Corporate Social Responsibility Study

1 Introduction
Andy Roby is seconded to the TTF from the Department for International Development (DFID) as a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Adviser. As part of his secondment DFID is funding a study of CSR in the timber trade. The study started in January 2003.

2 The Study
The study team will explore trends in the timber industry structure and examine the corporate social responsibility drivers for the industry as a whole. Case studies will be undertaken of six TTF companies covering the range of different business types to produce some best practice guidelines for TTF members in particular the way policies are implemented throughout the organisation in its management systems. The results will then be collated and fedback to collaborating companies and the study steering group, and published. In addition the study will advise government how to improve the enabling environment which should be of interest to businesses and civil society organisations that work with the UK timber trade.

3 How will it help the Timber Trade?
The study will identify business options for TTF members to improve their CSR performance in response to stakeholder behaviour and provide practical guidance on dealing with CSR issues. It will also feed into the ongoing review of Environmental Timber Purchasing Policy. In addition it will identify any changes to government policy that might promote CSR in the UK timber trade.

4 Outputs
You should be able to measure the success of the study if you can adapt a generalised CSR framework to your own use, and apply some of the best practice guidelines in your management systems. The study will also develop data sets to demonstrate responsible governance to customers and to other stakeholders. In addition recommendations will be fed into the DEFRA procurement policy together with some clear guidelines for overseas suppliers so that they can help satisfy procurement agents and provide ‘peace of mind’ to their UK customers.

5 Improving the Reputation of the Timber Trade
Depending on the interest of TTF members there is scope to undertake a more detailed study of the relationship between the timber industry and one particular set of stakeholders – the NGOs. Henley Management College have developed some highly effective predictive behavioural assessment techniques to determine behaviour towards an industry. These assessments will be used to develop an industry action plan to improve relations with NGO’s, and strengthen the reputation of industry and individual businesses. However, this last element will need additional funding by TTF members as it lies beyond the scope of the existing study.

6 Management Arrangements
TTF will manage the DFID grant and subcontract consultants and other inputs as required, reporting back to DFID on a quarterly basis. A small steering committee (max 5 people) will provide strategic guidance on the study.

TTF will establish a wider consultation group consisting of those companies keen to follow the study and individuals/organisations involved in the study. This group will meet twice, through 1 day workshops, to share experiences, debate issues arising from the study, and test emerging conclusions.

7 Interested?
If you want to learn more or get involved either in the wider consultation group, the detailed case studies, or the stakeholder relations study please contact Andy Roby on ajroby@ttf.co.uk , or 020 7291 5377, or 07734 921766.