corporate social responsibility in the road sector dr andy southern -atkins (uk) alexander walcher...
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Corporate Social Responsibility in the Road SectorDr Andy Southern - Atkins (UK)
Alexander Walcher - Asfinag (Austria)
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Presentation
• What is CSR?
• What role does it/can it play in the Roads sector?
• Results of the PIARC survey of road administrations and suppliers
• What is the future for CSR?
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PIARC's Sustainable Development Committee and the CSR Project
Aim: provide an overview and dialogue on sustainable infrastructure projects in member countries
Including:
• Best practice examples
• Comparison of different management cultures
• Learning and knowledge exchange
CSR was a central strand of research
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What is CSR? A broadening of responsibilities
Economic
financialperformance
Philosophies and values
underpinning an organisations
behaviour
Social
staff diversity, welfare, community support
Environmental
Impacts on environment &
energy useThe “triple bottom line”
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Evolution of CSR• Pre 1970: narrow focus on financial performance
• 1970s: recognition of sustainable development principles
• 1990s: environmental reporting broadened to include social and economic reporting (balanced score-cards)
• Post 2000: majority of top 250 global companies producing CSR reports
– CSR starting to become embedded in some organisations values and behaviours
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The business rationale for roads administrations and their partners to adopt CSR• CSR helps planning and stakeholder engagement
• CSR helps reduce planning costs
• CSR helps reduce conflict costs
• CSR helps create sustainable solutions
• CSR helps to create positive impact for future projects
• CSR creates a different corporate culture
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To what extent has CSR been adopted in the road sector?
PIARC Literature Review & Peer Group Exercise
• Private companies faster to adopt CSR than public sector administrations
• Public sector organisations remit embodied in government objectives and, hence, need for explicit CSR policies/reporting not given the same priority
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To what extent has CSR been adopted in the road sector?
PIARC Literature Review & Peer Group Exercise
• Good examples of CSR in the road sector across western Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa
• Some road administrations adopting annual sustainability reports and actions plans
But
• Emphasis on environmental aspects
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CSR is of growing importance to how road administrations conduct their business• Transport increasingly set within broader
environmental, economic and social agendas
• Compulsory reporting
• A means of aligning objectives in public/private partnership agreements
• Sustainability moving from a 'fluffy' concept to a harder edge currency of 'economic productivity' and 'carbon'
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Objectives of the PIARC CSR study
• Confirm the growing importance of CSR
• Evaluate what is already done in the road sector
• Identification of effective CSR strategies for PIARC-members
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Content of Questionnaire
Members were questioned on:
• 5 key areas: business ethics, employee relations, human rights, community investment, environmental sustainability
• existing procedures, e.g. policies, standards, management structures, reporting, implementation etc.
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Initial Overall Results
• Generally high standards in place
• Top priorities: business ethics, environmental sustainability, employee relations (chart)
• Other areas show room for improvements
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Priorities
100%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
top priority - veryspecific measures
in place
measures areexceeding the legal
requirements
compliance withnational standards
compliance legalrequirements
Business ethicsEmployee relations
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
top priority - veryspecific measures
in place
measures areexceeding the legal
requirements
compliance withnational standards
compliance legalrequirements
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Community investment
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
top priority - veryspecific measures
in place
measures areexceeding the
legal requirements
compliance withnational standards
compliance legalrequirements
Environmental sustainability
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
top priority - veryspecific measures
in place
measures areexceeding the
legal requirements
compliance withnational standards
compliance legalrequirements
Priorities
15
Human rights
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
top priority - veryspecific measures
in place
measures areexceeding the legal
requirements
compliance withnational standards
compliance legalrequirements
Priorities
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Current CSR measures
• Respondents have CSR related measures in place
• Some also publish "sustainability reports"
• However, there are no truly integrated CSR policies
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CSR policies
• Such CSR policies could be easily formulated and formally adopted based on the generally high standards that currently exist
• 3 respondents were working (at the time of the survey) on the implementation of a CSR system and hence, take-up of formal CSR processes will already be more advanced
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Existing Standards
• Internal CSR responsibilities are not always clear (improvements possible)
• High amount of stakeholder involvement– Especially concerning environmental issues
• Manuals and guidelines exist - but there are not consistent standards & approaches to implementation
• Controlling and auditing are taken seriously– However, there is no uniform system established– External auditing is rare
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Motives/Results
• There are strong motives for implementing CSR
• For respondents, benefits of CSR programs are:
– Corporate image is enhanced – vision is becoming clearer
– Stakeholder expectations can be better managed– Cost efficiencies– Improves legal compliance
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Published articlesROUTES / ROADS,Nr. 333, p. 32-41
ROUTES / ROADS,Nr. 335, p. 78-87
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CSR in the road sector
Dipl.-Ing. Alexander WalcherASFINAG
Managing Director
Dr. Andy SouthernATKINSManaging Director Transport Planning & Management