International Organization for Standards ISO 26000

Abstract

Sustainability is a precondition of the survival current humankind, and a behavior supported by the social responsibility of humans, organizations, and society. The three central attributes supported by the international advisory standard ISO 26000 are: everybody’s responsibility for their influences over society (replacing dangerous irresponsibility), interdependence (replacing the dangerous ethics of independence of the upper classes and the equally dangerous ethics of dependence of the lower class, because both of them cause irresponsibility), and holism (replacing the dangerous one-sidedness). These necessary attributes are supported by seven principles: accountability, transparency, ethical behavior, respect for stakeholders’ interests, for the rule of law, for international norms, and for human rights. The basic reasons for social responsibility are economic: it leads the way out from the very dangerous current socioeconomic crisis and makes life cheaper and more innovative. The title of the ISO 26000 standard seems to address corporations, such as larger enterprises, only, but it tackles all organizations, which may include private, public, for-profit, non-profit, etc. They consist of individuals and also form countries and international organizations. The authors suggest the transition from the “Corporate Social Responsibility” concept to the “Innovative Sustainable Socially Responsible Society” concept.