BASPIA English Blog

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) &

Hankyoreh Economic Research Institute (HERI)

Dear BASPIA WORLD English Blog Readers,

We just attended the HERI Sustainability Course last week and I'm happy to report that I am even more enthusiastic about what is going on in Korea.  Not only is SK Telecom really making waves in the area of social enterprise, such as through their lunchbox project, but HERI is also providing a great platform for growing future social leaders in business.  

 

At the event, I was impressed by the student-run group, Nexters, which was formed after some college students attended one of the HERI Sustainability courses.  Nexters just recently went on a trip to India and Bangladesh to learn more about social entrepreneurship and theories about how corporations can help alleviate poverty.

 

CSR is a relatively new sector for South Korean businesses, but HERI is building awareness about it.   After Korea joined Global Compact this past summer, HERI was the first organization to analyze sustainability reports using the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines.  (The GRI is a unique, multi-stakeholder organization pursuing consistent, regular and comparable reporting.)

 

I am looking forward to seeing what else happens in the field of human rights, development, and corporate social responsibility.   If you are too, please make use of the various resources listed below as they are freely available on-line.

 

Sincerely yours,
Susan Lee
Project Associate
Organization Development

 

 

For more information about:

• Nexters: http://nexters.org/blog
  
• Global Compact Korea: http://www.unglobalcompact.org/NewsAndEvents/news_archives/2007_09_17.html

• Global Reporting Initiative (GRI): http://www.globalreporting.org/AboutGRI/ 

• HERI’s first analysis on 22 local South Korea companies: http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_business/230034.html 
  

On-line Resources about CSR:

• Ethical Corporation:http://www.ethicalcorp.com/
  
• Business and Human Rights Resource Center:  http://www.business-humanrights.org/Home

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attends the Hankyoreh
HERI Sustainability School

Hankyoreh Economic Research Institute has monthly Sustainability Courses designed to cover a topic and case study from a Korean corporation regarding the CSR strategies and outcome.  Last month's topic was about ethics at POSCO. This month will be about SK Telecom.  The course will be headed by Mr. Won-jae Lee, Head of Research at the Hankyoreh Economic Research Institute (HERI).

 

The education workshop will be on Thursday, November 22, 2007, from 6:00pm - 9:00pm

 

Those interested in attending contact:

http://www.heri.kr/school/main.php

Phone: 027100216

Email: smschool@hani.co.kr

 

Mr. Won-jae Lee, Head of Research at HERI

 

The Hankyoreh has officially joined the U.N. Global Compact, which pursues ten principles in the areas of human rights, labor, the environment and anti-corruption. The United Nations Global Compact granted permission to The Hankyoreh to participate in the initiative on Sept. 4, making The Hankyoreh the first newspaper corporation in Korea to join the initiative.

As a participant in the compact, The Hankyoreh will publish a sustainable management report in the near future to make public its achievements in the area of corporate social responsibility.

In addition, The Hankyoreh Economic Research Institute, a subsidiary of the newspaper, will set up a sustainable management training center. In addition to providing training, the institute will assess and measure the sustainable management performance of other local businesses.

The U.N. Global Compact, initiated by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and launched in 2000 at the U.N. Headquarters in New York, is the largest international consultative network in the world. At present, approximately 4,000 enterprises and organizations from over 100 countries are engaged in the Global Compact, while a total of 81 South Korean companies have already signed on to the compact.

The South Korean branch of the Global Compact held a preparatory meeting this year on July 4 and will be inaugurated on Sept. 17.”

http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_international/234295.html

Posted on : Sep.6,2007 12:31 KST

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