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Context. 44 pages, paperback. Free. For details of how to obtain a copy, please email the address shown below.
The Context consultancy has long been one of the more refreshing and down-to-earth entities in the corporate responsibility world, and this small but perfectly-formed pocket guide, produced by its team, neatly reflects that reality.
Presented in simple fashion, the core of the book is a light-hearted but very useful glossary of phrases, acronyms and CSR-speak that most of us, at one time or another, pretend to understand but don't.
If you need quick and easy 40-word explanations of 'licence to operate', 'stakeholder dialogue' or 'digital inclusion', help with the Sullivan Principles and SA8000, or the lowdown on organizations such as the London Benchmarking Group and the Marine Stewardship Council, then this is as good a place to start as any.
Many of the entries are more sideways glances than dictionary definitions: it rather sarcastically describes the Natural Step consultancy, for instance, as 'a strange international organization ... [which] some companies get inspiration and help from'.
But don't let the tone fool you; this valuable piece of work often contains small pearls of wisdom, not least the succinct summary of CSR as being about 'all the things that don't necessarily make money for a company but can harm profits if badly managed'. Some of its best contributions - such as those on transfer pricing, tax avoidance and obesity - encapsulate emerging CSR issues and the reasons for their growing prominence. And there are helpful web addresses everywhere.
What's more, it's topped by a handy potted history of corporate responsibility and tailed by a guide to good writing that offers sorely-needed tips on how to communicate CSR more effectively.
There are several entries that hardly seem necessary - do we really need definitions of effluent, pollute, recycle and smog? - and inevitably some omissions: no mention of the UN Norms or CSR Europe, for example, while the entry for the OECD fails to mention its prime CSR impact - the guidelines on responsible behaviour for multinationals. But then, Context cannily claims only that the guide will tell you '(nearly) everything you always wanted to know about corporate responsibility'. And for the most part, that is exactly what it does.
Peter Mason
The Context consultancy has long been one of the more refreshing and down-to-earth entities in the corporate responsibility world, and this small but perfectly-formed pocket guide, produced by its team, neatly reflects that reality.
Presented in simple fashion, the core of the book is a light-hearted but very useful glossary of phrases, acronyms and CSR-speak that most of us, at one time or another, pretend to understand but don't.
If you need quick and easy 40-word explanations of 'licence to operate', 'stakeholder dialogue' or 'digital inclusion', help with the Sullivan Principles and SA8000, or the lowdown on organizations such as the London Benchmarking Group and the Marine Stewardship Council, then this is as good a place to start as any.
Many of the entries are more sideways glances than dictionary definitions: it rather sarcastically describes the Natural Step consultancy, for instance, as 'a strange international organization ... [which] some companies get inspiration and help from'.
But don't let the tone fool you; this valuable piece of work often contains small pearls of wisdom, not least the succinct summary of CSR as being about 'all the things that don't necessarily make money for a company but can harm profits if badly managed'. Some of its best contributions - such as those on transfer pricing, tax avoidance and obesity - encapsulate emerging CSR issues and the reasons for their growing prominence. And there are helpful web addresses everywhere.
What's more, it's topped by a handy potted history of corporate responsibility and tailed by a guide to good writing that offers sorely-needed tips on how to communicate CSR more effectively.
There are several entries that hardly seem necessary - do we really need definitions of effluent, pollute, recycle and smog? - and inevitably some omissions: no mention of the UN Norms or CSR Europe, for example, while the entry for the OECD fails to mention its prime CSR impact - the guidelines on responsible behaviour for multinationals. But then, Context cannily claims only that the guide will tell you '(nearly) everything you always wanted to know about corporate responsibility'. And for the most part, that is exactly what it does.
Peter Mason
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