Corporate Social Responsibility -

It's not just a slogan for us- it's what we live.

We're building a site which will help companies, co-operatives, institutions, associations, not-for-profits and government departments to:

• develop programs of environmental, social and organisational resonsibility;
• manage and avoid risks of prosecution for breaching relevant legislation, standards and guidelines ;
• develop sustainable environmental practices within their organisation;
• develop ethical internal practices regarding such issues as sexual harrasment and equal opportunities;
• measure monitor and report their performance of their programs and practices;
• carry out continual improvements and any necessary remedial measures ;
• if need be, defend litigation on the basis of adherance to programs, policies and practices.

If you only looked at the great corporate rip-offs and failures of the last 20 years - from Australia’s HIH and Babcock and Brown to Worldcom, Enron, Tyco and Adelphia in the US you’d have to agree that there’s a severe lack of corporate social responsibility and corporate ethics (CSR), and it would follow that “plain folks” would have little reason to trust companies. In fact, it’s been going on for a while... the Pecora Commission, which in 1932 investigated the causes of the 1929 crash, uncovered a wide range of abusive practices on the part of banks and bank affiliates.

The global financial crisis shows that maybe things haven’t changed that much. To the followers of the Chicago School and Friedman, a corporation has no responsibility except that of making profits legally. CSR may only incur additional costs, and is therefore inefficient. Any inefficiencies jeopardise overall performance and sustainability of an organization and are prima facie bad.

However, there have been responses to recent corporate failures and downturns. In New Zealand, the UK and Australia, there are a raft of new standards related to business operations and behaviour, with which companies are going to have to comply in order to meet new legislative requirements. Corporate Social Responsibility goes beyond just escaping prosecutions for doing exactly the sort of stuff which caused HIH and Babcock and Brown to fail... and goes beyond philanthropy. In an age where some corporations are motivated by the desire to avoid consumer boycotts, CSR can actually enhance a brand’s reputation in the eyes of consumers, employees and other stakeholders.