Please click to view a photo spread of the participants at the second technical session.

Opening Ceremony

Download the Opening Ceremony of the ISO 26000 Guidance on Social Responsibility, Nigeria Adoption Process (ISO26000:NAP) here 

Philanthropy and Charity do not belong here, ISO Social Responsibility Expert…

A global Social Responsibility expert, Chairperson of the ISO 26000 Global Working Group and CEO, The CSR International, Martin Neureiter has said that Philanthropy and Charity whilst good for society do not classify as CSR. In his remarks, made at the ISO 26000 Guidance on Social Responsibility Nigeria Adoption Process in Abuja recently, he decried the wrong notion that one-off philanthropic activities are often misconstrued by organisations as social responsibility.  

Nigeria has commenced the adoption process of the international standard on Social Responsibility, ISO 26000. This process was kicked off at an opening ceremony organised as part of a National workshop and Technical Session by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja. After the successful completion of the first phase where corporate organisations were invited to express interest as technical partners, the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) has through her national member body; the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) organised a two-day workshop to kick start the adoption process facilitated by Lead Expert, Martin Neureiter, CEO, The CSR Company, Austria. 

Participants were drawn from corporate organisations who are participating in the exercise as Technical Partners as well as other government agencies and parastatals.  The workshop marks the first of three technical meetings scheduled to take place between July and December 2012 before the guide can be adopted for use in Nigeria. 

The adoption process is sponsored by Etisalat Nigeria and ThistlePraxis Consulting are Knowledge Partners to the process.

When adopted, Nigeria will join many other African countries such as Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, South Africa, Senegal, Malawi, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Ghana who have adopted the standard.

ISO 26000 is an International Standard (by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) elaborated to guide organisations on Social Responsibility. It is a consensus guidance document that provides support or a reference for all kinds of organisations in both private and public sectors both in developed and developing countries, as well as those who may be referred to as ‘being in transition’. 

In July 2010, at the 9th Plenary meeting of the ISO Working Group on Social Responsibility (ISO/WG/SR) held in Copenhagen, 450 participating experts and 210 observers from 99 ISO member countries which included Nigeria and 42 liaison organisations deliberated and ratified the Final draft standard. Six main stakeholder groups were represented: industry; government; labour; consumers: nongovernmental organizations; service, support, research and others, as well as a geographical and gender-based balance of participants. 

For more information and enquiries on the process, a blog: http://iso26000-nigeria.blogspot.com/ has been created to properly communicate the process for local and foreign observers. Interested individuals are also encouraged to visit for comments, suggestions and input, accordingly.

CONTACT: iso26000@thistlepraxisconsulting.com, +23412131776, +23412131404, +2348136611906, +2348037148070.

‘ISO 26000 may become an enforceable standard in Nigeria’, SON.

The Director General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Dr. Joseph Odumodu, MFR has said that the guide may soon become an enforceable standard in Nigeria. He made this statement in his remarks at the ISO26000 Guidance on Social Responsibility in Nigeria Adoption Process in Abuja. Whilst giving the Welcome Address at the ISO/SON International workshop for the ISO26000 Guidance Standard on Social Responsibility, Odumodu also stated that the time has come for Nigeria to experience the application of standards in daily organisational procedures and practices. The Standards Czar also highlighted the agency’s activities and partnership with the International Organisation for Standardization in enforcing and introduction of standards in Nigeria to ensure global best practices and ensure competitive advantage of exports.

This event marked the commencement of the adoption process of the international standard on Social Responsibility, ISO 26000 in Nigeria after the successful completion of the first phase where corporate organisations were invited to express interest as technical partners. The International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) through her national member body; the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) organised a two-day workshop to kick start the adoption process facilitated by Lead Expert, Martin Neureiter, CEO, The CSR Company, Austria. 

Participants were drawn from corporate organisations who are participating in the exercise as Technical Partners as well as other government agencies and parastatals.  The workshop marks the first of three technical meetings scheduled to take place between July and December 2012 before the guide can be adopted for use in Nigeria. 

The adoption process is sponsored by Etisalat Nigeria and ThistlePraxis Consulting are Knowledge Partners to the process.

When adopted, Nigeria will join many other African countries such as Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, South Africa, Senegal, Malawi, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Ghana who have adopted the standard.

ISO 26000 is an International Standard (by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) elaborated to guide organisations on Social Responsibility. It is a consensus guidance document that provides support or a reference for all kinds of organisations in both private and public sectors both in developed and developing countries, as well as those who may be referred to as ‘being in transition’. 

In July 2010, at the 9th Plenary meeting of the ISO Working Group on Social Responsibility (ISO/WG/SR) held in Copenhagen, 450 participating experts and 210 observers from 99 ISO member countries which included Nigeria and 42 liaison organisations deliberated and ratified the Final draft standard. Six main stakeholder groups were represented: industry; government; labour; consumers: nongovernmental organizations; service, support, research and others, as well as a geographical and gender-based balance of participants. 

For more information and enquiries on the process, a blog: http://www.iso26000-nigeria.blogspot.com has been created to properly communicate the process for local and foreign observers. Interested individuals are also encouraged to visit for comments, suggestions and input, accordingly.

CONTACT: iso26000@thistlepraxisconsulting.com,  +23412131776, +23412131404, +2348136611906, +2348037148070.

‘It is high time Nigerians saw the application of standards in Nigeria’, SON.

