spring
2003
ethical performance
best practice
PARTNER SHIP
presenting case studies
of corporate social
responsibility
biodiversity
■ internet monitoring
■ management development
■ human rights
■
Do you need
to fill a
vacancy
within your
company?
the online recruitment service from
Ethical Performance helps
organizations find high quality
applicants in the CSR and SRI
fields and is supported by a
regular monthly email alert
reach thousands of experienced
and well-qualified people –
with the minimum of effort
>
www.ethicalperformance.com/recruitment
recruıtment
THE CSR AND SRI JOB SITE
ethical performance
email us at recruitment@ethicalperformance.com with your vacancies or ring us on + 44 (0) 1227 472610
ethical performance
best practice
spring 2003
COVER IMAGE: CORBIS
Ethical Performance Best
Practice is a quarterly publication
that presents examples of best
practice in corporate social
responsibility. Dunstans
Publishing has produced this
issue in association with The
Copenhagen Centre, a Denmarkbased body that focuses on
social inclusion and promotes
cross-sector partnerships to
tackle social problems.
Companies featured in Ethical
Performance Best Practice do so
at the invitation of Ethical
Performance. The case studies
are written by the editorial team
at Ethical Performance.
Companies selected for
inclusion have contributed
towards the costs of printing,
producing and distributing
Ethical Performance Best
Practice, and Dunstans
Publishing wishes to thank them
for this assistance.
We have featured companies
that we consider have a good
story to tell, in the belief that one
of the most effective ways of
spreading best practice is to do
so by example.
■ Ethical Performance Best
Practice welcomes comments
and feedback from readers.
Contact details are in the
box (see right). The companies
concerned would also like to
hear your comments. The contact
details relating to each company
are given at the end of each best
practice case study.
5 foreword
Sharing risks as well as resources to achieve common goals can
benefit society and the environment, says Mads Olivsen
6 introduction
Mads Vestergaard considers how cross-sector partnerships
can help societies to become more sustainable
8 internet monitoring
Cable & Wireless is working with a non-governmental body
to make the internet a safer medium for children
10 biodiversity
Rio Tinto’s partnership with an international conservation body is
helping to put the company on a more sustainable footing
12 human rights
Statoil has joined with a non-governmental organization, a state
institution and the United Nations to assist the Venezuelan judiciary
14 management development
Ashridge business school has brought together companies and
NGOs to help tackle social exclusion while training young managers
Publishing Office
Dunstans Publishing
PO Box 590, 7 Dane John,
Canterbury CT1 2WN, UK
tel: +44 (0) 1227 472 610
fax: +44 (0) 1227 787 658
email: publisher@ethicalperformance.com
Ethical Performance Best Practiceprovides
a forum for companies to present their
activities in the area of social responsibility.
Ethical Performance Best Practiceis
sent free of charge to at least 5000 named
individuals known to be interested in
corporate social responsibility. These
persons are stakeholders and key opinion
formers in the UK, Europe and the rest of
the world. Extra copies are available at
£11 (€30, US$30) inc. postage & packing.
The Best Practice case studies featured are
also available at ethicalperformance.com
Publisher Alistair Townley
tel +44 (0) 1227 478 055
The Copenhagen Centre was
established by the Danish
government in 1997 as an
autonomous, international
knowledge centre that strives
to promote new partnerships for
social responsibility. It works as an
intermediary for governments,
businesses, social partners, NGOs
and civil society organizations to inspire
and promote discussion about new
social partnerships.
Editor Peter Mason
Deputy Publisher Kate Niblock-Siddle
Editorial Assistant Eleanor Sheath
Editorial Office
30 Wynter Street
London SW11 2TZ, UK
newsdesk@ethicalperformance.com
www.ethicalperformance.com
© Dunstans Publishing 2003
ISSN 1474-550X
Dunstans Publishing Ltd produces the
business newsletter Ethical Performance,
the only monthly publication to cover issues
and trends in corporate social responsibility,
and also ethicalperformance.com, the online
companion to the newsletter. Dunstans
Publishing is an independent company.
The Copenhagen Centre
Blegdamsvej 56
DK-2100 Copenhagen
Denmark
tel: +45 3528 8580
email: tcc@copenhagencentre.org
www.copenhagencentre.org
Design Masche +44 (0) 20 7733 4384
Printed on 50% recycled/50% chlorine-free paper
by Hammond Press
spring 2003 ETHICAL PERFORMANCE BEST PRACTICE
3
●
FOREWORD
taking centre stage
Partnerships between the public, private and voluntary sectors are now regarded as one of the
cornerstones of corporate social responsibility. They have so far proved a valuable means of making
societies more sustainable and are likely to become increasingly common, argues Mads Olivsen
Only a few years ago, the word ‘partnership’was a rather sophisticated term
in mainstream corporate social responsibility lingo. It has since rapidly made
its way to centre stage in discussions of corporate social responsibility,
sustainability and inclusiveness. ‘Partnership’is now widely used by CSR
practitioners to describe modes of co-operation where partners acknowledge
their shared responsibilities, coming together to share risks as well as
resources in order to achieve common goals.
