Entec
Bulletin
Standard Chartered Bank
…recognising the importance of corporate responsibility
Entec case study
Whatever you want to call it - corporate responsibility, corporate
citizenship, sustainable business, it is definitely here to stay. Having moved
from a culture of compliance, leading companies are starting to realise the
business opportunities that a good corporate responsibility programme can deliver.
Standard Chartered Bank has long viewed corporate responsibility as an opportunity
to differentiate itself in a competitive marketplace, particularly Asia, Africa
and the Middle East. In part due to a desire to be recognised as leaders in
the markets which they operate they wanted to move forward their approach to
corporate responsibility performance.
The group, which employs more than 50,000 people, operates in some of the fastest growing and most challenging markets in the world. Demonstrating responsible practice in these markets is important, but the opportunity is there to be recognised as market leaders. This means good governance, understanding and responding to views of stakeholders, protecting the environment, supporting diversity, and helping local communities and economies to grow.
Entec has worked with Standard Chartered since the end of 2004 as its corporate responsibility advisor. During this time Entec has advised the bank on governance, stakeholder engagement, reporting and delivery across a wider range of corporate responsibility areas.
In 2005, Entec consulted key stakeholders on behalf of the bank to help identify issues and opportunities through a series of interviews. Initially interviews elicited stakeholder views on the major corporate responsibility issues for an international bank, the strengths and weaknesses of Standard Chartered's approach to addressing these issues, feedback on the bank’s first corporate responsibility report, and the type of information that should be contained in future reports.
The results of this engagement have enabled Standard Chartered to identify core sustainability themes, including social and environmental risks in lending; climate change and the environment; responsible selling and marketing; and diversity within the workplace. The information gathered was also used by the group to inform future corporate responsibility reports, ensuring that they communicate effectively, directly addressing stakeholders' concerns, while raising awareness of Standard Chartered's work.
Following on from this work Entec has helped develop Standard Chartered's approach to reporting on corporate responsibility, including advice on content, key issues and messages, while challenging the bank on disclosure and improvement. The bank has since presented materials in a number of ways, including integrating information within the annual review, a short summary corporate responsibility review and information on the website, to be supported by an ongoing campaign of engagement through the publication of specific issue reports (see www.standardchartered.com).
Entec
is currently working with the group on an environmental strategy, including
risks and market opportunities of climate change, that will result in an issues
paper being published early in 2007.
The next challenge for Entec is to support Standard Chartered through the development
of a Sustainable Business Strategy, delivery of the bank’s first sustainability
report and to help launch a new section of their website on sustainable business.
Entec is also working with the group to continue to build its stakeholder engagement
programme to gain a more global reach.
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