries’ sustainability work. Making G4 reporting mandatory to all corporations would be a first step in this direction.
1. The Quest for Sustainable Business: An Epic Journey in Search of Corporate Responsibility (Wayne Visser)
This book is a journey of two kinds. First, it is an autobiography of Dr. Wayne Visser. Second, the book presents the recent evolution of Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility. The book takes the reader on a voyage from the African continent to Europe, then to Asia Pacific and the Americas with the final destination in the United Kingdom. Review by Karina Yadav. Read more
2. Accounting for Sustainability: Practical Insights (Anthony Hopwood, Jeffrey Unerman and Jessica Fries)
This book is an attempt to encourage the practice of CSR by proposing a “Connected Reporting Framework” and showing examples of how this has been applied in several organisations including Sainsbury’s, EDF Energy, BT, HSBC and others. The book is the outcome of five years of the Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) project started by HRH Prince Charles and supported by a range of sponsors, mostly the big accounting firms.Review by Elaine Cohen. Read more
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Editors: Anthony Hopwood, Jeffrey Unerman and Jessica Fries
Publisher: Earthscan
Year: 2010
Pages: 258
Integrated reporting. Connected thinking. Total accountability. Embedding sustainable practices. The business case for sustainability. Interconnectedness. Measure what matters. The jargon abounds. The practice does not. Accounting for Sustainability is an attempt to encourage the practice, adding a little more jargon, by proposing a “Connected Reporting Framework” and showing examples of how this has been applied in several organisations including Sainsbury’s, EDF Energy, BT, HSBC, Aviva, Novo Nordisk and two non-business organisations, the West Sussex County Council and the Environment Agency.
This book is the outcome of five years of the Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) project started by HRH Prince Charles and supported by a range of sponsors, mostly the big accounting firms. The A4S project’s challenge is described as ensuring “that sustainability information is included in mainstream reporting and is strategically important so that it forms part of the decision-making process of the business. This differs from much of the current corporate responsibility reporting which is not connected with the business and its strategic thinking.” The key to this is integration of business processes and the analysis of how ESG factors influence what businesses do and how this impacts the bottom line in the form of an investment with an ROI or a new business opportunity. By calculating the financial impact of such CSR and sustainability programmes, they cannot logically be excluded from financial reporting. This is a move away from sustainability “because it is the right thing to do” and a move towards sustainability as a business case, pure and simple.
The book, after an initial introduction to the rationale for the A4S project and a detailed description of the framework, provides case studies written by a range of (mainly) accounting and finance academics, following interviews and interactions with the companies who have tried to work with the Connected Reporting framework.
The case study that I found most impressive was BT, the global telecommunications company, who published a first Environment Report in 1992. The study of the sustainability evolution at BT shows how the Business Case for CSR was developed, the business benefits BT expects from its sustainability programmes, the drive to assess materiality and the application of a more quantitative assessment of sustainability performance in financial terms.
All in all, Accounting for Sustainability provides a good overview of the challenges and dilemmas companies face as they evolve their sustainability thinking. My surprise was that the case studies served more to share thoughts and experiences rather than to provide absolute proof that A4S and CFR are the only ways to go. The result is more of a discussion and less of a recommendation, leaving some gaps in the actual degree to which the framework actually lives up to expectations. These frameworks clearly have a place in the ongoing debate about the future of (integrated) reporting, and therefore, this book is a useful addition to the body of emerging knowledge in this space.
Adapted from a review originally published on www.csr-books.com
Review by
Elaine Cohen, Beyond Business Ltd.
