Laboratories swap ideas

Twenty corporate responsibility discussion groups have been formed under the umbrella of the European Alliance for CSR since it started two years ago.

The groups, called ‘laboratories’, bring European businesses together to exchange ideas and information. In all, 200 company and stakeholder representatives are involved.

The alliance was the chief outcome of the European Commission’s second CSR white paper, produced in 2006, and the laboratories were the centrepiece of its activities. One of the laboratories, led by L’Oréal, Titan and Volkswagen, is examining supply chain management and aims to create a website portal with reference materials on supply chain standards.

Among other groups, Danone is encouraging discussion on ‘base of the pyramid’ markets, and O2 is running a laboratory on the employment of disabled people. The Italian non-profit organization Impronta Etica is leading a group looking at the management of foreign workers.