ABOUT THE STANDARD

The GoodCorporation Standard was developed in 2000 against a background of increasing demands on businesses and organisation to behave in a transparent, responsible way. While a number of initiatives existed that looked at specific aspects of management or tackled industry sector issues, there was no verified standard that looked at all of the key relationships and impacts in a consistent way. 

As a result, GoodCorporation created the Standard in co-operation with the Institute of Business Ethics. The Standard underwent a broad consultation with businesses, NGOs, trade unions, CSR organisations and key opinion formers, as well as the general public via internet feedback and was released in 2001. 

Since then, the Standard undergoes a triennial review, the first revision was in June 2004 and the second revision with a public consultation was in 2007.

There were a number of objectives GoodCorporation had in designing the Standard. It needed to:

• Cover all the main stakeholders - shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, community and environment;
• Set sufficiently challenging targets to be meaningful;
• Be independently assessed;
• Be applicable to all kinds of organisations regardless of size, type or location;
• Be rigorous but not create unnecessary bureaucracy;
• Be cost-effective, adding value as well as demonstrating compliance.

The GoodCorporation Standard is an open source document. Organisations are encouraged to download and use it. Organisations are also encouraged to draw from the Standard to improve and develop their own Codes of Conduct. Organisations are also free to use the Standard as the basis of their own Code of Conduct. In using the Standard we ask just for suitable acknowledgement to be given to GoodCorporation.

The GoodCorporation Standard is not just a reference document. It is the foundation of a certification system for organisations that succeed in demonstrating good practices across all employee, customer, supplier, community, environment and shareholder criteria. The Standard sets out 62 management practices that are individually assessed. Those that meet the Standard qualify as GoodCorporation Members.

The assessment process, benchmarking tools, and membership are exclusive benefits to our members and clients.