TOPIC: AUDITING AND REPORTING SOCIAL PERFORMANCE

GROUP 1: MORALITY ( BSBAMM-2B )

Group Representative:

Leaño, Joshua M.

Group Members:

Galvez, Sheryl Ann O.

Gozon, Andrea

Gutierrez, Lyka Nicole

Labitag, Ruby Rose

Lata, Angela E.

Leal, Nico

1. VOLUNTARY INITIATIVES

A voluntary initiative is any action taken by a company, industry, government or third party that
goes further than existing environmental laws and regulations. A commitment by an individual
company to achieve environmental targets beyond those set by regulations.

2. DEVELOPMEMT OF CODES OVER TIME

Codes and standards provide a common language and requirements for the design,
construction, and operations of buildings. Such codes and standards have long served as the
main tool of governments in setting agreed-upon norms in a jurisdiction.

The concept of building codes goes as far back as Hammurabi (circa 1772 BCE) who
established a performance-based code with strict penalties for noncompliance.

Codes were developed and adopted in Europe as it was settled and evolved over many
decades.

Those codes were imported to the new world and formed the basis for city codes as the U.S.
was formed and grew.

Significant fires in Chicago and Baltimore and a San Francisco earthquake in the late 19th and
early 20th centuries spurred further development of codes for the design and construction of
buildings, efforts fostered by the insurance industry. The primary focus at that time was to avoid
loss of property and loss of life.
3. FORMS OF VOLUNTARY CODES

• Voluntary code refers to marketing, advertising, promotional, labor or environmental codes of

conduct that companies and industries adopt, purportedly to restrict their corporate behavior
that the public considers harmful or damaging.

• Corporations and industries finalize these "codes" themselves, without public input, and they
are supposed to be self-enforced.

• Voluntary codes go by several names, including codes of conduct, codes of practice, voluntary
initiatives, guidelines and non-regulatory agreements.

4. SOCIAL ACCOUNTING

Social accounting is the process of communicating the social and environmental effects of
organizations' economic actions to particular interest groups within society and to society at
large. Social Accounting is different from public interest accounting as well as from critical
accounting.

Examples:

- Corporate Social Responsibility like the construction of a hospital in their local area

- The paper manufacturing sector uses waste paper to recycle the same to produce paper.

- Manufacturing units set up outside the local area because of the release of toxic air which is
harmful to both living things and non-living things.

- Use of waste disposal techniques to avoid water pollution.

5. DRIVERS FOR SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING

Reporting of corporate social and environmental information has matured over the past
decades, but there still remained a lack of adequate standardization. To gain insight into what
distinguishes excellence in corporate social and environmental reporting it is useful to examine
another reporting model, and in case is financial reporting model. Millions of individuals make
decisions based on these reports. Investors and creditors provide the ultimate endorsement to
this form of reporting. Financial reports are much more than booklets written by communications
specialists who are fed information and then spin it to make the entity look good. Codes of
conduct, governance principles and disclosure rules are moving entities to higher standards of
non-financial reporting, including expanded coverage in their financial statements. Economic,
environmental and social indicators are appearing with increasing frequency, providing insights
into the vision and effectiveness of management in anticipating new risks and opportunities in
the marketplace.

The purpose of CSR reporting is to provide useful information to stakeholders, which will in turn
result in improved social and environmental conditions as stakeholders reward corporations for
good performance and punish or put pressure on those with bad performance. The growing
demand for CSR reporting yields evidence that the information provided is valued. The
increasing number of reporting mechanisms, most of which involve a high degree of stakeholder
influence, and increasing number of companies issuing reports provides evidence that CSR
reports are providing useful information and fulfilling stakeholder needs to some extent. Different
organizations are taking different voluntary approaches. Some organizations want to make sure
their supply chain is socially and environmentally responsible. That is the primary purpose
behind many of the CSR certifications, such as SA8000 and ISO certifications. Social and
environmental accountability by investors and consumers is growing, thus the need for external
CSR reporting standards. CSR reporting standards are often included in the selection criteria of
CSR and Sustainability funds.

6. GROWTH IN REPORTING

This report brings together the views of a Commission of 19 leaders, mostly from developing
countries, and 2 academics, Bob Solow and me. The leaders carry with them decades of
accumulated experience in the challenging work of making policies that influence millions of
people’s lives: their job prospects, their health, their education, their access to basic amenities,
such as water, public transportation, and light in their homes; the quality of their day-to-day
lives; as well as the lives and opportunities enjoyed by their children.

7. THE GLOBAL REPORTING INITIATIVES

The Global Reporting Initiative is an international independent standards organization that helps
businesses, governments and other organizations understand and communicate their impacts
on issues such as climate change, human rights and corruption.

What it is purpose?

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is an international, multi-stakeholder and independent non-
profit organization that promotes economic, environmental and social sustainability. The GRI
was established in 1997 in partnership with the United Nations' Environment Programme
(UNEP).

What is the Global Reporting Initiative framework?

The GRI framework aims to enable third parties to assess environmental impact from the
activities of the company and its supply chain. The standardized reporting guidelines concerning
the environment are contained within the GRI Indicator Protocol Set.

8. PRINCIPLES ON REPORT CONTENT

It provides an assessment of the impact of an organization’s non-financial objectives through

systematic and regular monitoring, based on the views of its stakeholders. The foremost
principle of Social Audit is to achieve continuously improved performances in relation to the
chosen social objectives.
1. Multi‐Perspective/Polyvocal. Aims to reflect the views (voices) of all those people
(stakeholders) involved with or affected by the organization/department/programme.

2. Comprehensive. Aims to (eventually) report on all aspects of the organization’s work and
performance.

3. Participatory. Encourages participation of stakeholders and sharing of their values.

4. Multidirectional. Stakeholders share and give feedback on multiple aspects.

5. Regular. Aims to produce social accounts on a regular basis so that the concept and the
practice become embedded in the culture of the organization covering all the activities.

6. Comparative. Provides a means, whereby, the organization can compare its own
performance each year and against appropriate external norms or benchmarks; and provide for
comparisons with organizations doing similar work and reporting in similar fashion.

7. Verification. Ensures that the social accounts are audited by a suitably experienced person or
agency with no vested interest in the organization.

8. Disclosure. Ensures that the audited accounts are disclosed to stakeholders and the wider
community in the interests of accountability and transparency.

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9. EXTERNAL ASSURANCE

External assurance refers to seeking an independent evaluation of performance data published

in sustainability reporting. Reporting organizations seek external assurance from licensed
assurance providers to improve the credibility of their sustainability reports. Robust external
assurance provides enhanced confidence in the quality, reliability and accuracy of an
organization’s sustainability data. The external assurance process also helps organizations to
improve their reporting processes, data management and accountability which in turn boost
sustainability performance.