1. Measuring Socio-Economic Impact: A Guide for Business
A new guide by WBCSD aims at helping navigating the complex landscape of socio-economic impact measurement. Read more
2. Report on Corporate Social Responsibility: Accountable, Transparent and Responsible Business Behaviour and Sustainable Growth
The European Parliament has published a report on CSR and its impact on accountable, transparent and responsible business behaviour and sustainable growth. Read more
3. Sustainability & Innovation Global Executive Study
MIT Sloan Management Review covers in its Sustainability & Innovation study how organizations have responded to the sustainability challenge. Read more
4. Sustainability Yearbook 2013
Every year RobecoSAM assesses the sustainability performance of more than 2,000 companies across 58 sectors. Read more
5. Breakthrough: Business Leaders, Market Revolutions
A new market intelligence report calls on business leaders to help drive ‘breakthrough’ innovation, as part of a coming revolution in global markets. Read more
6. How does it Stuck Up?
Communications agency Radley Yeldar has released a report revealing the top sustainability reporters. Read more
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CSR Research Digest – March 2013
Summary
Communications agency Radley Yeldar has released a report revealing the top sustainability reporters. This year’s study analyzes corporate sustainability reports from 35 of Europe’s best sustainability reporters drawn from the FTSE Eurotop 100 index. This year’s study analyzes corporate sustainability reports from 35 of Europe’s best sustainability reporters drawn from the FTSE Eurotop 100 index.
Key findings
- Mining group Anglo American, energy company Centrica and finance group HSBC Holdings have been named the European companies with the year’s best records of sustainability reporting.
- The top five European reporters are rounded out with drinks company Diageo and technology firm Siemens.
- The best sustainability reports show how sustainability is making a tangible difference to the business and detail “the good, the bad and the ugly” side of a company’s sustainability efforts.
- Good reports also display information in a clear and concise manner and back narrative claims with evidence, letting sustainability data speak for itself.
- The best reporters are “saying more with less”.
- Sustainability reporting has reached a crossroads, both as a piece of communication and a management tool.
- But in a year marked by high-profile ethical blunders and corporate scandals, the role of the sustainability report has been brought into question.
- While crucial narratives are being obscured by box ticking and standard disclosures, the wider use of Global Reporting Initiative guidelines and other external assurances is encouraging.
Author(s)
Radley Yeldar
Source
1. The Sustainability Gap
A research by hygiene and paper company SCA looks at the trends in sustainability in North America. Read more
2. Understanding Transformation: Building the Business Case for Integrated Reporting
The report tracks the behavioral changes during the first year of the IIRC’s pilot program initiative which aims to help develop an International Integrated Reporting Framework. Read more
3. Measuring Shared Value: How to Unlock Value by Linking Social and Business Results
The report by Michael E. Porter and FSG explains the specific purpose of shared value measurement. Read more
4. Corporate Social Responsibility: A Brand New Spirit of Capitalism?
This paper aims to contribute to the current debate over whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) is either a source of radical change for corporations or a smokescreen to maintain business as usual. Read more
5. Global Sustainability Leaders Survey: Budgets and Priorities
This report provides a global benchmark of sustainability priorities, budgets and governance. Read more
6. Collaborating for a Sustainable Future
A report by SustainAbility and GlobeScan aims to better understand the renewed hope, future prospects and potential pitfalls for collaboration on sustainable development challenges. Read more
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Featured In
CSR Research Digest – January 2013
Summary
The report tracks the behavioral changes during the first year of the IIRC’s pilot program initiative which aims to help develop an International Integrated Reporting Framework. The pilot program involves more than 80 private and public companies such as Volvo Group, Danone and Microsoft, and 25 institutional investors.
Key Findings
- Almost 93 percent of businesses say integrated reporting breaks down barriers between teams and leads to better connected departments.
- 98 percent agreed that the shift towards integrated reporting leads to a better understanding of how the organization will create value over time.
- 74 percent agreed that it will lead to more consistency in external communications.
- 93 percent agreed that it leads to better quality data collection.
- 64 percent say analysts will benefit significantly from integrated reporting in future.
- 95 percent say employees will benefit from it in the future.
- 28 percent report they are already seeing significant benefit to the board from integrated reporting and 56 percent expect to see significant benefit to the board in future.
- 97 percent expect a positive benefit overall to the board in the future.
