Buzz around the Pacific Rim

Whatever its possible contradictions the discourse and practice of CSR and corporate citizenship is globalising. In Japan, we have notice of more businesses getting into the sustainability business with the major auditing companies creating centres of speciality, according to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun.27 Tohmatsu & Co Ltd, the Japanese member firm of Deloitte ToucheTohmatsu, is to create a department specialising in CSR to be staffed by about 20 experts in areas such as the environment and law. ChuoAoyama Audit Corp has launched a CSR department to oversee environment and risk management on behalf of its corporate clients, while Japan's largest auditing firm, Shin Nihon & Co Ltd, has established Shinnihon Integrity Assurance Inc.

In February, UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan called on Japanese companies for leadership in citizenship telling them that business has a key role to play in addressing the world's problems. Japanese companies, he said, are demonstrating ever stronger leadership in the field of corporate citizenship, and are well placed to enjoy the benefits of 'responsible competitiveness'.

Thirteen Japanese companies had so far signed up to the Global Compact, which aims to create a global ethical framework by embracing universal principles - in the areas of human rights, labour standards and the environment. This number was considered insufficient to reflect the weight of multinational corporations based in the country.

"Today, I call on all Japanese companies and business groups to support the Global Compact by committing themselves explicitly to its principles. Through the active engagement of Japanese companies and other stakeholders, I am optimistic that the Global Compact will provide a useful platform to advance corporate citizenship and help produce a more sustainable and inclusive world economy, so that globalization's benefits can be shared by everyone, including the world's poor."28

Also in February, some way south on the Pacific Rim, the St James' Ethics Centre spearheaded the launch of The Corporate Responsibility Index,29 the benchmarking tool for ranking Australian companies on their responsible business practice, developed in the UK by Business in the Community. The Index process will aim to encourage Australia's top companies to show their CSR performance against what is being called a robust framework, developed by business. It follows controversy in previous years over the Reputation Index, which was heavily criticised by business for its methodology. But the controversy appears to have changed, not gone away. Now, it is argued that the index is avowedly "business-led" with the NGO component less evident - and there are suggestions that "the rationale of the new index appeared problematic and may be driven by an anti-NGO sentiment in some circles."30