Such an approach is generating interest from many sides as businesses,
public authorities, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders
take up the challenge of constructive engagement. And for good reasons. As a
flexible, inclusive way of orchestrating efforts to address social challenges and
to mobilize commitment and resources, partnership has proven a viable
platform for co-operation between responsible organizations.
But partnership is not a magic potion that instantaneously dissolves
barriers and obstacles. Rather, it is a complex arrangement of working
relationships between partners that can deliver outcomes none of the
partners would be able to achieve in isolated, individual efforts. Furthermore,
partnership may also be a catalyst for gains on a societal level and thus have
impacts beyond the immediate partnership goals.
In the past, it has been the norm to witness various stakeholders at odds
with each other. But surely the time has come for constructive solutions to the
challenges brought on by the world’s changing landscapes. If we are to
succeed in addressing inclusion, sustainability and competitiveness in ways
that are mutually supportive, then all stakeholders have a responsibility to
participate. Partnership should be seen as a constructive element in this
search for new approaches. This issue of Ethical Performance Best Practice
provides some insights into just how constructive partnerships can be.
Mads Olivsen
Mads Olivsen is chairman of The Copenhagen Centre
spring 2003 ETHICAL PERFORMANCE BEST PRACTICE
5
●
INTRODUCTION
VIEWPOINT
partnerships – can they deliver?
Companies often find the idea of entering into partnerships with charities and government bodies an
attractive one. But while cross-sector partnerships are undoubtedly a useful way of tackling social
problems, much hard work needs to be put in before the benefits start to flow, says Mads Vestergaard
The concept of cross-sector partnership has gained considerable political
significance in recent times. It turns up regularly in policy documents at
both national and European Union level, especially in relation to
environmental concerns and social issues. Last summer, it formed a
prominent part of the thinking that lay behind the European Commission’s
Communication on CSR, and arguably it is becoming a pivotal term in the
European vocabulary of socio-economic development and corporate social
responsibility. The importance attached to partnerships at last year’s United
Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg gives
a good indication of how the concept is entering the global mainstream.
The private sector has also embraced the concept, which features in an
increasing number of annual reports on CSR activities, social performance
and stakeholder relations with both the public sector and civil society.
With so much attention, the sceptic might ask: is this just another
ephemeral designer-term to come out of consultant companies? A new label
on old cans? Or does it actually point to something more significant; a
paradigm shift in thinking about society and the roles and possibilities of
the different sectors? It can be both.
The word ‘partnership’ itself clearly has a strong positive connotation,
pointing to a balanced relationship between partners who share a sense of
reciprocity, mutual respect and ownership. The ideal partnership is one
between equals, where risks, responsibilities and benefits are shared.
When used in the context of CSR and multi-stakeholder dialogue, the
positive ring of the word ‘partnership’ makes it seductive; many companies
might want to use the word when communicating their social profile. In the
public sphere, on the other hand, the term is at times seen as holding an
unrealistic promise of being a panacea for all social ills. As a result, many
different types of collaboration are branded partnerships these days.
We do not argue for partnership puritanism – nor do we need a
partnership police to judge what qualifies as a genuine partnership. But
maybe we can only fully realize the potential of cross-sector partnerships,
with their possibilities of wide-ranging societal gains, if we take some of the
basic principles of partnership into account. Participants must be regarded
6 ETHICAL PERFORMANCE BEST PRACTICE spring 2003
●
as equal, sharing risks and responsibilities, making investments (in terms of
funds, time, or otherwise) and sharing the results. So we are not talking
good-hearted philanthropy or sponsorship arrangements. All in all this
means that successful partnerships are generally hard work. One should
carefully consider if they are the best option in any given situation.
Cross-sector partnerships do, then, hold an enormous potential for
bringing about concrete results through combining the resources and
competencies of the different sectors. This can be by creating jobs,
placement in protected jobs, stimulating entrepreneurship – any number of
things. And these concrete results are central to why companies, public
sector institutions or NGOs would want to engage in a partnership.
But a well-functioning cross-sector partnership can also have even
greater potential in terms of a wider type of gain that might benefit not only
the target beneficiaries, but also the partners themselves and society at
large. These outcomes are often more intangible than the concrete results of
a project, and must therefore be seen in a longer-term perspective.
