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Social Accounting

Examples of Social Accounting

Take a look at the annual reports and Web sites and any news stories about these five organisations and prepare a short report on how three of them are using social accounting. You could start by finding out whether each company is on the FTSE4Good Index list.

• Traidcraft plc (http://www.traidcraft.co.uk)
• The Body Shop (http://www.thebodyshop.com)
• British Petroleum (http://www.bp.com/home.do?categoryId=1)
• Manchester United (http://www.manutd.com/home/default.sps?splashtickets)
• Friends Provident plc (http://www.friendsprovident.co.uk/)

Sir Adrian Cadbury and CSR

Sir Adrian Cadbury was a senior executive with the Cadbury group for many years and was the chairman of one of several UK Government Commissions on Corporate Governance. In October 2004 he gave a speech at the annual conference of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development in which he said a number of vital things, including:

"A UK consumer survey asks shoppers every month: 'How important is the social responsibility of a business to you when you are purchasing a product?' In 1998, 28% answered 'very important'; by 2000 that figure had risen to 46%. The figures are meaningless: the trend is significant."

Then he makes rather a bold and uncompromising statement:

"I have no difficulty with a quoted company declaring its purpose as being solely to generate profit for its shareholders while keeping within the law, but to make no further concession to society's interests. Its shareholders, its employees and all those with whom it deals know where they stand. Its minimalist social policy stems directly from its values and meets the tests of clarity, commitment and congruence. I believe that society's interest lies in honest disclosure of purpose and values, not in attempting to impose social responsibility standards of some kind. What is not in either a company's or society's interest are stated policies which are insincere and no more than window dressing."

The above statement is strengthened when Sir Adrian later says:

"The social responsibilities of companies need to be clear, consistent, anchored to their values and at times stood by in the face of public clamour."

Source: The Challenge of Corporate Social Responsibility, Sir Adrian Cadbury, CIPD Conference 2003, Business in the Community

In other words, Sir Adrian is in no doubt that a company should live by its own values and if CSR is not at the top of its list of corporate values then, providing it is living within the law, it cannot be criticised. Sir Adrian was reported in the Daily Telegraph, however, as follows:

"...in many cases society would be better off if such companies ignored the campaigners and concentrated on making a profit."

Source: Don't give in to pressure groups, by Richard Tyler, The Daily Telegraph, 7 October 2004

Whilst not everyone will agree with Sir Adrian's position on CSR, the Telegraph portrayal of that position was less than favourable and a full reading of both the speech and the article will reap its own reward!

More Examples

There are a number of ways to access data relating to corporate social responsibility. One way is simply to take a look at the annual report and accounts of a company and look for references to the social report or a separate social report.

Alternatively, carry out an internet search using Google, Yahoo, Ask or your favourite search engine. Search for terms such as social accounting, corporate social responsibility, social auditing and any of the terms you see here.

Finally, the UK Government has a wealth of information available on this topic. For example, take a look at the UK Government Gateway to Corporate Social Responsibility. You could also take a look at the CSR Academy.

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