The Need for Harmonization and Certification in Social Responsibility Area

Abstract

Today the world is facing rapid changes and economic, social and environmental challenges. In this context, social responsibility, sustainability and business ethics issues are becoming increasingly important, especially in the business sector. Organizations goals cannot be separated from those of the society and the environment they operate in. The successful implementation of social responsibility programs can impact various matters within a company such as the competitive advantage, its repute, the competences to hire, train and motivate those employees that fit the best the given tasks, to attract the best clients by the means of developing and enhancing the organizational environment, to attract investments, sponsors, to improve community perceptions, connections with governmental bodies, mass/media, providers, clients and the whole community within that company operates. Nowadays, there is a multitude of private or international bodies’ initiatives (ILO Declaration, OECD Guidelines, and ISO 26000) which provide either a code or a set of standards and principles that act as guide lines on social responsibility issues. Some initiatives address a range of matters covering the rights of employees and clients as well as human rights, the development of local community, the fight against corruption and bribery, and the focus on occupational health and safety as well as on environment protection. Sometimes, the focus goes much more in detail, as only one issue or several of them are assessed and analyzed. There have been created, developed, and implemented initiatives for business only, while others were designed to be used by all organizations, public or private. Primarily, all had in common the desire to support organizations become more involved in improving social and environmental conditions. Chapter aims to review the wide range of existing initiatives and their main characteristics to determine commonalities and to suggest the adoption of a mandatory standard to allow certification of social responsibility, regardless of the shape and size of the organization. Due to the fact that ISO 26000 successfully harmonizes best principles and practices of social responsibility, the authors consider as necessary to create, on its basis and by the means of the review process currently taking place, a standard enabling organizations certification by transforming ISO 26000 guidelines into requirements and their association, by integration, with the requirements of already established standards.