VIENNA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nine of the biggest clothing suppliers for Marks & Spencer in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will be enabled to integrate social and environmental sustainability into their business strategy by integrating the ISO 26000 Standard for Social Responsibility of Organisations. This will include gap analysis, action plan and verification for the participating companies. Marks & Spencer has launched the Sustainability Management Framework (SMF) Project in Mid-November, 2013. The internationally operating retail company with headquarters in Great Britain, regards human development and the achievement of human potential as a required economic activity to achieve environmental and social sustainability for present and future generations. This is part of the highly acclaimed “Plan A” strategy by Marks &Spencer which now CSR Company International is supporting in its implementation.
Martin Neureiter, President of the CSR Company International has kick-started a round table session for CEOs and directors of participating suppliers to introduce them to the ISO 26000 business case. Mr. Neureiter was chairman and head of the international working group – Task Group Implementation - of ISO for creating the ISO 26000 standard. He was in this position up to the official launch of the standard in 2010 and is now part of the ISO Post-Publication Group. The Kick-off-Event took place in New Delhi and reached from capacity building of Marks & Spencer and its suppliers for the implementation of ISO 26000 to establishing a framework to monitor sustainability performance.
The “Sustainability Management Framework “ (SMF) Project based on ISO 26000 is the first of its kind worldwide and a great chance for the standard to prove what it can do regarding sustainable development. The project will be completed by June 2015. Marks &Spencer and their participating suppliers are aiming towards aligning sustainability into their operations by understanding, tracking and managing environmental and social impacts across their business, while at the same time gaining recognition by stakeholders for their pioneering vision. All of this is intended to support achieving the ambitious goals of Plan A.
The CSR Company International, supporting clients worldwide in embedding the principles of CSR into their core strategies, policies, programs and actions, is appointed to take the lead in Marks & Spencer’s SMF Project. Their team of experts will closely cooperate with CII ITC India, Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development, a partner greatly experienced in sustaining businesses growth, by partnering business and government alike, and the India office of globally operating assurance provider Ernst & Young. Mr. Neureiter is all positive about the developments: “The SMF Project is a milestone in supply chain management using ISO 26000 as tool to ensure Marks & Spencer can keep up its commitments made in Plan A. What more can you ask for, taking into account how young ISO 26000 still is.”
CSR Company International is one of the world’s leading CSR consultancies with partner offices in 18 countries worldwide as well as representative offices in 23 additional countries in Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa. The Company is entirely specialized on Strategic CSR, Business Ethics, Sustainability and Stakeholder Engagement. Founded in 2007 the CSR Company consults businesses as well as governmental and academic institutions or NGOs worldwide in matters of social responsibility. www.csr-company.com
