University of Vaasa - Vaasan yliopisto

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Still SMEs can make use of an additional chance to differentiate from the
competitors, given they are provided of both the information and the knowledge “to
implement and report on their corporate social responsibility policies, processes and
performance in an effective manner” (Castka et al. 2004: 141). In doing so, they can
make their CSR performance transparent to their stakeholders.
Categorizing CSR-Tools
A multitude of tools and instruments is available for implementing and measuring
CSR, even if we leave aside those which look only at a few of the aspects of CSR
and concentrate on those which enable a broad approach that is contingent with
corporate sustainability. The choice ranges from process guidelines for implementing
CSR (begin-of-the-pipe) to indicators which allow for measuring CSR-performance
(end-of-the-pipe).
In their communication concerning Corporate Social Responsibility the European
Commission distinguishes five categories of CSR-approaches: codes of conduct,
management standards, measurement/reporting/assurance, labels and finally Socially
Responsible Investment (European Commission 2002: 13).
Further EC-Classifications distinguish aspirational principles and codes of practice,
guidelines for management systems and certification schemes, rating indices
typically used by socially responsible investment agencies and accountability and
reporting frameworks (European Commission 2003).
Finally CSR tools can be divided into (European Commission 2003: 25):
� end of pipe with their focus on external reporting (e.g. the GRI)
� twins with their focus on improving social benefit in combination with a rise in
corporate profits (e.g. CSR integration into Balanced Scorecard)
� enablers with their focus on ameliorating an enterprise’s internal CSR processes
(e.g. different sorts of guidelines)
� visibility signals serving as a sort of certification to communicate credibility.
Below two of these groups will be portrayed in detail. They also make up the basis
for practical application.
Guidelines and Handbooks
A guideline or handbook is a document that aims at devising processes in accordance
with a certain pre-defined role. Basic idea of business guidelines is to make a
scientific or practice driven approach developed by experts available to the
enterprises. They are directed at fostering introduction, implementation and
measurement of CSR in enterprises. Therefore they are enabler tools.
Enterprises make use of guidelines on their own will and can fit these to their
requirements. Up to now, a broad range of guidelines has been developed which