Are there concerns about the development of an ISO guidance standard on social responsibility?
KW: There have been concerns from some stakeholders dating back to before ISO had even decided to do something in this area. On one hand, some businesses feared an SR standard would be yet another instrument out there, and not a very helpful one at that. They claimed that more work and more expense would be required of businesses and a new industry of CSR consultancy and auditors would emerge. Other stakeholders were concerned that whatever guidance came out of the ISO 26000 process would be so weak that it would give an easy path to business. They feared that it would allow businesses to say they were doing the right thing, when they were doing very little, if anything. These were the two competing concerns going into the process and it is hard to say how much they have been alleviated, largely because the final guidance standard is still in development. But, it is fair to say that the extensive work underway to develop a common platform regarding SR how it can be defined and how it c