For partners, benefits might include
new insights and inspiration, a better
society
clearly
understanding of the other sectors,
benefits
access to resources and the creation
when there is
of new networks. It clearly benefits
a dynamic
society to have a dynamic relationship
relationship
between the different sectors that
between
creates opportunities for innovative
sectors
problem-solving. Gains might also
include changing popular sentiment towards marginalized groups,
attracting commercial enterprises, countering racism, and making projects
more sustainable. All these benefits can flow from partnerships, if the
different organizations involved collaborate beyond their traditional sector
demarcations.
Cross-sector partnerships come in innumerable forms and shapes, and it
is of vital importance that we communicate good examples of successful
partnerships for the inspiration of others. This said, it is equally important
that we take seriously the basic principles of what partnership actually
means, and allow ourselves to make critical assessments; to try to
understand why some partnerships fail to deliver.
It is only then that we can sustain a very promising development where
partnerships are not just newspeak or empty jargon, but on the contrary, are
an innovative approach to forging a society that is more sustainable – both in
a social and an economic sense.
■ Mads Vestergaard is researcher at The Copenhagen Centre
spring 2003 ETHICAL PERFORMANCE BEST PRACTICE
7
●
CABLE & WIRELESS
SOCIAL ISSUES
making the web safer
Cable & Wireless has worked with a non-governmental organization to improve internet
safety for the last six years. The partnership has provided a way for the telecommunications
company to begin tackling a social issue that it regards as a social responsibility
When you’re the world’s biggest hoster of websites,
a number of responsibilities inevitably follow, not
least in the area of internet safety. Cable & Wireless
has long been conscious that while the net brings
many benefits for children, it also holds dangers –
from adults who may contact them in chatrooms, to
indecent images and other inappropriate material.
Given the enormous worldwide virtual traffic,
internet safety is an extremely difficult issue for any
single company to address. But C&W has made a
start through a partnership with a children’s charity.
In conjunction with Childnet International, a
London-based non-profit body set up eight years ago
to make the internet a safer medium for children to
enjoy, the company has set up the Cable & Wireless
Childnet awards, which reward innovation on the
web by young people or those working with them,
and also stress the importance of internet safety.
The first awards were held in London six years
ago, and the event has since grown rapidly, with
ceremonies in Washington DC, Barbados, Sydney
and Paris. This year’s awards, which have come back
to London, have attracted almost 300 entries from
50 countries.
For the main award, a
our business
judging panel chooses the
is the internet
most innovative projects,
so it is our
such as 2002 winner
matmice.com, which helps
responsibility
young people design their
to ensure
own home page. The
young people
judges said this site would
have been ‘an outstanding
can use it
accomplishment for the
safely
best silicon valley internet
company’, let alone the three Australian sisters who
set it up in their bedroom without adult help.
Finalists this year include Sarah Bowler, a 12-yearold British environmental campaigner who set up
the Cool Kids for a Cool Climate site
(uk.geocities.com/coolkidsforacoolclimate), and
Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital’s Kids and
Teens site (www.gosh.nhs.uk/kidsandteens), which
allows children to share their hospital experiences.
Each group of finalists, typically up to 50 people,
is invited to spend the week before the ceremony in
the country hosting the awards. The winners share a
prize pool of £15,000 ($24,000, €22,000) to develop
their programmes.
While one of the main aims of the awards is to
encourage children to enjoy the net and to learn
8
●
ETHICAL PERFORMANCE BEST PRACTICE spring 2003
the company
Cable & Wireless is a global telecoms business with
an annual turnover of £5.9billion ($9.3bn, €8.5bn) in
2002, 300,000 employees, customers in 80 countries
and pre-tax profits of £61million. It:
■ spent £5.3m on community initiatives in 2001/2,
of which £2.5m was in the UK
■ has produced an annual environment report since
1999
■ has given a board member responsibility for social,
environmental and ethical matters
■ works with the UK organization You Can Do IT,
which provides internet training for disabled people
■ was one of only 18 companies given ‘premier
league’status in Business in the Environment’s
2003 Index of Corporate Environmental
Engagement, which covered 207 businesses.
the background
Three-quarters of adults say they are ‘extremely
concerned’about children’s web habits, according to
a UK survey by GetNetWise, a telecommunications
industry coalition on internet safety.
from it, an important objective is to get across the
importance of using the internet safely. This is partly
achieved through the publicity for the event, and
also by working with entrants to ensure their sites
include safety information. The initiative is linked to
another joint venture between C&W and Childnet
International, called Kidsmart, which has produced
leaflets for parents and children and a website
offering practical advice on how to ensure the safety
of children surfing the net. For children, the key
messages are that they must never give their
personal details or meet alone anyone they have
contacted on the net. For parents, there is advice on
how to keep an eye on the material their children are
viewing, especially through the use of free software
packages to filter out unsuitable sites.
