September 9, 2009
· Filed under news · Tagged csr, european commission, entrepreneurship education, enterprise
From the DG Enterprise and Industry website:
YOUR WORLD, YOUR BUSINESS is a collaborative partnership between the European Commission and Junior Achievement-Young Enterprise. It promotes European policy objectives in the areas of corporate social responsibility and entrepreneurship education.
YOUR WORLD, YOUR BUSINESS initiative aims to inspire young people “to become the kind of entrepreneurs our society increasingly needs: creative, dynamic, and determined to make the world a better place.”
The main audience are young people aged 16-19, and their teachers, too.
The teacher’s guide and the accompanying videos are available in 24 different languages and can be downloaded from the site.
For more info write at: entr-csr@ec.europa.eu
January 23, 2009
· Filed under events · Tagged european commission, european multistakeholder forum on csr
On 10th February 2009 the European Commission is hosting a plenary meeting of the European Multistakeholder Forum on CSR. The aims of this meeting are to review progress on CSR in Europe and globally, and to discuss possibilities for future joint initiatives.
The Forum will bring together about 250 persons from key stakeholder groups, including employers and business representatives, trade unions, investors, academics, civil society organisations and public authorities.
Among the speakers are: Olivier de Schutter, Simon Pickard, David Grayson, Etienne Davignon, Richard Howitt. The draft agenda is available here.
The meeting can be followed live on the web
December 8, 2008
· Filed under news · Tagged competitiveness report 2008, csr, european commission, innovation, reputation
I have presented in a previous post the recent initiatives co-financed by the European Commission aimed at investigating the relationship between CSR and competitiveness. On November, 28, the European Commission has published a Communication on the European Competitiveness Report 2008.
The European Commission analyses in chapter 4.2. the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on firms’ competitiveness. This issue is developed in the “Commission Working Staff Document” which accompanies the European Commission’s Communication.
The European Commission has analysed the effects of CSR on 6 determinants and indicators of firm-level competitiveness: cost structure, human resource performance, customer perspective, innovation, risk and reputation management and financial performance. Moreover, the European Commission has analysed the relationship between CSR and firms’competitiveness at macro and sectoral level.
Some of the main findings of the research undertaken are summarised below.
1.The strongest evidence of a positive impact of CSR on competitiveness at micro level appears to be in the cases of human resources, risk and reputation management and innovation.
2. Business interest in CSR is increasingly based on opportunities for new value creation and not just on value protection through risk and reputation management.
3.The strength of the business case of CSR in any given enterprise is still dependent on its competitive positioning. For some companies, exceeding social and environmental legal requirements might generate costs that undermine competitiveness. However, for an increasing number of enterprises in a growing number of industries, CSR is becoming a competitive necessity.
4. To be a competitive differentiator, CSR needs to be part of a core business strategy. Enterprises in which CSR remains a peripheral concern, mainly confined to public relations functions, are likely to miss opportunities for competitiveness gains.
