CH9 - Measuring, Reporting and Communicating CSR

Question 1

Social auditing (first step in measurement of CSR)

Answer 1

systematic assessment that identifies, measures, evaluates, reports and monitors the effects an enterprise has on society (which are not covered in the trad. financial reports)

Question 2

purpose of social auditing

Answer 2

• information to stakeholders about the impact of the enterprise on society
• basis of accountability for the social consequences of corp. activities

Question 3

Levels of auditing (6)

Answer 3

1 - Inventory : list of social activities without evaluation
2 - Program management : statement describing prog and the resources committed
3 - Process : more elaborate approach (including two previous) + assessment of how each social program came into being + objectives and rationales + what has been accomplished
4 - Cost / Outlay : expenditures on social objectives less the negative costs for social objectives not addressed
5 - Social responsibility accounting : social costs and benefits with the objective of the best social return for the investment made
6 - Social indicators : audit on the community conducted using social indicators to provide data on the most pressing needs

Question 4

social auditing approaches (6)

Answer 4

• social objective setting
• triple bottom-line reporting
• social reports
• sustainable guidelines
• externally verifies social reports
• consultation with stakeholders

Question 5

CSR reporting

Answer 5

management function that documents the corp’s economic, ethical/social and environmental responsibilities and initiatives, and communicates this to relevant stakeholders

Question 6

why reporting is important / necessary

Answer 6

• help maintain the corp’s reputation
• meet demands of stakeholders
• sustain corporate profitability

Question 7

Corporate reputation def

Answer 7

how a corp is viewed by all of it’s key stakeholders based on past actions and future prospect - associated with corp image, esp as promoted through public relations, “character” of a corp

Question 8

what is taken into account to determine corp reputation

Answer 8

• customer service
• ethical conduct
• community involvement
• employee relations
• quality of G&S
• innovativeness
• environmental stewardship

Question 9

stakeholder capitalism

Answer 9

system in which corporations are oriented to serve the interests of all their stakeholders

Question 10

CSR and profitability : NBS

Answer 10

Network for Business Sustainability (NBS): initiatives with positive impacts fall into one of three categories
1- firm processes (value can be identified by readily available measures, ex. costs and savings of energy conservation program)
2- firm outcomes (value created is less obvious, result may not be measured but should be, ex. employee satisfaction)
3- external outcomes (value is created is in the more positive perceptions of external stakeholders like consumers)

Question 11

Corporate Social Reporting guidelines

Answer 11

• Global reporting initiative (GRI) standards
• The international integrated reporting council (IIRC)
• The sustainability accounting standards board (SASB)
  etc.

Question 12

Global reporting initiative (GRI) def

Answer 12

def = most comprehensive and widely used guideline
- independent international undertaking to establish reporting criteria to help businesses and govs to understand and communicate their impact on sustainability issues
- main activity is to develop Sustainability Reporting Standards that are made available as free public good

Question 13

3 purposes for which GRI can be used

Answer 13

1) BENCHMARKING and assessing sustainability performance
2) UNDERSTANDING how orgs. influences and is influenced by expectations about sus. dev.
3) COMPARING performance within and between orgs.

Question 14

how to improve canadian CSR reporting

Answer 14

• codes and standards more transparent
• measures better explained and weightings justified
• efforts made to reduce compliance costs by better designed forms and measures
• data used should be improved, with less reliance on info supplied by management
• measurements of social indicators should use sophisticated methodology

Question 15

CSR reports: best practices

Answer 15

• Identify stakeholders
• Describe trends, risks, challenges, opportunities
• Identify and prioritize issues
• Identify major stakeholders and approaches to engage them
• Describe reporting guidelines or standards used
• Include objectives for the future and report on objective accomplishments
• Use visuals to enhance appearance and readability
• Identify managers) responsible for CSR

Question 16

how to communicate CSR and sustainability results

Answer 16

-> Efforts must be made to communicate CSR reports to stakeholders
-> How to inform employees:
- Articles in newsletters
- Information on employee intranet
- Agenda item at meetings
- Corporate reputation committees
-> Communicating CSR is a continuous process
-> Communication with other stakeholders:
- Customer invoices or billings (or other correspondence)
- Corporate websites
- Newspaper, magazine articles and television
- Word of mouth

Question 17

Key attributes to make sustainability
information useful:

Answer 17

1) credibility: believable info
2) balance: presenting an unbiased picture of organizational performance
3) integration with strategy: clearly tying sustainability goals with business goals
4) comparability: enabling comparisons to previous reports of the same firm and information from the reports of other corporations

Question 18

3 potential scenarios to future of CSR

Answer 18

1) fad-and-fade scenario
2) embed-and-integrate scenario
3) transition-and-transformation scenario

Question 19

future scenario of CSR: fad-and-fade

Answer 19

def = awareness and practice of CSR will decline significantly. This is a result of external trends or events beyond the control of the corp. Gov regulation emerges, replacing the self-regulatory purpose of CSR. The failure to address social, ethical, and governance challenges is also blames

Question 20

future scenario of CSR: embed-and-integrate

Answer 20

def = CSR is accepted and the case for it is no longer to be made. Continuous enhancement of CSR approaches and practices occurs, and managers demonstrate a strong sense of moral and ethical commitment

Question 21

future scenario of CSR: transition-and-transformation

Answer 21

def = Incremental changes to CSR are insufficient and stakeholders demand a redesign of the corporation, This will alter the nature and purpose of the corp. and broaden its social function. There is a challenge to the prevailing wisdom relating to the rights and obligations of the corporation. This became necessary as the public lost confidence in the corporation