ISO 26000: The Business Guide to the New Standard on Social Responsibility

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Over the last ten years, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has grown from being criticised as a management fad to being endorsed as good business practice by the majority of the world's leading companies. It has also become ever more complex; and the majority of companies are now in need of clarity and guidance to actively engage with CSR in practice, to develop strategies that reflect the unique context in which each company operates and to embed CSR within their values. ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, began developing an International Standard providing guidelines for social responsibility (SR) in 2005. This long-awaited guidance standard will be published in 2010 as ISO 26000. Developed by stakeholders from industry, government, labour, consumers, non-governmental organizations and others, ISO 26000 will almost certainly become the single most authoritative worldwide standard for SR. In only a few years' time, many thousands of organizations around the world are likely to be using ISO 26000 as a foundation for their SR policies. ISO 26000 is voluntary, and includes no specific requirements; therefore it is not a certification standard. Nonetheless, interest is rising to fever pitch ahead of its official release. Business users in particular are anxious to measure against the new ISO guideline their current efforts at implementing SR issues within their overall business strategy. Furthermore, many organizations have indicated that they may reformulate current strategies or develop new initiatives based on the content of ISO 26000. This book, written by international experts who have been involved throughout the development of ISO 26000, is the first to provide potential users with a comprehensive roadmap to the new standard and a compass to identify where they stand in relation to it now. "ISO 26000" defines all of the key terminology of CSR, provides advice about the ways in which organizations can identify their social responsibilities and how CSR can be integrated not only into companies, but into all types of organizations. It is not another code or norm, but an overarching blueprint for social responsibility. This book covers all the key content of ISO 26000, examining the development of the standard, the topics covered and how key themes such as stakeholders are dealt with. It is rich in tools and benchmarking exercises, illustrative material, case examples, and interviews with companies looking to base their CSR policy on ISO 26000. It also contains an overview of the actions and expectations of organizations that wish to work in accordance with ISO 26000. Timely, detailed and practical, "ISO 26000: The Business Guide to the New Standard on Social Responsibility" will be an essential resource for the thousands of organizations that need an expert view on how the new standard works, where they stand in relation to it, and how they can work towards developing their CSR efforts in line with its content.

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Lars Moratis is the former director of a specialised CSR consultancy in the Netherlands. He has extensive experience in consulting with companies, governments and NGOs on CSR strategy development and implementation. Currently, he is affiliated with MVO Nederland, the Dutch CSR knowledge centre and is a lecturer/coordinator in a postgraduate CSR programme at the Open University in the Netherlands. He has published three books, including the primary Dutch study book on CSR, and various articles on CSR, ISO 26000 and the interface between CSR and management education. Timo Cochius is a CSR consultant with BECO, an internationally operating consultancy in sustainable development based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He has an academic background in international business administration and is an expert on CSR strategy development, implementation and sustainability reporting. He has extensive experience with consulting with companies, governments and NGOs on different aspects of CSR and ISO 26000 and has published several articles on ISO 26000.