ISO 26000 summary , page 2

Principles of Social Responsibility

4.1 General

This section gives details of the seven principles of social responsibility.

Social responsibility is a way of attaining sustainability and long term viability and the success of the organization can be achieved by the following principles that will be discussed in this chapter.

Although there is no exact formula for social responsibility, an unspoken rule of respect for the guiding principles by the different organizations shall be observed even when the concerns are burdensome.

In the application of the International Standards, organizations should consider the diverseness of concerns within the society as well as among the different organizations.

4.2 Accountability

The principle is: an organization should take responsibility for the implication of its decisions towards society.

Across many disciplines, accountability is a common principle of living up to the expectations in the implementation of the many norms of behavior set by the International Standard.

Accountability of the organization requires that they put in the appropriate measures to protect the interests of both the stakeholders and society and whether or not the agreed measures will be effective.

Improved performance, employee involvement, increased commitment to work, higher employee morale are all positive outcomes of positive accountability. When team members know that they can count on one another they become invested in the organization’s success.

An organization should be responsible for:
-the effects, of their decisions, good or bad, on the society and the environment; and;

• The adjustments implemented to prevent the negative impacts from happening again.

4.3 Transparency

The principle is: an organization should build trustworthiness through transparency on the impacts of its policies and guidelines.

Building trust is the key to a healthy and successful work environment which is why organizations need to disclose their activities, it’s policies and guidelines, and even their plans to all those concerned as these individuals will be on the receiving end should the results turn unfavorable. It is therefore important for the organization to make the information readily available to its stakeholders.

This principle though does not mean that information should be disseminated publicly or that confidential information is easily shared.

An organization should be transparent regarding:
-the motive, the description, and location of its activities;
-any ownership interest in the organization’s activities;
-the method of how the organization and its members arrive at their final decisions, how these decisions are reviewed and implemented and accountabilities;
-its benchmarks and basis of evaluating the organization’s performance;
-the effects of social responsibility to pertinent issues;
-management, application, and sourcing of its funds including budgetary reviews, audits and annual reports;
-the expected outcomes of the organization’s activities in the community and its stakeholders’ interests;
-the basis for selecting of the stakeholders.

4.4 Ethical Behaviour

The principle is: an organization should be trustworthy (or incorruptible).

An organization’s behavior should be consistent with what the society considers as upright and true with the value of impartiality, working for the protection of all – individuals, animals, and the environment.

An organization should actively promote ethical behavior by:

• pointing out the principles (or doctrines);
  -developing and implementing a framework to be able to enforce the culture of upright (or ethical) behavior within the organization and outside;
  -imparting the organization’s business vision, mission, and values, defining and sharing information with its members and non-members alike; there should be openness and communication with all concerned ;
  -having oversight in human resource, policies, and guidelines; enforcing upright behavior from all stakeholders;
  -respecting and observing the local laws and regulations whether or not it is congruent to the requirements of the principles of ethical behavior;
  -respecting human subjects, when handling research, through the application of the International Standards;
  -Enforcement of animal rights in all aspects of protection including decent living conditions when breeding and transporting.

4.5 Respect for Stakeholder Interests

The principle is: an organization that respects the interest of its stakeholder.

While the organization’s mission may be focused mostly on the interests of its members and stakeholders, taking into account the interests of the community outside of the marketplace is equally important.

An organization should:
-establish who its stakeholders are;
-protect the interests of the stakeholders and be able to address their concerns and legal rights;
-acknowledge that the stakeholders can influence the organization, whether or not they have a distinct role in the organization administration or none;

4.6 Respect for the Rule of Law

The Principle is: an organization is accountable to the rule of law.

The rule of law is a system of laws, norms, and community commitment that enforces accountability.

In a democracy, these laws apply equally and even the most powerful officials in the govt. are expected to abide by it. These laws must protect all fundamental rights including the security of persons and contracts, human rights, and property.

An organization should:
-be accountable to laws that are consistent with international human rights and standards;
-Keep abreast of the obligations and the compliance to the current laws and regulations.

4.7 Respect for International Norms of Behavior

The principle is: an organization should obey and respect the rule of law at the same time respect the International Standard.

• Organizations ought to respect the international norms of behavior in situations of conflicts due to the inadequate implementation of protective measures.
• An organization should try to develop new relationships with other institutions to help them evaluate and resolve the conflicts

4.8 Respect for Human Rights

The principle is: an organization should adhere to the “first do no harm” principle which requires prevention of causing further damage and suffering. It should also recognize the importance of moral universalism within and amongst the organizations.

An organization should:
-adhere whenever possible and encourage the implementation of the International Bill of Human Rights;
-acknowledge moral universalism within the organizations and among institutions. Where human rights are violated, organizations must take steps to protect these rights.

5 Recognizing Social Responsibility and the Engagement of Stakeholders

5.1 General

This section gives details of the two foundational practices of social responsibility; identification of its social responsibility and engagement with its stakeholders. These exercises should be kept in mind in addressing its core programs.

Identification of social responsibility calls for identifying the concerns raised by the effects of the organization’s activities and how these issues can be addressed to achieve sustainable development.

The recognition of social responsibility also entails recognizing its stakeholders and respecting their interests especially those who will be directly affected by its decisions.

