Social Accountability & Audit
Broadened accountability & assurance - a new paradigm - from shareholders to stakeholders Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Social Accountability (SA) and Audit(SAA) Corporate Ethical Performance (CEP) Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Environmental Sustainability Reporting Triple Bottom Line Reporting Health & Safety Reporting
Council on Economic Priorities (CEP)
Since 1969 - provision of accurate & impartial analysis of CSP & promote excellence in corp. citizenship
Shopping for a Better World Campaign for Cleaner Corporations Corporate Conscience Awards www.cepaa.org
CEPAA - Accreditation Agency Standard … SA8000
Council on Economic Priorities Accreditation Agency (CEPAA)
www.cepaa.org SA 8000 … (ISO 9000 QC; 14000 Envir. Mgt.)
Common standard/framework for ethical sourcing for companies of any size and any type, anywhere in the world
SA 8000 Certification of Company SA 8000 Certification Auditor
AccountAbility
www.accountability.org.uk AA1000 standard
Principles that identify characteristics of a quality process and that can be used in designing & managing an organization’s social & ethical accounting, auditing & reporting process, and in assessing that process
AA1000 qualification Social reporting awards – co. websites
Disclosure Standards
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
[email protected] Sustainability reporting guidelines 20+ companies have beta tested guidelines
CERES Principles
www.ceres.org Valdes Principles
Disclosure Standards
Principles for Global Corporate Responsibility: Bench Marks for Measuring Business Performance - Task Force on the Churches and Corporate Responsibility (TCCR) www.web.net/~tccr broad-based set of principles 23 Appendices - each a code for reference
Triple Bottom Line Reporting - BC Hydro
Social, Economic and Financial performance
Crisis Management
A Crisis is an unusual event that has a significant probability of affecting the organization’s reputation & its ability to meet its strategic objectives. Proper management is essential to manage risks and opportunities Ethical decision making is essential to maintain reputation
Crisis Case
Shell Brent Spar Oil Storage Vessel
Ethics Should be Part of Crisis Management
Crises are more significant than daily decisions – reputation impact Opportunities may be lost:
lack of sensitivity to stakeholder interests reduction in acute & chronic phases reduction in stakeholder anxiety…ethical expectations ensures decision makers given all info & options helps identify important issues & best alternative
Build Ethics into Crisis Management
Prevention and warning: Code, Training, Examples Analytical approach: Apply a stakeholder-analysis framework Ethics expert/consultant on the crisis management team Checklist or specific time to consider: Ethics issues, alternatives, opportunities Decision itself: apply a template including ethics Communications on ethical intent to:
Employees outsiders: customers, media, etc.
Managing The Crisis
Identify the crisis Can you influence the outcome? At what cost? Isolate on the crisis. It should take precedence. Prevent, avoid, mitigate Make plan fluid, contingent Integrate ethics into the decision-making:
Assign watch-dog responsibility, Use a checklist
Phases of a Crisis Cost To Organization
Unanticipated Crisis Anticipated Crisis
Crisis
Control Begins
PostCrisis State Reached
Continuing Reputational Impact
Time Phases
Controlled
Pre-crisis Uncontrolled
Reputation Restoration
Considerations for Managing a Crisis Earliest possible identification and assessment of crisis
Check warning indicators as part of an ongoing risk management system Analyse crises using the stakeholder impact analysis process Consider how the crisis or its impact can be influenced – timing, cost, mitigation?
Develop a plan of action with
Ethics/company’s values integrated into the decision making
Assign ethics watch-dog responsibility Use a checklist Apply moral imagination
Alternative responses/actions to meet contingencies that could arise Specific consideration of how to improve the organization’s reputation drivers including – trustworthiness, responsibility, reliability, and credibility Specific communications objectives
Delay can allow the situation to degenerate, so act promptly Review how the crisis management process could be improved after it is over
Advance Planning Considerations Crisis Identification and Analysis as part of Annual Risk Management Process Train personnel to develop awareness of possible crises their potential Brainstorm to identify possible crises Using the stakeholder impact analysis techniques from Chapter 5, analyse the impacts of each scenario and rank each on the basis of:
Relative urgency, power and legitimacy of claims Reputational impact in short, medium and long terms Interest likely from media, employees, and/or government Profit impact
Develop Warning Indicators Develop a Crisis Management Team ready to be called upon
Designated replacements, outside experts, public spokesperson
Develop Crisis Management Tools
Process - checklist, assigned roles and duties, hotline, advise CEO protocol, danger classification with pre-planned actions, values to guide decisions Communications – crisis strategy integrated with normal, responsibility, plan, contact phone numbers for employees, media, government, customers Contingency planning for actions to anticipate more than one path to resolution
Crisis Forecasting & Ranking
Score each potential crisis from 0-10 on:
Will it...Escalate in intensity? ...Fall under close scrutiny from government or media? ...Interfere with normal operations ...Jeopardize positive public image ...Damage bottom line
Add score on each dimension and calculate average crisis impact value.
Estimate probability of occurrence
Plot Average Scores and Probabilities to Identify Most Important Crises
x
Average Scores
x x
x
Probability of Occurrence
Worst
BE WELL & BE ETHICAL