Coupled with this, C&W has played a prominent
role in setting up two industry-funded bodies. The
Internet Watch Foundation runs an international
hotline for web users to report sites with suspected
criminal content such as child pornography or racist
material, and the Internet Content Rating
Association offers a self-labelling system to web
owners to rate their content.
‘The aim of the strategy is to enable people to
understand that the web can have a positive effect
on their lives, but that they also need to be careful,’
■ a panel of teenagers
reviewed submissions
to this year’s Cable &
Wireless Childnet Awards,
which attracted 300
entries from 50 countries
says Joe Franses, C&W’s community investment
manager. ‘Our business is the internet, so it is
absolutely our responsibility to encourage young
people to use it safely and recognize the dangers.’
The partnership with Childnet International began
six years ago. ‘Childnet approached us for financial
help with a website on internet safety, and we
worked together on it,’says Franses. ‘The awards
slowly grew out of that’.
The relationship has grown stronger over the
years. ‘Over the past couple of years we have
focused on the internet as an area for future growth,
and as a result the issue of internet safety has
become more important for the company,’says
Franses. ‘We have tried to pioneer and lead on the
issues, and this work is part of our community
investment programme.’
Stephen Carrick-Davies, deputy chief executive of
Childnet International, says constant contact has
been crucial to the success of the partnership. ‘Good
communication is vital. On average we meet at least
once a month,’he says. ‘But you also have to
recognize the different skills that each partner
brings. Both need to play to their strengths – for
example, in the case of the awards, we find C&W’s
media savvy and expertise in special events
management very valuable. It’s also important to
evaluate and review regularly what you are doing.’
For the company, the link with Childnet
International has provided a way to begin tackling a
complex issue that it regards as a social
responsibility. But it has also made sound business
sense. Franses points out that because internet
safety is ‘a social issue that is core to our business’, it
is therefore a key reputational issue for the
company. But promoting safer use of the internet
brings other benefits to a company whose business
in part depends on the volume of internet traffic.
Swati Patel, community investment executive at
C&W, adds: ‘We’ve had very good employee
involvement with a range of people who’ve offered
to go into their local school and talk about internet
safety as a direct result of the awards, which is
something we want to capitalize on more.’Another
company department – public policy – offers further
evidence that the combination of the awards,
Kidsmart and involvement with industry initiatives
on internet safety has had wider benefits.
‘As a business we have a commitment to
promoting self regulation, and these measures are a
clear message that we take this seriously,’says
Emma Ascroft, C&W’s political manager. ‘What we
are doing has resonance in government circles
because it shows that self regulation, through
partnership, can work.’
■ Further information: Joe Franses, community
investment manager, at joe.franses @cw.com
comment
CABLE & WIRELESS
Responsibility can be a slippery thing – not least when it comes to the internet. In
this partnership, Cable & Wireless has taken a clear stand in recognizing its share of
responsibility towards child users of the internet. It’s an issue that could easily have
been lost between content providers, internet service providers, public authorities
and civil society stakeholders. This is a good example of how apparently opposing
agendas can be accommodated when they are made explicit to all partners.
outstanding features of the partnership:
■explicit acknowledgement of the particular skills and resources each partner
brings to the partnership
■strong focus on internal communication as an essential means of keeping the
partnership alive and dynamic
■the use of regular evaluation as an instrument of partnership governance
■the wider impacts of the partnership (such as its bearing on the debate about
regulation) are also an important spin-off.
FLEMMING SCHULTZ, THE COPENHAGEN CENTRE
spring 2003 ETHICAL PERFORMANCE BEST PRACTICE
9
●
RIO TINTO
BIODIVERSIT Y
building a relationship
Rio Tinto has partnered with 14 non-governmental organizations to help realize
its policy objective of putting the group’s global operations on a more sustainable
footing. We profile its work with one of these NGOs – BirdLife International
Fauna & Flora International, the Centre for
Appropriate Technology, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
and WWF-Australia. From northern Canada, where it
is involved with local communities, to Victoria in
Australia, where it has supported efforts to conserve
the platypus, Rio Tinto has entered partnerships to
tackle issues ranging from biodiversity through
water management to human rights.
Sustainable development is easy to talk about,
but hard to put into practice, especially when you
are a mining giant with a substantial ecological
footprint. Partnerships are a useful way of realizing
opportunities that would simply not be available to
an organization acting alone.
John Hall, Rio Tinto’s corporate relations manager,
says: ‘This is about policy development. A company
that is serious about sustainable development has
to take partnership seriously because it is through
genuine partnerships that change happens.’
The relationship between BirdLife International
and Rio Tinto began three years ago, when birding
events were held at 21 of the company’s 66
operations around the world. The Rio Tinto
Birdwatch is now an annual global event – last year,
there were 43 Birdwatch events and more than 1400
people were involved, among them many of the
company’s employees – but they are only one
element in a much wider programme of work.
