ASQ poll shows U.S. companies lag in social responsibility

Seventy percent of Americans don’t trust big companies, says a recent Harris poll. So, what’s corporate America doing about it? There’s room for improvement, according to a new poll of Fortune 500 companies by the American Society for Quality. The ASQ poll reveals that while 96 percent of U.S. business leaders think their company’s corporate social responsibility behavior will greatly impact the nation’s economic future, more than 40 percent still don’t have any policy in place to guide their company’s actions. The poll also found:

• The “Enron Effect” may be at work, as 70 percent of companies in the poll said they implemented a social responsibility policy, did so in 2001 or later – timing that followed the publicity surrounding the Enron scandal.
• 67 percent of business leaders say the No. 1 reason they would implement a social responsibility policy would be to maintain their brand image. This is followed closely by enhancing employee morale and reducing legal liability.

The American Society for Quality, the world’s leading authority on quality whose members are experts in standards development, conducted this poll in preparation for its launch of a U.S. team to help develop a global social responsibility standard. In the wake of recent and ongoing corporate scandals, environmental disasters, child labor violations and dangerous work environments, this voluntary standard will provide guiding principles and direction for those companies that recognize the strong connection between results and responsibility.

The society invites experts from a variety of organizations from the public and private sector to join this new team, the U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on Social Responsibility.

“With no industry standard currently in place, this panel will be instrumental in molding a historic document,” said Paul Borawski, executive director and chief strategic officer of the American Society for Quality. “It’s clear that t he choices we make today to ensure a more ethical work and living environment will certainly have a major impact tomorrow. There could not be a more timely opportunity for organizations to join together and make their voices heard about the issue of social responsibility.”

One of the first members of the U.S. TAG was the Council of Better Business Bureaus (BBB), which has been cited by experts as the earliest example of social responsibility. The BBB mission is to promote trust in the marketplace, a key component of social responsibility.

“Building trust is the core of our mission. Given that, the Council of Better Business Bureaus is pleased to support ASQ in its efforts to advance greater transparency, integrity and accountability across the spectrum of business organizations in the U.S.,” said Steve Cole, president and CEO, Council of Better Business Bureaus.  

The international standard is targeted for publication during the fourth quarter of 2008. Businesses interested in shaping the U.S. position on the standard or that would like more information should contact ASQ’s Standards Team at standards@asq.org or visit the ASQ Web site www.asq.org/social-responsibility.