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ABB’s social policy
ABB recognizes social performance as a key to sustainable development and has included social performance management as an integral part of its corporate strategy. This goes further than simple compliance with government regulations and avoidance of liabilities. It represents a preemptive stance, with adaptation to country-specific needs, as a means of establishing competitive advantage. Our social policy points the way for social performance management within ABB. It covers the following areas:
1. ABB in society
2. Human rights
3. Children and young workers
4. Freedom of engagement
5. Health and safety
6. Employee consultation and communication
7. Equality of opportunity
8. Mobbing and disciplinary practices
9. Working hours
10. Compensation
11. Suppliers
12. Community involvement
13. Business ethics
Read the full social policy
Beyond compliance
Although responsibility for social infrastructures generally belongs to governments, there is a growing interest within business, combined with pressure from stakeholders, for companies to commit to and demonstrate corporate social responsibility and so help society to be more sustainable. In ABB, we regard corporate social responsibility as the commitment by business to contribute to sustainable economic development, working with employees, their families, the local community and society at large to improve their quality of life.
Industry already has a large social responsibility, regulated by laws and influenced by public opinion. Compliance is a prerequisite to maintain a company’s license to operate – paying wages and taxes, and providing suitable working conditions and health and safety procedures. But baseline performance is not enough. Most socially responsible companies have the ambition to go well beyond compliance with national and international regulations. Their stakeholders demand nothing less.
But what do we mean by beyond compliance? How far should we go? What financial resources will be required? Which benefits will arise and when? Social impact is not easily measured. For the present, it must be assessed by value judgments without the benefit of generally accepted accounting principles.
The absence of internationally recognized definitions and standards and the substantial differences between the social systems in different countries make managing and assessing social performance a challenge for globally operating companies.
ABB’s position
ABB has established a baseline for social responsibility by managing its international organization and caring for its 160,000 employees and their dependents, and through its common efforts and social contribution programs. Some of these programs were described in our Environmental Management Report 1999. ABB’s strategy of sharing technology with developing countries – where we employ 43,000 people – provides a major social contribution to the
welfare of local communities, raising living standards and helping to eradicate poverty.
Although ABB’s baseline for social performance already goes far beyond mere compliance, we want to extend it even further. Corporate social responsibility is a vast field. We must explore it thoroughly to find out where additional efforts are most needed and where they will bring the greatest benefits. As part of this learning process, we have studied the social contributions arising from long-term activities at a representative selection of ABB factories in seven countries –
Brazil,
China,
Egypt,
Poland,
South Africa,
Switzerland and the
UK. Follow the links to see summaries of these case studies.
How the case studies were conducted
A steering committee, led by ABB’s corporate staff and supported by an outside sociologist, planned and controlled the project. The framework for the studies was benchmarked against the OECD’s proposed Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the Social Accountability 8000 standard and the United Nations Global Compact.
Cross-functional teams in each country studied ABB’s social contributions as experienced by three main groups – employees and families, the local community and society at large. To include elements of the supply chain, an attempt was also made to assess the effects of our social performance on local customers, suppliers and contractors.
Each national team was supervised by a senior ABB manager and guided by an outside sociologist to bring professional focus and objectivity to the studies. ABB’s Sustainability Advisory Board reviewed the draft reports of case studies, and the Board’s comments and suggestions were taken into account in the final reports. The lessons learned from the case studies were then used to develop ABB’s social policy.
ABB South Africa has been running corporate social responsibilit programs since 1994, focusing on general community support and education for employment. |  |