Corporate Responsibility

The term Corporate Responsibility ( CR ) or corporate responsibility, corporate responsibility also describes the degree of responsibility of a company, which its business activities have an impact on the company, the employees, the environment and the economic environment. Corporate Responsibility is in the narrower sense of a corporate philosophy, transparency, ethical behavior and respect for stakeholders at the heart of entrepreneurial activity. The term "CR " surrounds the subject areas of Corporate Social Responsibility ( CSR), corporate governance and corporate citizenship.

Distinction between

The terms CR and CSR are often used interchangeably, the concept of CR is however significantly wider. During the Anglo-Saxon usage, the concept of " CSR " Although the environmental and social issues emphasized more than the economic is in German " CSR " increasingly equated with the concept of corporate sustainability ( ie, a corporate management, taking account of economic, environmental and social factors ). Corporate Responsibility in turn comprises about these aspects, and issues of corporate governance and management (corporate governance) and the civic engagement of companies ( corporate citizenship ). CR is based on a dialogue with all relevant stakeholders groups, eg Customers, business partners, suppliers, employees and NGOs on. It is noteworthy that the CR concept includes responsibility for the value chain (supply chain ). CR therefore represents a comprehensive management strategy to help secure long -term economic success.

The term Corporate Responsibility can be viewed as an evolution of the older concept of corporate social responsibility and continues as a central concept for corporate responsibility is increasingly in the discourse over older, competing or less comprehensive terms by. There is also the concept of CR is not the risk of an incorrect translation of " social" ( in English ) with "social" ( in German, rather than " socially " as this term context would be incorrect ) and so inappropriate and unintended limit of only social aspects corporate responsibility.

Importance of CR for ( German ) companies

The concept of corporate responsibility is becoming increasingly important for German companies. In particular, by an increased interest of the capital market CR risks are taken into account by the risk management ( stronger). In CR specialized rating agencies evaluate the CR performance of listed companies. By Basel II and the middle class or unlisted companies of banks will in future checks on their CR performance out which in turn can have an impact on lending. In this context, the regular and structured dialogue with all relevant stakeholders is becoming increasingly important in order both to understand requirements of the company and - especially in critical issues - to find solutions through constructive dialogue before the company takes damage. In addition, more and more companies that positive action in CR opportunities and competitive advantages possible. For documentation of their behavior, an increasing number of companies released regularly - in succession from established since the mid- 90s, life cycle analysis of products, environmental reports and sustainability reports - Corporate Responsibility reports that increasingly the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative are based.