Rio Tinto has set ambitious sustainable
development objectives: developing biodiversity
best practice at Rio Tinto sites; ensuring the
company’s programmes take biodiversity into
account at the outset of a project, and involving
PETE OUTHWAITE/RBM
As anyone who has ever visited a flooded gravel pit
knows, where miners have been, birds tend to
follow. And so, in turn, do birdwatchers, who will
often stay in the area to spend their tourist dollars.
Building on this simple observation, a grouping of
more than 100 conservation bodies and the world’s
third-largest mining company have come together in
a partnership that seeks to achieve objectives
common to both organizations.
Each party had very different reasons for
becoming involved in the Rio Tinto-BirdLife Birds
and the Environment Programme. BirdLife saw it as
an opportunity to
harness the power and
partnerships
reach of a global
are a way of
company to improve
biodiversity and protect
realizing
threatened species. For
opportunities
Rio Tinto the partnership,
that are not
which will initially last
five years, is part of a
available to an
wider policy to put its
organization
operations on a more
acting alone
sustainable footing.
‘Successful
partnerships are all about realizing the mutual
benefits’, says Jonathan Stacey, project manager of
the Rio Tinto-BirdLife Programme. ‘That principle
underlies all partnerships and makes them
sustainable.’For its part, Rio Tinto has entered into
partnership agreements with 13 other
environmental, indigenous and educational nongovernmental organizations, including Earthwatch,
■ the relationship
between BirdLife
International and Rio
Tinto began with an
international
birdwatching event,
but has since grown to
include wider sustainable
development objectives
10
●
ETHICAL PERFORMANCE BEST PRACTICE spring 2003
■ Further information: John Hall, corporate relations
manager, at John.Hall@riotinto.com
BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONAL
communities near sites in biodiversity management.
The partnership programme is an important element
of this strategy.
‘We are seeking to influence how a multinational
with a global presence incorporates nature
conservation objectives into its core operating
activities’, says Stacey.
Rio Tinto typically operates sites for between ten
and 30 years and has been mining at some for more
than a century. Its operations affect people at least
as much as wildlife. At one site, Richards Bay in the
KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa, the Rio TintoBirdLife International Programme began work last
year to establish a sustainable ecotourism network
for the area. The R2million (£160,000, $251,000)
four-year programme involves BirdLife International
South Africa, the Rio Tinto-managed subsidiary
Richards Bay Minerals and other stakeholders
working together to develop the area for ecotourists.
An information centre has been set up, hides built
and guides trained, while work has begun to
develop a long-term plan to conserve the area.
Richards Bay is globally important for birds,
particularly wildfowl, and also attracts rarities such
as the crab plover. But many of the areas popular
with birds are being damaged by pollution and
industrial development.
‘Richards Bay has the potential to be the hub for
bird-based ecotourism in northern KwaZulu-Natal,
which is already a well-known area for ecotourism in
South Africa, and the idea is to develop the resource
to the point where local businesses are able to
sustain themselves’, says Stacey. Richards Bay is
already part of a green tourist trail and ‘avitourism’
now forms one part of Richards Bay Minerals’work
to build up the local economy well in advance of
when the mine eventually closes. The local business
advice centre, set up by the company in 1986 to
promote local enterprises, has helped to create
more than 2500 jobs and establish 900 firms.
‘The Avitourism Project is placing birds and
biodiversity at the core of Richards Bay’s developing
economy,’says BirdLife. ‘By identifying locations
and sites of biodiversity value and developing them
as economic assets to local communities, this
initiative is cultivating a model for sustainable
development in the true sense of the phrase.’In
Madagascar, Namibia and elsewhere, the company
operates in the vicinity of important birding areas
where there is similar potential for avitourism to
provide jobs for local people and help biodiversity.
The relationship between Rio Tinto and BirdLife is
complex, with social, environmental and commercial
interests all jostling for space. This makes trust an
essential ingredient in the partnership mix. As
Stacey says, ‘Trust allows the programme to
challenge the view that businesses and
conservation organizations operate exclusive and
polarized agendas.’
