The Corporate Responsibility Code Book

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From the Introduction to the Indian Edition: The eyes of the world are upon India as it ushers in a new phase of development, assuming a greater role on the global stage. The world’s largest democracy, India has a great deal to teach the world about corporate responsibility. ‘As Indian companies are going global their stakes in improving social and environmental conditions in their home country have increased. Competitiveness can only be sustained if the enabling environment for doing business improves. Corporate responsibility and the willingness to cooperate is one way of making it happen,’ says Georg Kell, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact. It is very fitting that the first country-specific edition of The Corporate Responsibility Code Book is a special edition for India. Crushing poverty and corruption continue to plague India, making the principles and norms in this book relevant and de rigueur. India is a crucible in which the initiatives profiled in this book will be tested and put into practice. This Introduction describes how some of the key initiatives in this book are taking root in India. The UN Global Compact, the Global Reporting Initiative, the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and Social Accountability 8000 are profiled, and the Tata Index is introduced. Although not in the first or second edition, the Tata Index has a great deal to teach the world. The field of corporate responsibility and sustainability has changed radically since the publication of the first edition of The Corporate Responsibility Code Book in late 2003. This second edition of the book reflects these changes, with the inclusion of a raft of new initiatives, revisions reflecting the improvements made to many others and the elimination of several initiatives that have been outgrown by developments. The Corporate Responsibility Code Book explains some of the best CR instruments available, and distils their most valuable elements. It is a guide for companies trying to understand the landscape of corporate responsibility and searching for their own, unique route towards satisfying diverse stakeholders. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. A company may face quite different challenges if it operates in more than one part of the world. And yet stakeholders, especially consumers and investors, are keen for some degree of comparability with which they can evaluate corporate performance. This book is based on interviews with the standard-setters, the implementers of standards, academics, activists and other key stakeholders from around the world; and in many cases includes the full text of the code profiled. Each of the standards and codes described has been shared with the promulgators of the instrument to ensure that the information is as up to date as possible. The Corporate Responsibility Code Book will be an invaluable tool for companies developing their own code, but will also be a key tool for companies with a strong track record in CR, seeking to understand the interrelationships among codes and standards to create their own corporate vision. It will continue to be the key reference text on corporate codes of conduct for many years to come. Anant G.Nadkarni, VP Group Corporate Sustainability at the Tata Council for Community Initiative has been a strong advocate for the Indian edition of The Corporate Responsibility Code Book.

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Deborah Leipziger advises companies, governments and UN agencies on corporate responsibility (CR) issues. Her books have been translated into Portuguese, Chinese, and Korean. She serves on the board of a number of organizations, including Aviva Investors’ Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investment, and is a Member of the International Board, Instituto Ethos, Brazil. Ms. Leipziger has worked in the field of corporate responsibility in the UK, the US, and the Netherlands. Table of Contents Introduction Part I: Global initiatives Part II: Human rights Part III: Labour rights Part IV: Health Issues Part V: From Environment to sustainability Part VI: Combating corruption Part VII: Corporate governance Part VIII: Company codes of conduct Part IX: Framework, sectoral and regional agreements Part X: Implementation Part XI: Visions for the future