Corporate Social Review Magazine 1st Quarter 2012 | Page 22

pean Commission has also recently redefined its definition of CSR,
adopting a definition very close to
that defined by ISO 26000.
This all-encompassing view of
what constitutes CSR is a global
trend. If you want to do business
with the globe, if you want to compete, if you want to benchmark
your business against the highest
global standards and best business practices then you must start
to consider this wider view of CSR.
And as we expand our view of
CSR to include every aspect of our
businesses, the challenges and
the opportunities become obvious
and actually quite thrilling.
The fact is, CSR is also becoming
a new competitive battleground.
Witness what recently happened
with Apple and their manufacturing
operations with Foxcon in China;
presented with a grim view of the
human cost of their high tech toys,
consumers applied so much pressure to the mighty Apple that they
were forced to publicly address labour conditions at Foxcon – where
430 000 people go to work for terrible wages in often horrid conditions, with anti-jump nets erected
around the building to prevent suicide attempts by employees.

Once alerted and made aware of
these social issues, these human
issues, they mattered to the consumer. Mattered enough that they
were willing to pressure the world’s
richest company to change.
And the same applies to the environment, to how we act as corporate citizens, to the quality of the
products and services we provide
and the manner in which we provide them. Increasingly, the consumer cares – they expect us to
behave responsibly - and when we
fail to do so, they will act and react.
As will our partners, our stakeholders and shareholders, our suppliers
and our clients. As will the regulators, global organisations and governments who are also responding
to increasing pressure to make Social Responsibility a priority.
CSR continues to include philanthropic and charitable activities –
and rightly so. These are tangible

ways in which we demonstrate our
citizenship and our shared humanity. But CSR is far, far more than
that.
We’d like to hope that South African companies will embrace ISO
26000. We’d like to think that this
shift towards putting Corporate
Social Responsibility at the core of
business represents the beginning
of a whole new ‘directorate’ – one
determined to make lives better,
build better communities and ultimately make the world a better
place.
But do we think that CSR will one
day have its own ‘Jobsworth’ clan
and the CSR equivalent of ‘ladder
lessons’? Well, obviously, no. But
if it does, you can bet that the certificate will be printed on organic,
bleach-free paper made from sustainable sources!

“We believe in corporate social responsibility not
only in our capacity as a responsible corporate
citizen, but also because it presents a formidable
governance tool. The skills it involves are highly
shaping for a company like ours.”
Franck Terner, President of Air France Industries

Pieter de Ras

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CORPORATE SOCIAL REVIEW