■ The African fish eagle is
one of the many
attractions for birders at
Richards Bay, where a Rio
Tinto-managed subsidiary
is working in partnership
with BirdLife International
South Africa to develop the
local economy by
improving biodiversity
the company
Rio Tinto mines and processes aluminium, copper,
coal, gold, iron ore and other minerals in more than
20 countries, has 36,000 employees and a market
capitalization of $26billion (£16.6bn, €24bn). It:
■ heads the mining sector in the Dow Jones
Sustainability World Index, which rates a
company’s social and environmental activity
alongside its economic performance
■ is the best-performing mining company in
Business in the Community’s Corporate
Responsibility Index, launched in spring 2003,
which scores companies on how well they
measure and integrate responsible business
practices
■ is a founder member of the Global Mining Initiative,
an industry programme that seeks to identify how
mining can help society become more sustainable
■ gives company staff volunteers paid time off
work to carry out conservation research in
partnership with Earthwatch, an environmental
non-governmental organization.
comment
RIO TINTO
As a giant in its sector, Rio Tinto clearly has role model potential for other
companies, and not just those in the mining industry. In its partnership policy, the
company displays a clear commitment to letting its operations be informed and
influenced by some of its hardest critics. Their knowledge and skills are employed
to help establish sustainable solutions to complex challenges.
features of particular interest:
■partners focus on mutual benefits of the partnership at least as much as on the
gains for the individual organizations
■there is recognition of the need for change within the partner organizations,
which challenges all partners and encourages them to review their internal
structures and ways of working
■the partnership is not merely remedial with a narrow focus on the local setting,
but takes account of the wider impacts on communities.
FLEMMING SCHULTZ, THE COPENHAGEN CENTRE
spring 2003 ETHICAL PERFORMANCE BEST PRACTICE
11
●
STATOIL
TRAINING
promoting human rights
When a democratically-elected Venezuelan government began to encourage the country’s judges
to take more account of human rights issues, Statoil supported those efforts by helping to
create a cross-sector partnership that provides training for the judiciary throughout the country
12
●
ETHICAL PERFORMANCE BEST PRACTICE spring 2003
the company
Statoil, based in Stavanger, Norway, is one of the
world’s largest net sellers of crude oil and a
substantial seller of natural gas in Europe. With
more than 16,500 employees worldwide, it has oil
operations in 25 countries and runs around 2000
service stations in nine countries. It:
■ co-financed the upgrading of the Azerbaijani
election code to international standards
■ is supporting the Norwegian Refugee Council’s
Human Rights Education Project in Azerbaijan,
which trains teachers in basic human rights so
they can include the subject in the curriculum
■ published its first corporate social responsibility
report in 2002
■ has an in-house human rights awareness and
training programme for staff that is provided by
Amnesty International.
the background
In 1998, less than one per cent of Venezuelans said
they had confidence in the country’s legal system.
■ 25 criminal court judges
in Venezuela’s capital,
Caracas (below), where
Amnesty International
has highlighted human
rights abuses, received
training funded by
Statoil on how to
incorporate human
rights considerations
into their judgements
NANCY BUNDT/STATOIL
Venezuela may not be in the best of political health
right now, but it is still clinging on to democracy, and
for a South American country that has had its fair
share of coups and military dictatorships, that is
something to be thankful for.
The task of protecting Venezuela’s fragile grip on
democratic stability has fallen to all sectors of
society in recent times – including the corporate
world. Three years ago, when the newly-elected
government of president Hugo Chavez introduced
judicial and constitutional reforms to improve the
country’s patchy record on human rights, one
business in particular – the Norwegian oil company
Statoil – felt it could make a contribution.
In essence, the 2000 and 2001 reforms
abandoned an inquisitorial legal code which
required that people accused of crimes be
considered guilty until proven innocent. The
reformed judicial system was supported by new
legislation to promote human rights, together with
a more liberal penal code.
But changing the law was not the end of the
matter. Venezuelan judges unaccustomed to
observing international conventions on human
rights needed considerable help to adapt to the
new legal framework.
To aid with this re-education, Statoil Venezuela
helped set up a partnership with the local branch of
the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP), the local chapter of Amnesty International,
and the branch of the Venezuelan judiciary
responsible for training and administration: the
Consejo de la Judicatura, now known as Tribunal
Supremo de Justicia.
In the first phase of the partnership, which began
in 2002, 25 criminal court judges in the capital
Caracas received training in the new legal system
and how to incorporate human rights considerations
into their judgements.
The partnership then played a part in helping
these 25 judges to provide guidance to 65 of their
colleagues in the two big and populous states of
Zulia to the west and Anzoategui in the east. In the
third phase, which is now under way, the
partnership hopes to provide guidance to the
remainder of Venezuela’s 1200-strong judiciary.
Ensuring that each partner has a clearly defined
role that suits their skills has been important to the
partnership’s success. Tribunal Supremo de Justicia
has organized the training, Amnesty International
provides interactive sessions and presentations on
human rights issues, and the UNDP co-ordinates the
entire project, which Statoil supports through a
financial contribution. Throughout the programme,
the company has deliberately kept a low profile.
‘The key has been that the non-governmental
actors such as Statoil have supported the efforts of
the authorities rather than replaced them,’says
Ricardo Tichauer, local representative of the UNDP.
