The London Stock Exchange has launched a Corporate Responsibility Exchange to provide information on companies’ ethical and social performance. Companies giving their information to the Corporate Responsibility Exchange will pay between £800 and £3,000 a year, while those accessing the information will be charged £20,000.Contact London Stock Exchange 020 7797 1222 (http://www.londonstockexchange.com)
Steaming ahead
Nine of the world’s top-performing companies including IBM, 3M and Diageo, have teamed up with The Centre for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College and AccountAbility to form the Global Leadership Network. The three-year research project, launched on September 20, will focus on how these companies balance the pressures for profitability against the demands to be responsive to broader societal needs by exploring. Questions to be addressed by the group include; how to align corporate citizenship into core business strategy by defining what activities are material to a company; and, how to respond to and learn from societal expectations in a manner that creates value for the business and stakeholders.Contact Pat Breen, AccountAbility 020 7549 0400 (http://www.accountability.org.uk)
Does it matter?
Companies don’t think that CSR matters to customers or investors, according to Hill & Knowlton’s latest annual global survey of senior executive opinions on corporate reputation management, Corporate Reputation Watch 2004,published on September 22. The survey finds that while CSR is being taken seriously at the highest levels of business (with most respondents saying that CSR is the responsibility of the CEO or the board), most executives do not believe that it has a significant impact on customer or investor decisions. Only a tenth (9%) of executives think it’s important to investors, and a twentieth (5%) to customers.Contact Wayne Fick, Hill & Knowlton 020 7973 5926 (http://www.hillandknowlton.com/crw)
Value laden
Companies with better corporate governance standards have a higher stock market value, according to a survey of 168 Hong-Kong based companies. The Survey on Corporate Governance of Hong Kong Listed Companies, announced by the City University of Hong Kong on September 10, assessed companies in five areas:
l rights of shareholders
l equitable treatment of minority shareholders
l the role of stakeholders in corporate governance
l disclosure and transparency
l board responsibilities
Contact Stephen Cheung 00 852 2788 7960 City University of Hong Kong (http://www.cityu.edu.hk)
Corporate ‘killing’
Government officials have pledged to introduce a new bill making it easier to prosecute companies for fatalities, the Financial Times reported on September 3. A new ‘corporate killing’ bill is expected either this autumn or in the period following a 2005 general election. Plans to make directors potentially liable for jail sentences as a punishment for collective management failures have been dropped. The new corporate killing offence will instead focus its fire on large companies, threatening them with the stigma of being found guilty of a criminal offence in the wake of a fatal accident.Contact Jonathan Prior, DTI 020 7215 5977 (http://www.dti.gov.uk)
At the top down under
Westpac has achieved first place in the inaugural Australian Corporate Responsibility Index, followed closely by BP, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Toyota, it was announced on August 29. A total of 26 large companies participated in the index, which is based on BITC’s Corporate Responsibility Index.
Meanwhile, BITC launched its 9th annual environmental index and 3rd annual Corporate Responsibility Index on September 10, with an invitation to over 500 companies to participate. Completed survey returns are due by November 19, with company validation visits scheduled for November 2004 to January 2005. The results of both indexes will be published in March 2004.Contact Jackie Randles, Corporate Responsibility Index 00 61 2 9299 9566 (http://www.corporate-responsibility.com.au; Dawn Tomlinson, BITC 020 7566 8793 (http://www.bitc.org.uk)
Reviewing progress
The European Commission announced on August 5 that it has started a 12-week stakeholder consultation process to gather input for a mid-term review to assess what the EU Sustainable Development Strategy has achieved since it was adopted in June 2001 at the Gothenburg European Council. The review will also assess where further progress is needed during the next five-year term of the incoming Barroso Commission.Contact Reijo Kempinnen, European Commission, on 00 3 295 3358 (europa.eu.int)
TLC for TNCs
Regulating Corporations: A Resource Guide, published by UNRISD on July 20, reviews a broad range of regulatory initiatives that relate to the social, environmental and human rights responsibilities and regulation of transnational corporations. The guide contains a brief history of TNC regulation, before classifying the initiatives under three main sections. These are:
l industry self-regulation
l multilateral regulation
l civil regulation
There are also sections on national legislation and recent proposals.Contact UNRISD 00 41 22 917 3020 (http://www.unrisd.org)
Ethical Dilemma
The world’s 25 key players in the media industry are struggling with their ethics commitments, suggests a report published by Oekom Research in August. According to Corporate Responsibility Industry Report Media, which ranks media giants on the basis of 200 environmental and social indicators, German company Axel Springer leads the tables with a B+, while British media companies EMI and Pearson rank 2nd and 3rd each with score of B-. The report singles out Reuters as one of the few media agencies to provide ethical guidelines covering the issues of journalistic independence, the separation of advertising and editorial content and the basic principles of information procurement.Contact Marnie Bammert, Oekom on 00 49 89 5441 8490 (http://www.oekom-research.com)
Our man in CSR
Nigel Griffiths replaces Stephen Timms as CSR minister, following a government reshuffle in September. Griffiths continues in his role as small business minister, which he has carried out since June 2001, with responsibilities for social enterprise, construction, export control, consumer goods and fuel poverty. Described by himself as a ‘strong supporter’ of Friends of the Earth and Amnesty International, he includes in his interests sustainable development and ecology. Contact Jonathan Prior, DTI 020 7215 5977 (http://www.dti.gov.uk)
Editorial Comment
Well respected as CSR minister, Stephen Timms has been promoted, and good luck to him. But it does leave us with our fourth minister in less than five years. Kim Howells was the first in February 2000, followed by Douglas Alexander after the 2001 general election. However good the civil servants are at maintaining continuity, there’s an inevitable slowdown as the new kid on the block gets to understand what is still a very new concept. Thankfully Nigel Griffiths comes was a solid grounding in community partnerships, having worked with people with learning disabilities and helped found The Big Issue in Scotland before becoming an MP. Mercifully we were spared hard-man Mike O’Brien (ex-immigration minister) who took on the rest of Timms’ portfolio in the DTI. Some have suggested that with Griffiths’ interests and experience, government’s policy emphasis may shift to CSR in small and medium enterprises, while the minister may be more likely than his predecessor to side with pressure groups rather than business.But what is Briefing’s advice for the new man? Before you start dreaming up new schemes to urge upon companies, it’s time finally for government to get serious about its own social responsibilities – procurement, environment, employment policies and civil servants getting involved as employees. And while you are at it, put your managers through the CSR Academy too. The public sector represents 40% of the economy, so focus there for a while, leaving the 60% to digest the last few years of DTI initiatives.
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