5.2 Recognizing social responsibility

5.2. a Impacts, Interests and Expectations

In acknowledging its social responsibility, every organization should also take into account the three relationships:
-Relationship with society. An organization should take into consideration how decisions and activities impact the environment and society.

-Relationship with its stakeholder. The organization should take into consideration the interests of their stakeholder and how decisions can impact them.

-Relationship with both the stakeholder and society. The stakeholder’s interests may not be consistent with the interests of society.

5.2. b Recognizing the core subjects and relevant issues of social responsibility.

It is important for an organization to be familiar with the seven core subjects of social responsibility: consumer concerns; community development; fair operating practices; environmental concerns; governance in an organization; human rights; fair labor practices
All organizations should evaluate and review each core subject for it to identify concerns that will have more impact on them and to society. These issues should be assessed on how it can affect the org and its stakeholders and how these impacts sustain development as a whole.

Organizations need to review their obligations that are not only legally-binding but also can impact the environment and socio-economic issues.

Equally important is for organizations to recognize their duty towards their commitments through the codes of conduct guidelines or simply recognizing their membership obligations. Recognizing and sustaining social responsibility is a long process. Nonetheless, organizations and its members should always study the impacts of its decisions and activities until they are confident enough that all concerns touching on social responsibility are being addressed.

5.2. c Social responsibility and an organization’s sphere of influence (SOI)

One of the controversies in social responsibility discourse is the sphere of influence or SOI of an organization. One side of this discourse is those who argue that the limitations of an organization’s responsibility or commitments should be defined by the sphere of influence. On the other side are those who believe the sphere of influence approach is prone to manipulation and should not be used as a basis for setting the said limitations as there are instances when the organization’s activities in certain situations affect the behavior of the parties or other organizations it has a relationship with. There are also instances when the sphere of influence goes beyond the organization’s value chain (or pathway) which can include, but not limited to, associations, other organizations, and competitors.

While an organization, in most cases, has the most influence in relationships with the local communities where the org operates, the nature and degree of the organization’s sphere of influence are fact-specific – ownership, material and human resource, the scale of operations as well as the characteristics of its environment. Therefore, it does necessarily follow that organizations automatically exercise their influence because they can do so. There are situations, where organizations are asked to volunteer their expertise even if they do not have the sphere of influence over the situation. This said it is always best to exercise due diligence to prevent negative impacts or to prevent strains in relationships.

5.3 Stakeholder identification and engagement

5.3. a General

By getting to know your stakeholders, organizations will better understand what they need, how committed they are, and how their action plans can affect the final decisions.

5.3. b Stakeholder identification

It is important to understand that not all stakeholders will have the same interests, influence, or effect on a project. Therefore, it is the organization’s responsibility to go through the process logically and methodically. Identifying which of the stakeholders will be directly impacted by the decisions or indirectly affected. Because the interests and impacts can vary, building a relationship between the organization and its stakeholders may be necessary and helpful.

Interest simply means that stakeholders have the right to be heard and learning how companies or individuals can be affected by the organization’s activities can aid in the identification of its stakeholders.

How to identify the stakeholders:

• Who will be affected directly (positive or negative impacts) by the organization’s decisions
• Who was involved in similar situations before?
• Whose names are mentioned regularly when discussing particular subjects?
• Who holds official positions in relevance to the organization’s activities?

5.3. c Stakeholder engagement

Effective engagement helps convert interests into goals and aids in effective strategic planning. Take, for example, stakeholders can provide limitations or boundaries based on the issues from their company which will be important when brainstorming about the same subject. This allows the organization to make informed decisions.

Stakeholder engagement is vital in today’s working environment and when this is done effectively, it improves the communication/relationship between parties and reduces potential conflicts. It is important to bear in mind that individuals and groups behave differently in different situations.

There are various reasons for an organization to engage with its stakeholders. Stakeholder engagement can be used to:

• it ensures clarity and a shared vision among those who influence the organization’s decisions
• it enables the organization to identify who the key stakeholders
• due to transparency and improved communication, it has lessened the level of risks in the organization, improving the governance
• it helps build collaborative partnerships that generate value and positive outcomes
• it gives the affected party a chance to voice their opinions and be heard
• it can gain a competitive advantage

It helps to point out that while the expectations from a particular institution or company of stakeholders vary, it is safe to say that all expect a form of satisfaction from the organization. If the stakeholders for example are employees, they expect a safe working environment, job security, and a rewarding compensation to name a few. If however, the stockholder is a shareholder or a stock owner, they expect to see high returns of the company shares. If yet again the stakeholders are from the community, they will expect the organization or company to prioritize the protection of the environment and the life within.

For the most part, organizations are already well informed of the society’s expectations from them and can address their impacts without relying on engagements with their stakeholders.

A good strategy in engaging the key stakeholders should be developed. It starts with the identification that determines whether the stakeholders are likely to get affected by any of the decisions made and, whenever possible, engagements should be represented by organizations reflecting these interests. Good engagement goes beyond mere propaganda.

An organization is best positioned to achieve a good reputation when it achieves its purpose, its values reflect its decisions and actions and when it seeks to be dynamic and continues to adapt to the expectations of its stakeholders.