‘The authorities were, and still are, leading the
project, as they must to make it legitimate and
sustainable.’
This delicate balance has affected the pace of the
project, which Statoil admits has ‘hit some bumps in
the road’over the past couple of years. Most notably,
it was severely disrupted by a comprehensive review
of the judicial system which led to the suspension
or dismissal of several hundred judges and public
defenders on suspicion of corruption or
incompetence.
Nonetheless the work, which has so far cost
Statoil $180,000 (£120,000, €165,000), has
been well received and is likely to be extended
to other countries.
Venezuelan
The United Nations wants
to use it as a model in
authorities
other Latin American
lead the
countries seeking to
human rights
modernize their legal
structures. More generally,
project, as
it has also spurred the
they must
UNDP to begin exploring
how the corporate sector
to make it
can play a bigger part in
legitimate
helping to promote
human rights.
Statoil’s involvement in this programme places it
squarely in a political arena that many businesses,
particularly in a sensitive sector like oil, would fear
to enter, but the company feels the partnership has
been an opportunity to show its commitment to
corporate engagement in human rights without
overstepping its role as a commercial organization
that operates in society.
‘We feel that it is ethically right to manifest our
values,’says Staffan Riben, president of Statoil
Venezuela. ‘We can’t stand passively by when these
rights are breached or international law is ignored in
countries where we have operations.’Statoil has
been particularly mindful of human rights issues
since it became embroiled, like several other oil
companies, in controversy over its presence in
Nigeria, where it did business under a military
dictatorship.
Of course, there are business benefits for the
company too, and these have influenced Statoil’s
decision to continue support for the partnership.
The company wants good governance in all areas
of the societies in which it operates, and a country
where people have confidence in the law is a more
stable business environment. Statoil produces
roughly 30,000 barrels of oil per day in Venezuela,
which is one of the world’s leading oil exporters, and
does not want to see its business interests there
threatened by instability. ‘A project like this with a
capacity-building character can contribute to
political stability and economic development, and
therefore improve a company’s framework
conditions,’says Riben.
Statoil also believes reputational benefits will flow
from its involvement with the other cross-sector
partners. The company’s support has raised its
standing in the country, and has helped to attract
into its workforce high-calibre young Venezuelans
who have become aware of how Statoil is working to
improve human rights in their country.
‘While it is difficult to measure the direct economic
results of such a project for a company, the most
tangible of them is the positive effect it has on our
reputation,’says Riben.
For the other partners there have been rewards
too. ‘The project generated a lot of enthusiasm on all
sides, and seems to be a win-win situation,’says
Tichauer.
‘For the authorities it offers the opportunity to
become more accountable to the needs of the
electorate, for Amnesty International it strengthens
the local chapter by making use of its understanding
of local conditions, and for the UNDP it offers a
brokering role and a chance to promote
development’, he adds.
Whatever the benefits to the partners, however,
the hope is that Venezuelan society will be the
biggest winner. ‘The most important long-term
result is the partnership’s contribution to a change of
mind-set in the legal community,’says Fernando
Fernandez of the Venezuelan chapter of Amnesty
International.
‘A project and an alliance of this kind were
unthinkable five years ago. The fact that different
actors are now concentrating their efforts in this
direction is a very important step forward.’
■ Further information: Christine Neset,
CSR co-ordinator, Statoil, on +47 51 99 33 94
comment
STATOIL
Businesses – just like citizens – prosper in stable, just and transparent
societies. Many countries are still struggling to learn this lesson. This
partnership is one example of how a company can help catalyze social and
economic development to benefit society as a whole, by changing public
sentiment and improving trust, transparency and justice.
features of interest:
■capacity building is a key element of this partnership. Its implications may
well reach far beyond the immediate scope of the project
■allotting each partner a clear role and responsibility has helped to make the
partnership more transparent, which benefits partners, target groups and
stakeholders alike
■it appears that the partnership is systematically transferring its experiences
and knowledge to other organizations – such as the United Nations. This
should extend its impact beyond national borders.
FLEMMING SCHULTZ, THE COPENHAGEN CENTRE
spring 2003 ETHICAL PERFORMANCE BEST PRACTICE
13
●
ASHRIDGE CENTRE FOR BUSINESS AND SOCIETY
MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT
learning on the job
A partnership between fourcompanies, the voluntary sector and one of Europe’s leading
business schools is helping to tackle social exclusion while training y0ung managers
Until recently, the Liverpool Dyslexia Association
faced a daunting task. The support group for
parents, professionals and adult dyslexics had
plenty of things it wanted to do, but virtually no
money and no full-time paid staff.
Today, however, thanks in large part to an unusual
tripartite partnership led by the Ashridge Centre for
Business and Society, the picture is brighter. The
association has benefited from the management
expertise of participants in the Sir Christopher
Harding Leadership Programme and secured
funding to take on two development workers.
