How Does Your Company Measure Up?

How Does Your Company Measure Up?

After 10 years of intensive international work, the Globalizing the Principles Network released "Principles for Global Corporate Responsibility: Bench Marks for Measuring Business Performance," the work of a diverse global coalition of religious organizations and advocacy groups. "The Global Bench Marks will help us concentrate on key issues with our global partners," said Barbara Hayes of the U.K.-based Ecumenical Council on Corporate Responsibility. The top benchmarks include:

• A new relationship between corporations, communities, and ecosystems
• Sustainable systems of production and equitable systems for distribution
• Participation of community stakeholders in the decision-making processes of companies
• Preservation and protection of the environment for present and future generations
• Respect for the dignity of every person and for workers' right to organize
• Strong codes of conduct and independent monitoring for corporations and suppliers
• Development of a human rights policy based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Commitment to the principle that every worker has the right of access to health care, including AIDS treatment

  Source: "Principles for Global Corporate Responsibility: Bench Marks for Measuring Business Performance" at www.bench-marks.org.