The Director General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Dr. Joseph Odumodu, MFR has said that the time has come for Nigeria to experience the application of standards. He made this statement at in his remarks at the ISO 26000 Guidance on Social Responsibility Nigeria Adoption Process in Abuja. Whilst giving the Welcome Address at the ISO/SON International workshop for the ISO 26000 Guidance Standard on Social Responsibility, Odumodu hinted that the guide may soon become an enforceable standard in Nigeria.

This event marked the commencement of the adoption process of the international standard on Social Responsibility, ISO 26000 in Nigeria after the successful completion of the first phase where corporate organisations were invited to express interest as technical partners. The International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) through her national member body; the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) organised a two-day workshop to kick start the adoption process facilitated by Lead Expert, Martin Neureiter, CEO, The CSR Company, Austria.

Participants were drawn from corporate organisations who are participating in the exercise as Technical Partners as well as other government agencies and parastatals.  The workshop marks the first of three technical meetings scheduled to take place between July and December 2012 before the guide can be adopted for use in Nigeria.

The adoption process is sponsored by Etisalat Nigeria and ThistlePraxis Consulting are Knowledge Partners to the process.

When adopted, Nigeria will join many other African countries such as Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, South Africa, Senegal, Malawi, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Ghana who have adopted the standard.

ISO 26000 is an International Standard (by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) elaborated to guide organisations on Social Responsibility. It is a consensus guidance document that provides support or a reference for all kinds of organisations in both private and public sectors both in developed and developing countries, as well as those who may be referred to as ‘being in transition’.

In July 2010, at the 9th Plenary meeting of the ISO Working Group on Social Responsibility (ISO/WG/SR) held in Copenhagen, 450 participating experts and 210 observers from 99 ISO member countries which included Nigeria and 42 liaison organisations deliberated and ratified the Final draft standard. Six main stakeholder groups were represented: industry; government; labour; consumers: nongovernmental organizations; service, support, research and others, as well as a geographical and gender-based balance of participants.

For more information and enquiries on the process, a blog: http://www.iso26000-nigeria.blogspot.com has been created to properly communicate the process for local and foreign observers. Interested individuals are also encouraged to visit for comments, suggestions and input, accordingly.

CONTACT: iso26000@thistlepraxisconsulting.com, +23412131776, +23412131404, +2348136611906, +2348037148070.

ISO26000:NAP - Opening Ceremony

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and her knowledge partner, ThistlePraxis Consulting Limited held the first technical session of the Nigeria Adoption of the ISO 26000 Guidance on Social Responsibility at the Transcorp Hitlton, Abuja on Tuesday 31st July and Wednesday 1st August.

The event which was declared open by the Director - General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) is the first of three stipulated sessions which will culminate in the adaption of the draft guide to be adopted at the full adoption ceremony later in the year.

A strong representation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Corporate Communications and Executive Management of Private and Public organisations were on ground as Technical Partners and Observers to the Adoption Process.

Please click to view a photo spread of the participants at the opening ceremony/first technical session.

Symbolic, not Substantive, CSR Action Has Greater Positive Financial Impact

An academic study suggests that symbolic environmental, social and governance actions have a greater positive impact on a company’s market value than substantive actions.

Previous studies have concluded that ESG actions have a statistically significant, yet small positive affect on financial performance. The authors of Do Actions Speak Louder Than Words? The Case of Corporate Social Responsibility wanted to explore under what conditions CSR affects financial performance.

Olga Hawn, a professor in the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, and Ioannis Ioannou, a professor at the London School of Business, examined not just the different impact of symbolic and substantive actions on the value of a company, but the way it was influenced by prior CSR-based assets – which represent the cumulative results of taking CSR actions in the past.

The authors found symbolic actions have a higher impact on market value than substantive actions, when the company has higher CSR-based assets. The study also concluded that a larger gap between symbolic and substantive actions has a higher positive impact on firm performance; and the more companies engage in both symbolic and substantive actions, the higher the value accumulates to the company.

Symbolic actions include any ceremonial conformity or compliance: for example, a company announcing plans to form a sustainability or corporate ethics committee to provide the appearance of an action, without necessarily having any substance. Symbolic actions can be more generally described as “window dressing” or greenwashing – essentially anything designed to give an appearance of an action while allowing business to proceed as usual.

Substantive actions are the real actions taken by an organization to meet certain expectations and often require changes in core practices, long-term commitments and investments in corporate culture.

The authors weighed four hypotheses and tested their theory using a market-value equation and a database of 2,261 firms in 43 countries from 2002 and 2008.

The four hypotheses:

• The higher the CSR assets (meaning prior CSR actions taken by a company), the higher the effect that symbolic ESG action will have on firm performance, and vice versa;
• The higher the CSR assets, the lower the effect that substantive ESG actions will have on firm performance, compared to symbolic actions, and vice versa;
• The larger the gap between symbolic and substantive ESG actions, the higher its effect on firm performance, and vice versa;
• The higher the coupling between substantive and symbolic ESG actions, the higher its effect on firm performance, vice versa.

A Deloitte report released last month found a connection between perception of stakeholders and a company’s bottom line.  News about a company’s environmental behavior affects its market value, and an organization’s understanding of how its stakeholders perceive and value the organization’s ESG issues can lead to financial benefits, the report said.

A report published the same month by The Conference Board says shareholders are placing more value on corporate sustainability initiatives and are becoming increasingly interested in linking performance to executives’ compensations. Intel, Xcel Energy, Alcoa and Shell are among companies that have tied executive compensation to sustainability performance.