UK’s perceived leading global position is highlighted in Ethical Corporation’s newly published 10-page management briefing

London 02/02/11

The United Kingdom’s unique blend of having a highly transparent business community, well developed voluntary sector and non-deferential media, makes for a highly developed responsibility system, finds Ethical Corporation’s new UK Country Briefing.

The briefing, published in Ethical Corporation’s February magazine issue, explains that the UK has gone from the “dirty man of Europe” to now “leading the way in developing the intellectual credentials and management practices that underpins the modern corporate responsibility movement.”

Olive Balch, author of the management briefing, writes that in the UK “satisfying stakeholders, most executives now accept, is the best way to please shareholders, not vice versa… Look at the FTSE100. It is no coincidence that its leaders tend to top UK responsibility rankings too.”

The briefing comes in four parts that provides:

• An overview of corporate responsibility in the UK. It’s history and how CR in the UK differs from elsewhere
• The big CR issues – How are UK companies leading, and lagging, competitors around the world, with case studies of British Gas and John Lewis
NGO and corporate viewpoints - Which voluntary initiatives are most relevant and what’s the role of business associations?
• Analysis of government/politics and their influence on sustainable business - How does the UK government and legislation affect corporate responsibility, what is the influence of international authorities, who is more progressive; the companies or the authorities?

It is the whole economic environment that makes UK such a leader in CR. The briefing highlights how Forum for the Future, a sustainability NGO, was influential in Unilever’s ‘Sustainable Living Plan’.

Speaking in the briefing Tom Delfgaauw, Shell’s vice-president for sustainable development in the wake of the 1995 watershed moment Brent Spar, admitted the Brent Spar incident “accelerated a great many needed corporate developments.”

If you would like to know more or wish to purchase the briefing for £195, you can do so by emailing us.

A full subscription to Ethical Corporation magazine and online resources costs just £495. If you sign up to that, we offer this briefing and a further 19 specialised briefings per year, plus an archive of over 7,000 in-depth articles. If you would like to subscribe to our wealth of resources simply click here.

For more information on this briefing or subscriptions to Ethical Corporation contact:

Liam Dowd
Marketing Manager
+44 (0)20 7375 7238



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