The Leadership Programme, set up in 2001, brings
together managers from the public, private and
voluntary sectors to work on social inclusion projects
and provide participants with a grounding in
leadership skills. In Liverpool, a team of participants
created a strategic plan for the association and
helped with funding bids which have brought in
£280,000 ($439,000, €403,000) so far.
The programme has achieved similar results in
other organizations, including Positive Action
through Learning Support, a literacy project for
ex-offenders in the Nottingham area.
The Sir Christopher Harding Leadership
Programme – named after the former chairman of
United Utilities who died in 1999 – was begun by
Ashridge to explore ways in which young leaders
from government, business and the non-profit
sector ‘can collaborate to build capacity to address
issues of social exclusion’. Central to the programme
are community-based consultancy projects. There
are also classroom sessions in which course
members develop management and leadership
comment
ASHRIDGE CENTRE FOR
BUSINESS AND SOCIETY
NGOs are particularly vulnerable to a lack of management
resources. This partnership in capacity building and CSR
management is an inspiring way of addressing that issue.
features of particular interest are:
■how resources can be unlocked and applied to the
benefit of all partners as well as the community
■the recognition of long-term, less tangible outcomes
■the key role business schools can play in
strengthening the position of CSR in management.
FLEMMING SCHULTZ, THE COPENHAGEN CENTRE
14
●
ETHICAL PERFORMANCE BEST PRACTICE spring 2003
skills. British Nuclear Fuels, BT, Royal Mail and
United Utilities sponsor the programme, which runs
between June and December each year.
After nine days spent in the classroom at
Ashridge, the managers split into small groups to
work on consultancy projects in the community,
where they spend 100 hours over four months.
‘The objective is to give participants the
opportunity to develop their own leadership style
and knowledge, and to become agents for change
both in their organizations and in the communities in
which they operate,’says
the boundaries
Andrew Wilson, director
of the Ashridge Centre for between
Business and Society.
government,
While there are no
business and
specific age criteria, the
programme is targeted at the voluntary
managers with at least
sector are now
five years’professional
increasingly
experience and a record
of community service.
blurred
Wilson says the
programme has also helped a number of key future
leaders appreciate the benefit of cross-sector
partnerships. ‘In the current climate the boundaries
between government, business and the voluntary
sector are becoming blurred,’he says. ‘Tomorrow’s
leaders need the skills and experience to operate in
that environment. Bringing people together in this
way is a logical first step towards achieving that.’
■ Further information: Andrew Wilson, director, at
Andrew.Wilson@ashridge.org.uk
■ managers on the
Sir Christopher Harding
programme spend time
honing their leadership
skills at Ashridge (below)
ethical performance best practice
has had a tremendous response from readers
‘the range of companies considered is
welcome, as is the acknowledgement that
CSR covers a range of issues and themes’
‘I wholly applaud the encouragement of
good practice by promulgating case studies
from leading companies’
‘very interesting and informative’
‘I hope I am one of the lucky 5000 who will
continue to receive this excellent publication!’
‘absolutely brilliant’
‘these companies are on a road that
hopefully many more will follow’
‘a most informative and useful publication
for both academics and practitioners’
‘an excellent publication’
case studies from the
following organizations
have featured in Ethical
Performance Best Practice:
AOL
BARCLAYS
BT
CAMELOT
CENTRICA
CHIQUITA
DIAGEO
FRIENDS IVORY & SIME
LATTICE GROUP
LE GROUP
MARKS & SPENCER
NATIONAL GRID
NESTLE
ORANGE
POWERGEN
RMC GROUP
SEVERN TRENT
TRANSCO
WHITBREAD
correspondents include
individuals from:
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS GROUP
ASSOCIATION ETHIQUE
ET INVESTISSEMENT
COPENHAGEN BUSINESS SCHOOL
ERNST & YOUNG
EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT AGENCY
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
FABIAN SOCIETY
FUNDACAO MARIO SOARES
HOUSE OF COMMONS
HOUSE OF LORDS
INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS
JUDGE INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT
STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF
CAMBRIDGE
KINROSS & RENDER
MARIE CURIE CANCER CARE
MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY BUSINESS
SCHOOL
NEW ECONOMICS FOUNDATION
OXFAM
TOMORROW’S COMPANY
UNIFI
UNIVERSITY OF SALFORD
WWF
ethical performance
best practice
If you have any comments on this sixth issue of Ethical Performance Best Practice, we would be interested to hear them.
Please write to us at Dunstans Publishing, PO Box 590, 7 Dane John, Canterbury CT1 2WN UK, or email publisher@ethicalperformance.com
www.ethicalperformance.com