Corporate Social Responsibility

Using

ISO Standards 26000

Prachi Mishra

What are ISO 26000 standards?

• ISO 26000 provides guidance on how businesses and organizations can operate in a socially responsible way.

• ISO standards for social responsibility are developed so that organizations contribute to global sustainable development by practicing social responsibility to improve their impacts on their workers, their natural environments and their communities.

• Organizations are usually scrutinized by their stakeholders.

In a nutshell

Fig 1: 7 core subjects of Social Responsibility

PwC Global

• PricewaterhouseCoopers (trading as PwC) is a multinational professional services network. It is the world's second largest professional services network, as measured by 2014 revenues, and is one of the Big Four auditors, along with Deloitte, EY and KPMG.

• “Following the Golden Rule – do unto others as you would have them do to you – is both the right and the smart thing to do. And making the effort to consider different viewpoints and treating those views with respect goes a long way toward establishing and keeping trust.”

Key Stakeholders

• Partners and staff, current and prospective• Regulators, standard setters, and professional

bodies• Firm clients• Suppliers• Communities and NGOs• Retired partners and alumni

Communication about Sustainability and Responsibility

1. Responsible business 2. Diversity & inclusion3. Community engagement and 4. Environmental stewardship

More details can be found at:http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/corporate-responsibility/our-approach.jhtml

PwC and ISO 26000

• I studied Corporate Social Responsibility Approach of PwC Global. Then I centered my case study to PwC Austria and made an appointment with an employee to discuss the seriousness of PwC Austria towards corporate social responsibility, environment and its sustainability.

• There is a Satisfaction Indicator to each guideline. It generally speaks of what the employees feel about the measures taken by PwC to satisfy the Social Responsibility Principles. It is graduated as 1 to 5 (1 highest and 5 lowest).

A Few Guidelines

• DISCRIMINATION AND VULNERABLE GROUPS: PwC believes in Diversity and Inclusion. For example, PwC has a special focus on HeforShe and Aspire To Lead ProgramsSatisfaction Factor: 2

• HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK:PwC provides basic health care tips to all employees. It has an association with hospitals across the state and medical insurance is also provided.Satisfaction Factor: 2

• PREVENTION OF POLLUTION:.Total Impact Measurement and Management (TIMM) was developed to provide the total perspective on business impacts, including GHGs and other air emissions, water pollution, waste, and land and water use.Satisfaction Factor: 2

• FAIR MARKETING, FACTUAL AND UNBIASED INFORMATION AND FAIR CONTRACTUAL PRACTICES: PwC promotes transparency in business and encourages its stakeholders to practice transparency too. PwC has initiated “Public Trust Awards” to raise standards in transparency.Satisfaction Factor: 3

• CONSUMER DATA PROTECTION AND PRIVACY: PwC is actively working in the field of Big Data Security. Data of consumers cannot be accessed outside the system. PwC is supported by a qualified team of Big Data Analysts.Satisfaction Factor: 1

Results• When ISO 26000 standards were applied to PwC Vorarlberg, the results

were overwhelming. • Although it faces some controversies in regard with sexual discrimination,

tax avoidance, IT fraud cases etcetera, PwC Vorarlberg faces lesser complex issues. (Read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PricewaterhouseCoopers#Controversies )

• Though its setup is comparatively new, they are doing well when it comes to environment sustainability, employee satisfaction, market transparency and other factors.

• The most intriguing issue that employees face is restricted transport of goods from non EU members through customs offices in Vorarlberg. Though it has some exceptions, but employees who are not residents of Vorarlberg face a lot of trouble at times.

References

• http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/corporate-responsibility/index.jhtml

• http://www.pwc.at/de/ueber-uns/code-of-conduct-verhaltensgrundsaetze.jhtml

• http://www.pwc.at/de/unternehmensberatung-und-risikomanagement/nachhaltigkeit.jhtml

• http://www.iso.org/iso/home/standards/iso26000.htm

Questions?

Thank You!