© ISO 2007 - all rights reserved
69 Objectives may be based on:
2887
The results of the context analysis see Clause 7.2, the mission andor vision, the adoption and 2888
integration of principles, the determination of sphere of influence and information from stakeholders; 2889
The selection of core issues of social responsibility to be addressed; and
2890
The assignment of priorities and timing for addressing these selected issues. 2891
An organization’s strategies for handling issues of social responsibility should include a review of the 2892
existing policies and the development of new ones as necessary to achieve its objectives. The strategies 2893
may include information on how to: 2894
Reach the objectives set;
2895
Determine the practices or procedures for addressing selected issues in an organization’s activities, 2896
goods and services; 2897
Handle issues in different countries, locations andor specific local situations, taking into account
2898 differences in culture as well as social and economic conditions;
2899
Address cases where stakeholder interests are in conflict with each other or the organization; 2900
Provide groups within an organization with the authority and resources to implement actions related to
2901 social responsibility;
2902
Fairly share the implementation costs of social responsibility in the supply chain; 2903
Engage with stakeholders, and
2904
Develop an overall framework to manage the implementation of social responsibility including 2905
reviewing performance and progress see Clause 7.7. 2906
7.5 The implementation of social responsibility in daily practice 2907
7.5.1. Key considerations 2908
Organizations should consider the following when implementing social responsibility: 2909
Successfully integrating social responsibility into the activities, goods and services of an organization 2910
typically requires a strategy. Determining short-term targets and defining actions plans and indicators 2911
should be done, as far as possible, through engagement with stakeholders see Clause 7.3. 2912
When integrating social responsibility into the organization, make use of existing systems, for example, 2913
management, quality and information systems and tools and structures such as structures for decision- 2914
making and determining rewards. Organizations should not duplicate existing systems and structures but 2915
may need to modify them. 2916
Implementing a strategy, policy, long and mid-term objectives and a code of conduct should involve people 2917
at all levels of an organization. People are a key success factor, so an organization should raise awareness 2918
and build competences and capabilities throughout the organization. 2919
7.5.2 Raising awareness and building competencies 2920
The following actions can help an organization to raise awareness: 2921
Encouraging top management to promote, motivate and stimulate social responsibility in an open and
2922 transparent way;
2923
70
© ISO 2007 - all rights reserved
Explaining and discussing, at all levels of the organization, the elements related to social responsibility
2924 of an organization’s code of conduct, mission, vision and policies;
2925
Encouraging participation, for example in teams, and fostering the involvement of employees from all 2926
levels; 2927
Organizing information sessions with the use of internal or external experts or stakeholders; and
2928
Informing designers, whose work typically occurs at the start of service or product life cycles, about the 2929
possibilities or consequences of addressing or not addressing core issues of social responsibility. 2930
Integrating social responsibility with daily practice requires building internal competencies, which can be 2931
achieved through various actions, including: 2932
Identifying people within the organization or organizational network who already have knowledge and
2933 experience of the relevant issues of social responsibility, for example, specialists in environmental or
2934 human resources issues, members of an in-house consultancy, total quality managers and suppliers;
2935
Identifying people who may be willing or who are especially well suited to actively support 2936
implementation; 2937
Organizing training sessions with the use of internal or external experts or stakeholders;
2938
Studying best or worst practices in the organization’s industry or sector; 2939
Creating multi-level andor multi-functional teams to exchange knowledge and ideas;
2940
Organizing workshops to enable people to identify successes in their own work; 2941
Stimulating innovative and valuable ideas for the activities, goods or services of the organization and
2942 providing research or development specialists or designers with opportunities to do pilot projects; and
2943
Sharing and discussing with employees and stakeholders the organization’s socially responsible 2944
achievements for example, in workshops. 2945
2946
Box 22 How to start implementation in an SMO
2947 Overcoming challenges:
2948
Anticipate the fear and reluctance, especially of small and medium-sized organizations, to dealing with 2949
social responsibility in a systematic way, for example, owing to a lack of budget, personnel resources 2950
and time; and 2951
Identify the reasons for these fears, for example, negative experiences with the bureaucratic side
2952 effects of quality norms, the cost of certification, a lack of knowledge about which topics to address and
2953 a lack of expertise in an organization.
2954 Key considerations:
2955
Begin with one core issue of social responsibility, define a short-term target where quick successes are 2956
possible and define actions to achieve the target [This is the most important task.]; 2957
Consider that there is often more expertise within an organization than might be expected and that
2958 there is a growing interest and expertise in social responsibility in the wider society; and
2959
See the integration of social responsibility as a chance to improve goods, services, activities or 2960
stakeholder relationships and see the process as a learning opportunity. 2961
2962
© ISO 2007 - all rights reserved
71
7.5.3 Establishing structure and reviewing operations against strategy
