Dr Leeora Black is the Founder and Managing Director of the Australian Centre for CSR (ACCSR). In this interview with Dr Wayne Visser, Director of CSR International, she shares what their recent annual CSR national survey has revealed, as well as where Australia is demonstrating best practice. The interview took place in Melbourne on 10 March 2010.
The Australian Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility’s (ACCSR’s) State of CSR in Australia: 2009 Annual Review showed that many businesses tied their CSR strategies more closely to their overall business strategy as a result of the Global Financial Crisis.
The GFC
This was one of the main insights from ACCSR’s annual review, which surveyed over 300 managers about CSR management capabilities, issues and the effects of the GFC on their organisations.
In other results, 14% said they had a reduction in dedicated CSR staff and 19% had a reduction in their budget for CSR. But 29% said the GFC made their organisations more interested in CSR, 49% said it gave them the opportunity to debate CSR and 40% said that CSR, sustainability and business strategies now have stronger links.
Priority issues
Reducing environmental impact and increasing understanding of CSR within their organisations will remain the highest priority issues for CSR managers in 2010. However, understanding climate change has declined in priority since last year, dropping seven percentage points in “very high priority” rating from 34 to 27 per cent.
Commenting on this result, ACCSR Managing Director, Dr Leeora Black, said, “Understanding climate change may have declined in importance as managers have achieved the insights they needed to be able to meet new reporting requirements under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act.”
The biggest increase in “very high priority” rating was “improving our sustainability reporting” which rose from 17 to 24 percent.
Top scorers in CSR Management Capabilities
The State of CSR in Australia Annual Review also obtains self-ratings on a range of CSR management capabilities that have been proven to contribute to business performance. The CSR capabilities are rated by multi-item measures and comprise stakeholder engagement, stakeholder values integration, ethical business behaviour, stakeholder dialogue and social accountability.
“Management capabilities show key aspects of the culture and processes for CSR and are a leading indicator of performance,” said ACCSR Managing Director, Dr Leeora Black.
| STATE OF CSR 2009 - TOP SCORING ORGANISATIONS |
| Top Australian Listed Companies |
| AXA Australia |
| Coca Cola Amatil |
| Lihir Gold Limited* |
| National Australia Bank* |
| Rio Tinto* |
| Sensis (wholly owned subsidiary of Telstra) |
| Westpac Banking Corporation* |
| Top Foreign Listed Companies |
| Aon |
| Baxter Healthcare Pty Ltd |
| BP Australia Pty Ltd |
| Fuji Xerox Australia Pty Ltd* |
| Nestlé Australia |
| Optus* |
| Toshiba (Australia) Pty Ltd |
| Top Government Business Enterprises |
| Australia Post |
| Horizon Power (WA) |
| Hydro Tasmania |
| Landcom (NSW)* |
| South Australian Water Corporation |
| WorkSafe (Vic)* |
| Top NGOs |
| Arts Project Australia |
| Credit Union Foundation Australia (CUFA)* |
| Lifeline Australia |
| Marie Stopes International Australia |
| St. Mary’s House of Welcome |
| Top Industry Associations |
| Australian Institute of Company Directors |
| Institute of Chartered Accountants |
*These organisations also appeared in the Top CSR Management Capabilities list in 2008.
Twenty-eight organisations were named as “Top Scorers” in five categories of Australian listed companies, foreign listed companies, government business enterprises, non-government organisations, and industry associations. Those with an asterisk also appeared in the 2008 Top Scorers list. As the survey is voluntary, no inference can be made about the absence of an organisation from the Top Scorers list.
The most striking aspect of the 2009 results was that companies of all types reported lower levels of CSR management capabilities, while government departments, government business enterprises, NGOs reported higher levels.
Dr Black said: “The decline in CSR management capabilities in companies may be the result of staff turnover, restructuring or changes in strategy that occurred as a result of the GFC. So even though the GFC may lead to stronger links between CSR and business strategy, companies will need to focus in 2010 in re-establishing the internal capabilities to drive success in CSR strategy.”
For more information:
Dr Leeora Black
Managing Director
Australian Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility