Orientation Context and general remarks … about the project, the survey, the case studies

Raising Awareness for CSR in EU Member States: Case Studies & SynthesisPresentation given at the 15th meeting of the EU High-Level Group on CSRBrussels, 7 May 2007Dr. Reinhard SteurerGerald Berger MA RIMAS - Research Institute for Managing SustainabilityVienna University of Economics and Business Administrationwww.sustainability.euwww.sustainability.eu/csr-policies

Orientation • Context and general remarks …about the project, the survey, the case studies • Some survey results commemorated • Types of instruments etc. • The three case studies„Knowledge and information centre“ (Netherlands) • „People & Profit“ (Denmark) • „Globalt Ansvar“ (Sweden) • ConclusionsSynthesis of survey & case study results

Orientation • Context and general remarks …about the project, the survey, the case studies • Some survey results commemorated • Types of instruments etc. • The three case studies „Knowledge and information centre“ (Netherlands) • „People & Profit“ (Denmark) • „Globalt Ansvar“ (Sweden) • ConclusionsSynthesis of survey & case study results

Context • The project:„Analysis of national policies on CSR, in support of a structured exchange of information on national CSR policies and initiatives“ is commissioned by DG Employment (Tender No VT/2005/063) • The survey results (part I of the final report): Presented at CSR HLG Meeting on 23 October 2006 • The case studies & synthesis (parts II and III): • Highlight relevant success factors and challenges/obstacles • Facilitate an in-depth discussion of different approaches • Facilitate the discussion on policy transfer and coherence

General remarks on the case studies • Cases selected based on survey, in cooperation with DG Employment • Cases considered … but not selected also briefly described in final report (sectoral guidelines in Austria, BITC in the UK, network in Finland) • Sources of information: Documents (incl. websites) on the initiatives, 2 interviews per case (management and stakeholder)

Initiatives surveyed and the „compendium“ listed in the compendium 20 initiatives (23.5%) "new" initiatives • 85 • Country average: 4.3 • Range: 0-9 85 initiatives in total 65 initiatives (76.5%)

Overview of CSR awareness raising instruments Others; 7.0% Education activities, e.g. conferences, seminars, trainings; 17.7% Institutions: platforms/ centres; 8.2% Action plans/ programmes/strategies for CSR; 9.4% Government-sponsored guidelines; 10.6% Economic incentives (loans, grants, subsidies); 3.5% Information resources, e.g. website, studies, reports etc.; 10.6% Prices and awards (CSR audits/labels); 8.2% Multi-stakeholder fora; 4.8% Information/awareness raising campaigns; 9.4% Networks/partnerships/ agreements; 10.6%

Target groups of CSR awareness raising Companies; 40.3% Consumers/consumer organizations/general public; 7% SMEs; 12.4% NGOs; 10.1% Universities/schools; 6.2% Business/industry sectors; 1.6% Trade unions/social partners; 8.5% Young people; 1.6% Ministries/governmental officials; 7.6% Employees; 1.6% Others; 3.1%

Orientation • Context and general remarks …about the project, the survey, the case studies • Some survey results commemorated • Types of instruments etc. • The three case studies„Knowledge and information centre“ (Netherlands) • „People & Profit“ (Denmark) • „Globalt Ansvar“ (Sweden) • ConclusionsSynthesis of survey & case study results

Types of selected cases Others; 7.0% Knowledge and Information Centre on CSR (Netherlands) Education activities, e.g. conferences, seminars, trainings; 17.7% Institutions: platforms/ centres; 8.2% Action plans/ programmes/strategy for CSR; 9.4% People & Profit (Denmark) Government-sponsored guidelines; 10.6% Economic incentives (loans, grants, subsidies); 3.5% Information resources, e.g. website, studies, reports etc.; 10.6% Globalt Ansvar (Sweden) Prices and awards (CSR audits/labels); 8.2% Multi-stakeholder fora; 4.8% Information/awareness raising campaigns; 9.4% Networks/partnerships/ agreements; 10.6%

Knowledge and Information Centre on CSR

K&I Centre: Success factors & recommendations • Open, inclusive and consensus-oriented political culture is a favourable condition • Establishing a CSR focal point helps to coordinate activities • Independent status helps to approach businesses • Collaboration with established organisations is important (to reach SMEs) • Provide tailor-made information, such as sector-specific tools & best practice examples • Funding should be secured for several years

K&I Centre: Challenges • Lack of resources (more work than money) • Provide sector-specific tools is challenging • Serve average companies and CSR frontrunners at the same time is difficult stretch • Budget provision ends with 2008

People & Profit

P&P: Success factors & recommendations • Open, inclusive and consensus-oriented political culture • Establishing a CSR focal point helps to obtain media coverage • Involve stakeholders and anchor the initiative in existing regional and local networks • Develop practical CSR management tools • Set realistic timeframes and achievable objectives

Challenges for P&P • Companies often lack resources (time) to participate in P&P activities • Reaching the ambitious targets in the training module (12,000 trainees)

Globalt Ansvar

Success factors of Globalt Ansvar • Open, inclusive and consensus-oriented political culture • A Non-discriminatory approach opens the partnership to all stakeholders interested in CSR and turns it into a focal point for CSR in Sweden • Important topics should be approached with different formats and activities • National CSR activities should take international standards into account

Challenges for Globalt Ansvar (mentioned by a stakeholder of the partnership) • Few companies (18 so far) have signed up (but partnership is open to other companies & stakeholders) • Weaknesses in monitoring how companies implement OECD guidelines • Support from other European actors (Commission) in fostering CSR is weak

Three cases - common characteristics: • Hybrid character: • The initiatives make use of several tools (information resources, educational activities, studies, networks) • Institutionalising CSR policies helps to • -- better coordinate and focus activities • -- obtain media attention • Common success factors, such as • -- consensus-oriented political culture • -- provide practical and tailor-made (sector-specific) information • -- make use of existing organisations and structures

A cross-sectoral institutionalisation of both policies could improve CSR policies in line with other SD policies • Conclusions • SD and CSR policies are weakly connected • The range of CSR awareness raising instruments is broad … • SMEs are regarded as the most important target group, but only 12% of the initiatives target them specifically • Few initiatives target the media …but they are on the soft side of the spectrum (informational & partnering) If SMEs are regarded as important target group, more initiatives should be devoted to this group Possibilities of involving the media for CSR awareness raising should be explored more systematically

… cooperating closely with existing institutions helps new centres/programmes to reach companies • Conclusions • Success factors for CSR initiatives are diverse… • CSR initiatives should focus on the needs of companies and provide practical and tailor-made advice • CSR is a politically contested issue, and CSR policies depend on government majorities and socio-political contexts … but this is a challenging and costly task Consensus-oriented political cultures seem to offer favourable conditions for voluntary collaboration and partnerships

Possible points of discussion: • What do you think about a CSR platform/centre that coordinates CSR (awareness raising) activities? • What chance do you see for establishing such an institution in your country? • Are the success factors and challenges highlighted in the case studies relevant for you? • Do you agree with the conclusions?

Orientation Context and general remarks … about the project, the survey, the case studies