The European Commission follows the standard DIN EN ISO 26000which defines CSR as "an organization's responsibility to take responsibility for the impact of its decisions and activities on society and the environment through transparent and ethical behavior"1 is the name. More and more companies are communicating their contribution to this. But what exactly is behind it? At doubleSlash, we follow our strong values and want to ensure that our corporate activities comply with CSR requirements. We have therefore focused on two CSR standards in particular.
Comparison of the DIN EN ISO 26000 standard with the common good balance sheet
The German government passed the Supply Chain Act in June 2021 and refers to Section 289c HGB on non-financial reporting2. However, these legal foundations are still lagging behind our doubleSlash requirements. We therefore ask ourselves as a company and as part of society: How can corporate responsibility be integrated and promoted in daily thinking and actions? And above all: how can we meet the wishes of our employees and customer base on the one hand and also fulfill social requirements on the other? Standards and guidelines can be a guide here. To this end, we compare DIN EN ISO 26000 as a representative of classic CSR guidelines with the common good balance sheet as an example of an alternative approach.
CSR at doubleSlash - the advantages of two systems combined
DIN EN ISO 26000 is considered a prominent CSR reference system and was published by the International Standard Organization (ISO) in 2010. This guideline is also recognized by the German legislator as a recognized Guide for non-financial reporting. In order to identify options for action in terms of CSR, the standard relies on a stakeholder analysis. What expectations does a stakeholder group such as employees, the customer base or the regional population have of an organization? The standard is based on Seven core topics with a total of 35 fields of actionwhich a company should tackle step by step depending on its size and capacity. The guideline is an internal tool that is intended to expand existing processes in terms of sustainability, but is not subject to external audits. It serves as a guide and in no way as a management system or certification. This feature gives us at doubleSlash the opportunity to develop our own system using the fields of action of ISO 26000.
In addition, there is the common good balance sheet, which doubleSlash has already carried out in 2020. This balance sheet is a tool of the Economy for the Common Good, which promotes the idea of a sustainable socially-oriented economic system tracked.3 Companies are to be classified on the basis of quantitative evaluation questions relating to their public value-oriented activities. The public value matrix is used to ask stakeholders questions relating to Human dignity, solidarity & justice, ecological sustainability and Transparency and co-decision are asked. These answers are summarized in a report and show in which areas a company contributes to the common good and in which areas it lacks commitment. An overall result is calculated from this delta and recorded in the form of a certificate by an external audit team.
While ISO 26000 provides step-by-step instructions adapted to existing internal structures, the GWÖ relies on a quantitative, external assessment method. However, certification only takes place every two years and therefore does not meet the legal requirements for non-financial reporting of one year. Furthermore, a comparison of the respective fields of action reveals differences. ISO 26000, for example, explicitly addresses the fields of action "Protection and confidentiality of customer data" and "Technology development and enabling access". These topics reflect a high level of relevance for doubleSlash as a software company. On the other hand, the GWÖ discusses topics that are not explicitly mentioned in ISO 26000. For example, it deals more intensively with the cooperation of partner companies, the ethical attitude with regard to external financing or the promotion of ecological behavior among employees4.
The differences between the two directives are therefore particularly striking in their approaches. However, the comparison also reveals similarities, such as their objective, promote sustainable development. The idea of considering the demands of stakeholders is also applied in both orientations. These expectations are categorized into social, environmental and economic requirements, even if the titles are not the same. Both guidelines refer to Fixed principles or values.
Finding the doubleSlash way for a CSR system
By comparing ISO 26000 and the ECG, we have seen that, despite systematic differences, most of the fields of action are congruent. What is different, however, is the way in which social responsibility is implemented within a company. With this insight, we can now contribute to the further development of the ECG construct for us in order to make it applicable for companies subject to reporting requirements, as it does not yet fully meet legal requirements. However, the consolidation of these two approaches not only contributes to organizational development as a draft concept. It gives us as a company, as a service provider and as an employer the opportunity to systematize the individual nature of corporate responsibility.
Because we know that smooth processes always make our everyday lives easier and ensure routine and consistency in order to achieve our goals. The structure of this doubleSlash-CSR-Systems is already in full swing. As a software company, optimization and problem solving are in our blood. That's why we will work on our system together as a team and full of enthusiasm until we can ensure established processes and value-adding results in the context of CSR.
We compared these two standards as part of a master's thesis. Please contact us if you have any questions.
