An Investigation of ISO 26000 and Social Responsibility Practices Applied in IT Companies

Understanding Social Responsibility

Social Responsibility (SR) is a principle where the pursuit of personal profit not should take place at the expense of collective or social welfare or against future generations. In contrast, the pursuit of personal profit should be compatible with activities that improve the position of workers, promote the dignity of the individual, strengthen the protection of the environment and takes regard to the future of coming generations. Nowadays, many consumers have been upset by widely publicised examples of fraud by executives and harmful products produced by some companies. This has led consumers to become more aware about the organisations which they involve with and which they do business with. Consumers tend to reward companies that behave socially responsibly and punish companies that are irresponsible for their actions. Hence, the ethical consumerism has become a prominent feature of social life. Finding the cheapest price is no longer what always matters most to consumers. Instead, consumers expect the companies they do business with, to operate in a socially responsible manner. Consequently, companies must behave ethically and with sensitivity to social, cultural, economic and environmental issues. There has hence been a growing interest in SR from many organisations today, and one of the most frequently asked questions is the definition of SR and how they can operate in ways that benefit society and help improve public perception.

Due to the fact that the field of grew significantly during the last decade and different points of views have been expressed, there was a need for a consensus-based standard. The standard ISO 26000 [http://www.iso.org/iso/iso26000] was developed at the end of 2010. It integrates previous theoretical and practical insights and combines expert knowledge with the legitimisation of an international standard. The ISO 26000 standard is expected to set the norm for SR in the time to come.