Fundamental Practices and Principles of Social Responsibility
Domain 2 tests the seven principles that underpin SR and the two foundational practices: recognizing social responsibility and identifying and engaging stakeholders. Questions often ask you to apply a principle to a dilemma or to distinguish stakeholder engagement from communication.
The seven principles
- Accountability: being answerable for impacts on society, the environment and the economy.
- Transparency: disclosing decisions and activities in a truthful, accurate and timely way.
- Ethical behaviour: acting with honesty, equity and integrity, and correcting harm.
- Respect for stakeholder interests: considering and responding to interests, not merely managing them.
- Respect for the rule of law: complying with law and ensuring lawful conduct.
- Respect for international norms of behaviour: where law or its enforcement falls short, apply international norms and avoid complicity.
- Respect for human rights: recognize and respect human rights and their universality.
The two foundational practices
Recognizing SR means understanding the organization's impacts and how they relate to the seven core subjects. Stakeholder identification and engagement is an ongoing, two-way process: identify stakeholders, understand their interests and concerns, consider power and influence, and engage transparently. Engagement is not the same as informing or public relations.
Worked example
A mine operates where local law permits discharging waste into a river at a level international norms treat as unsafe. Compliance with the permit is not enough. Under respect for international norms of behaviour, the organization should not use legal gaps to justify harm; it should apply the more protective norm, avoid complicity, and engage affected communities and regulators.
Traps
- Reciting principles without applying them to the scenario.
- Treating stakeholder engagement as a one-off meeting or a newsletter.
- Equating “ethical behaviour” with personal morality only.
- Assuming law always exhausts the obligation; international norms matter when law is inadequate.