Social balance

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A social balance sheet provides information on the social benefits and costs of company activities. By creating a social balance sheet, in contrast to the economic balance sheet, the economic performance of a company is not reported, but the social performance and responsibility of a company can be quantitatively and / or qualitatively documented and potential for improvement can be identified. This can be created as part of the corporate social responsibility of a company and is therefore an expression of the company's recognized social responsibility.

In 1978 Migros was the first Swiss company to publish a social balance sheet

Definition

The German term social balance sheet is based on several Anglo-American terms, e.g. B. Social reporting . In the German literature one usually finds the term 'social accounting' used as a synonym (as a purely arithmetic unit), although the English word tends to choose the broader term reporting , i.e. comprehensive reporting. This also means that part of the more comprehensive understanding of the problem with the translation is lost. The German literature therefore also defines the term social balance sheet in the extensive variant: as a systematic and regular recording and documentation of the socially positive and negative effects of company activities.

Content and structure

In contrast to the conventional balance sheet, the content and structure of the social balance sheet are not regulated by law in Germany. There is currently no uniform understanding of how a social balance sheet should be structured and what content it should basically cover. A prescribed and therefore uniform structure is missing, as is uniformly used terminology . In other European countries (e.g. France , Denmark ) publication is mandatory. Accordingly, various approaches have been developed and discussed in the past. These differ in terms of several criteria, such as:

  • Target group: in-house or outside the company
  • Subject: Coverage of all social issues in the company and corporate environment or only individual sub-areas
  • Design: one-dimensional (e.g. presentation only in currency unit) or multi-dimensional (e.g. presentation in the form of key figures and qualitative descriptions)

Strengths and potentials for sustainability management

Social

By drawing up a social balance sheet, a company is forced to deal with its socially effective activities. The social balance sheet can be used to document the company's contribution to social problems as well as to their solution. Through the comprehensive and systematic listing of socially relevant activities, essential information about the socio-effectiveness of the company can be obtained. The publication of this information, for example in the context of sustainability reporting , also contributes to transparency towards stakeholders and can also support the improvement of socio-effectiveness through stakeholder dialogues .

Economically

Social issues can be economically effective for companies as they pose risks to the company's success or opportunities, e.g. B. represent through new business areas. Accordingly, it is a matter of identifying economically relevant social issues and managing them in the corporate context. A social balance sheet can provide an essential basis for this if it is possible to present the social aspects systematically and transparently.

Limits and weaknesses

The social balance had its peak in the 1970s, but for various reasons could not prevail in the future. A major reason for the failure of the approach is the problem of the measurability of social performance. Social issues often elude a suitable quantitative or even monetary representation. For example, while the monetary costs of a further training measure can be measured relatively clearly, this is much more difficult with regard to the benefits.

Furthermore, there is the problem that although some social issues can be represented by key figures , i.e. quantitatively, the communication of these key figures via the social balance sheet tends to cast a bad light on the company's social performance. Examples include the number of cases of child labor, the number of reported cases of sexual discrimination or the number of complaints about aggressive advertising. Accordingly, the incentives for companies to use the predominantly quantitative and monetary social balance sheet have so far been rather low.

See also

literature

  • Meinolf Dierkes : The social balance. A company-related planning and accounting system. Herder & Herder, 1974, ISBN 3-585-32098-8 .
  • S. Schaltegger, C. Herzig, O. Kleiber, T. Klinke, J. Müller: Sustainability management in companies. From the idea to practice: management approaches to implement corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability. 3. Edition. BMU, econsense, Center for Sustainability Management, Berlin / Lüneburg 2007. ( CSM Lüneburg ( Memento from September 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive ); 1.6 MB)
  • Meinolf Dierkes , Lutes Marz, Ariane Berthoin Antal: Social balance sheets . Conceptual core and discursive career of a civil society innovation. Berlin 2002, DNB 966222032 .
  • F. Dubielzig: Socio-Controlling in the company. The management of success-relevant social and societal issues in practice. Gabler, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-8349-1556-6 .
  • F. Dubielzig: Socially oriented information management. Discussion paper on social management. (= INE series. 3/2006). ZHW-INE, Winterthur 2006, ISBN 3-905745-06-2 . ( INE Download ( Memento from April 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) PDF; 637 kB)
  • E. Hemmer: The failure of a clever idea. In: The employer. 48 (23), 1996, pp. 796-800.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ S. Schaltegger, C. Herzig, O. Kleiber, T. Klinke, J. Müller: Sustainability management in companies. From the idea to practice: management approaches to implement corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability. 3. Edition. BMU, econsense, Center for Sustainability Management, Berlin / Lüneburg 2007, p. 82. ( CSM Lüneburg ( Memento from September 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive ); 1.6 MB)
  2. ↑ M. Dierkes, L. Marz, AB Antal: Social balance sheets. Conceptual core and discursive career of a civil society innovation. WZB, Berlin 2002.
  3. ↑ S. Schaltegger, C. Herzig, O. Kleiber, T. Klinke, J. Müller: Sustainability management in companies. From the idea to practice: management approaches to implement corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability. 3. Edition. BMU, econsense, Center for Sustainability Management, Berlin / Lüneburg 2007, p. 82f.
  4. ↑ S. Schaltegger, C. Herzig, O. Kleiber, T. Klinke, J. Müller: Sustainability management in companies. From the idea to practice: management approaches to implement corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability. 3. Edition. BMU, econsense, Center for Sustainability Management, Berlin / Lüneburg 2007, p. 82f.
  5. ↑ E. Hemmer: The failure of a clever idea. In: The employer. 48 (23), 1996, p. 799.
  6. ↑ F. Dubielzig: Socio-controlling in the company. The management of success-relevant social and societal issues in practice. Gabler, Wiesbaden 2009, p. 30.
  7. ↑ F. Dubielzig: social-oriented information management. Discussion paper on social management. (= Contributions to sustainable development. No. 3/2006). ZHW-INE, Winterthur 2006, p. 45.