A bid to close the gap between the way European and domestic arms of US
multinationals approach corporate responsibility is being made by a
group of CSR practitioners.
Executives based in Europe hope to work with their US colleagues to
find a common approach and, as a first step, will propose the creation
of consultation groups on both sides of the Atlantic.
Views gained from companies in Europe and the US will be collected in a
report proposing ways ahead and could lead to a meeting between
representatives from both continents ‘to increase understanding of
differences and find new, more effective approaches’.
The initiative stems from a private meeting that took place last year
between European representatives of a number of US-based companies. Now three consultants
– Hilary Sutcliffe of UK-based Responsible Futures, Neil Smith of the
US-based management consultancy SmithOBrien, and Jennifer Zerk, a legal
specialist – are seeking financial support from various sources,
including the European Commission, to extend the work.
Sutcliffe said: ‘The Atlantic divide has been a recurring theme in the
discussions. The difficulty arises from what appear to be two different
views in Europe and the US. There’s an emphasis on corporate
philanthropy in America, whereas in Europe the prime concern is to
embed social, environmental and ethical considerations into management
culture.
‘The US also takes a more legalistic approach and has a culture of
litigation, while in Europe there is a growing inclination to engage
and involve stakeholders.’
Sutcliffe said the tensions were ‘hindering the ability of many
corporations to integrate the issues into their operations’. Fear of
litigation in the US appears to be a particular problem. A UK-based
consultant who recently worked with an American multinational’s
European arm to prepare its annual CSR report told EP
he had become so exasperated by the defensive posture of the head
office that ‘in the end I basically gave up and told them to put in
what they liked’.
He added: ‘I blame the corporate lawyers a lot of the time. They have a
lot of power and are far too conservative. In my case the lawyers just
took over the whole process, and in the end we couldn’t say anything
meaningful at all.’
In another recent example of the Atlantic divide, the consultancy URS
Corporation decided to withdraw from the assurance market for
non-financial reports, a stance believed to have been adopted on the
instructions of US lawyers, and against the wishes of URS executives in
Europe.
