Governments are rarely addressed in CSR reports and are generally the most neglected group of stakeholders, after the investors. However, governments are often the largest beneficiary of a company’s economic activity.
Sticking with the theme of this edition, how are governments addressed in CSR reports? Badly, as a general rule. One reason is that too many reports are structured around the ‘triple bottom line’ or the ‘winning with integrity’ formula of marketplace / workplace / environment / community. The result seems to be a failure to think about all the stakeholders, to prioritise them and then to report impacts on and by each one.
After investors (who get a pretty raw deal out of most CSR reports considering they own the show), governments are arguably the next most important (and most neglected) group. Even customers / consumers who provide the money to run the show and employees who provide the labour do so within the context of rules and regulations set by governments. If you can’t get your goods out of the docks (without resorting to bribes) or face legislation rendering your business uncompetitive (without underhand lobbying), there’s not much point in having willing consumers and a factory full of workers. And when you examine the profit and loss account, governments are often the largest beneficiary of your economic activity, from corporate, employee, purchase, sales and local taxes, directly and throughout your value chain.
So three cheers to Henderson for pushing forward our understanding of CSR and taxation and for recommending better internal procedures and external accountability. Required reading for any CSR manager intent on making their CSR report a truly worthwhile document.
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