With the angel on one shoulder and devil on the other, the willingness of companies to implement responsible practices is being tossed. On the one hand, the easy life you are told not to worry, that we should not make great efforts. You can win awards and certifications that is a responsible company with ease. On the other hand, the hard life they say they do not take that easy route, which will eventually be discovered and will suffer temporary those moments of joy.
With the awards and certifications generic hunger have been found with appetite. Institutions allegedly promoting corporate responsibility and give awards created with ease. Both the grantor and the winners, they earn "prestige", say rather than relatively cheap advertising. Some may organize annual conferences for the awards, some even get to charge for courses and participate in or offer advice on how to complete the questionnaires, while others give license to use logos that recognize the company as responsible. Many are awarded by institutions in which firms must be members, for a fee. The winners boast of winning a prize and announce it on their websites and in their sustainability reports. It's a win-win. " Everybody's happy.
This would not nothing wrong, if indeed the grantors have found that firms are (fully) responsible as they say. Unfortunately, to economize, the awards are based on questionnaires completed by companies, or rather, by specialized consultants. Who really wins is the company, who completed the questionnaire. Having seen many answers to questionnaires I have seen that almost the only thing that differentiates companies is how they say. The vast majority say everything that is expected to say. Said to have codes of ethics and conduct, but does not say if applicable, how many cases have occurred and how they have solved; says it has procedures for environmental protection, but whether it does or how it does. No talk of fines or problems:! The questionnaires do not ask!
Not to mention the awards where the public vote, as in the case of some reports of sustainability, where a public vote has not read the reports and where the vast majority vote for the companies in their country, without considering the from other countries.
But some companies have withdrawn a prize for showing irresponsibility? Who dares?
Similar problems have certifications or accreditations issued by governments such as generic The bill proposes Sustainable Economy in Spain (see the article "Accreditation companies responsible? on the blog www.cumpetere.blogspot.com) and the Bill of Corporate Social Responsibility of the Autonomous Community of Extremadura. Without going into details of whether governments have the capacity to certify companies, one wonders what happens if the other communities decide to imitate these "initiatives." Will more companies certified by a community than another? Will be certified in all regions? Not to worry, if adopted these laws, an institution that will soon make a ranking of certifications autonomous communities or governments.
There were many (some say they were few) and gave birth grandma
And now we're joining the party ISO 26000, or rather, their children. ISO 26000, which is not certifiable, does not mean that national regulatory authorities (generally institutions regulatory standards ISO certificate) issued certifiable standards. In the scope says "This International Standard is not intended to prevent the development of national standards which are more specific, more stringent or different types of" ISO normalization should not get into qualitative and subjective, but he did and got a good guide to guide (forgive the cacophony) the design and implementation of responsible practices. The ISO 26000 is the product of a lengthy consultative process, reasonably inclusive, with the participation of international experts. But he could not close the door on national certifications. Hopefully, with your business, national institutions and draw beyond certifiable standards. The temptation will be great and I can imagine a race to see who gets the first certifiable national standard based on ISO 26000. And we need to see how much loyalty remain with the original.
rules already exist generate certificates issued by some of these institutions (in Mexico, Colombia), but not based on ISO 26000 and not widely used. But to use that name in the standard ISO 26000 certifiable tempt companies to ask them and consultants to provide them. Lead us not into temptation ... ... ..
is that the total liability does not exist. There are responsible and some have many. Which is free of sin cast the first stone. What
responsible practices needed are specific practices certifications made by accredited institutions, independent, non-certified consultants (who certifies the certifiers?). Institutions that are exclusively dedicated to these tasks, to check field practices, to audit the process and provide certificates with an expiration date, which must be renewed.
There are good examples of these specific certifications, but also can have their problems: Fair Trade (check prices paid to producers), Social Accountability (check working conditions), WRAP (laborare conditions in textiles), ICTI (in the making Toy), Child Labour (certifications by industry: clothing, carpets, cocoa, etc.), Forest Stewardship Council (sustainable use of forests), the label SPCA in Brazil on the absence of child labor, promoted by the Foundation Abrinq among many other certifications. The use of these labels does have value ... ... but not always appreciated by the consumer.
sustainability indexes also some stock exchanges make some verification of the information from companies, but not very detailed, more dependent on "punishment" which is to be excluded from the index (in a future article will cover this topic.)
From what I have to be proud of and report on the website and in the sustainability report is how many certifications they have, by whom granted, since when they have them. That did not reap as many rewards, not how many accolades he received from the institutions to which he made a donation or become a member. Hopefully
hear the angel and not the devil.
0 comments:
Post a Comment