Author(s)
Black Sun and International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC)
Source
1. An Ethical Framework for Cross-Border Labour Recruitment: An Industry/Stakeholder Collaboration to Reduce the Risks of Forced Labour and Human Trafficking
ManpowerGroup and Verité are working together to mobilize a new, pragmatic, multi-stakeholder effort to combat forced labor and human trafficking in the cross-border movement of workers. Read more
2. Work Equity in Food and Agriculture: Practices at the 100 Largest and Most Influential U.S. Companies
A joint report by the Tellus Institute and Sustainalytics sheds light on the often ignored issue of worker welfare in the food industry by highlighting practices and policies of some of the largest and most influential food companies in the U.S. Read more
3. 2012 Cone Communications Corporate Social Return Trend Tracker
In response to the importance of CSR reporting in communications, Cone has launched Corporate Social Return. Read more
4. Syngenta: Assessing the Robustness of a Country’s Food Security System through The Rice Bowl Index
This WBCSD case study highlights the Rice Bowl Index, an initiative conceived by Syngenta to facilitate positive productive dialogue, collaboration and action between governments, the private sector and other key stakeholders in the area of food security. Read more
5. Consumer-Oriented CSR Communication: Focusing on Ability or Morality
The article aims to investigate young people’s opinions and attitudes towards companies’ engagement and communication about corporate social responsibility (CSR). Read more
6. Constructive Capitalism for Goodness Sake: Exploring the Relationship between Giving Attitudes, Intentions and Behaviours
A survey was conducted by Adessy Associates to explore current trends in giving attitudes, intentions and behaviours. Read more
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Featured In
Social Research Digest – November 2012
Summary
In response to the importance of CSR reporting in communications, Cone has launched Corporate Social Return. It is an approach to CSR-focused public relations that centers on the conviction that CSR must deliver measurable business, brand and social impacts that yield benefits for vested stakeholders.
Key Findings
- When it comes to corporate social responsibility, consumers want more than aspirational mission statements.
- 84 percent of Americans hold companies accountable for producing and communicating the results of CSR commitments by going beyond the mission to robustly communicate progress against well-defined purpose.
- Some 40 percent go as far as to say that they will not purchase a company’s products or services if CSR results are not communicated.
- Companies that proactively share the details and results of their CSR efforts, rather than just their aspirations, will be rewarded with increased consumer trust and purchasing.
- Some 86 percent of consumers are more likely to trust a company that reports its CSR results, and 82 percent say they are more likely to purchase a product that clearly demonstrates the results of the company’s CSR initiatives than one that does not.
- Despite this strong belief in CSR commitments and results, 63 percent of consumers admit to not knowing where to find such information and 55 percent say that they don’t understand the impact they are having when buying a product from a company that says it is socially responsible.
- But consumers do not expect a business to abandon profits in pursuit of CSR.
- Some 84 percent recognize that for a company to make societal impact, it must also realize a business return, such as increased revenue or reduced costs.
Author(s)
Cone Communications
Source
1. Strange Bedfellows? Voluntary CSR Disclosure and Politics
Griffin and co-author Yuan Sun analyzed extensive data on voluntary corporate social responsibility disclosures, campaign contributions and stock performance. Read more
2. Handle with Care: Resource Management as a Competitive Edge
The report by the Boston Consulting Group looks at how sustainability has become a strategic issue for the five champion companies. Read more
3. Reporting on Corporate Sustainability Performance
The report analyses performance indicators disclosed in the sustainability reports of 94 for-profit Canadian corporations identifying 585 different indicators disclosed in the reports. Read more
4. 2012 Sustainability Leadership Report
The study analyses real versus perceived sustainability performance for 100 companies that collectively account for about 16 percent of gross world product. Read more
5. State of Sustainable Business Poll 2012
The report outlines the progress global business has made on sustainability challenges over the past 20 years, the areas where business is likely to make the most progress over the next 20 years, and key priorities for the year ahead. Read more
6. CSR and the National Institutional Context: The Case of South Korea
This study follows recent studies in employing institutional theory to explore the specific pressures and factors that lead CSR practices to differ between countries, and how they lead to those differences. Read more
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