Creating business accountability

Strengthening corporate accountability

Description

Creating business accountability involves establishing clear standards, transparent reporting mechanisms, and effective oversight to ensure organizations are answerable for their actions and impacts. This strategy addresses issues such as unethical practices, regulatory non-compliance, and stakeholder mistrust by implementing regular audits, performance evaluations, and corrective action plans. Its practical intent is to foster responsible decision-making, enhance organizational integrity, and build trust with stakeholders, thereby mitigating risks and promoting sustainable business practices.

Implementation

A not-for-profit Future 500 initiative called the Corporate Accountability Practice, will audit Future 500 companies that participate against a market basket of corporate performance indicators of quality, workplace, community and environment. The assessment will take a 170-point inventory of corporate assets and liabilities in corporate finance, quality, accountability, responsibility, and sustainability. It will grade each company's performance, from "A" to "F," against the criteria of fourteen leading indicator systems, including the standards of President Bush, the New York Stock Exchange, Henry Paulson (CEO of Goldman Sachs), the influential Domini Social Index, Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award, Global Reporting Initiative, AccountAbility 1000, Center for Corporate Citizenship, International Chamber of Commerce and former Council on Economic Priorities criteria.

Claim

The issue of information held by the private sector urgently needs to be addressed, given that much legislation on freedom of information applies only to information held by public authorities. Mechanisms for ensuring an adequate flow of information from the private sector into the public domain are essential.