Social Fingerprint®: 


Measure & Improve

Social Performance

Presented at the ISSP Conference
September 22, 2011
by Craig Moss, Director – Corporate
Programs & Training

© Social Accountability International 2011
 Social Accountability International
§  Multi-stakeholder organization - established May 1997
§  Developed leading social compliance standard and
certification system - SA8000®

§  Multi-industry and global

§  Leader in social compliance training for brands, suppliers
and auditors
§  Contracted by many governments and multi-national
agencies to conduct CSR awareness and supplier training
SAI Corporate Programs
§  Work with brands and retailers to use management
systems to drive continual improvement of social
performance in their supply chains - applicable to various
codes and standards

§  Published Implementing a Socially Responsible Supply

Chain

§  Developed Handbook for World Bank/IFC on client use of

management systems to meet PS2

§  Members include Carrefour, Disney, HP, Gap, Timberland,

Anvil Knitwear, Rosy Blue, General Mills, Chiquita, Gucci,
TNT, Otto Group, Billabong, etc.
Session Overview

§  (Really Brief) Introduction to Social Performance

§  Challenge: Prescription versus Judgment
§  Setting the Stage: Social Performance in the
Global Supply Chain

§  Measure & Improve: Using a Process-based

Approach

§  (Really Quick) Tour of Social Fingerprint®

§  Discussion

 Introduction to
Social Performance
aka Labor Standards Performance, Social
Compliance, Labor Compliance
 SA8000®: Labor Standard
Child Labor Child labor shall not be used

Forced Labor People have the right to change jobs and shall not be
forced to work
Health & Safety People must not be endangered at work

Freedom of People have the right to organize and be heard at work

Association thru collective bargaining

Discrimination Hiring, promotions and wages must be equal and fair

Discipline People must not be abused at work and free from all
corporal punishment
Working Hours Overtime is limited, voluntary and paid at a premium

Compensation People must earn enough to live on during a regular

work week
Management A management system is the key to sustainable
System compliance

© Social Accountability International

 Elements of Social Performance

"  Improving social

performance requires
improvement by managers
and workers in all three Attitudes
areas

Skills Knowledge
 Social Performance in
the Global Supply Chain
 Consumer Electronics
Supply Chain

PO CONSUMER ELECTRONICS BRAND

SUPPLIER:
ASSEMBLY, QC & PACKAGING Sub-Contractor:
Sub-Contractor:
Memory
Batteries

Sub-Contractor: Sub-Contractor:
Plastic Cases Displays

Sub-Supplier: Sub-Supplier:
Wires Switches
Sub-Supplier: Sub-Supplier:
Dormitory Cleaning
Sub-Supplier: Sub-Supplier:
Connectors Cells
Sub-Supplier: Sub-Supplier:
Security Cafeteria

X X X X
Produce Meat Paper Tools Bakery
X X X X

© Social Accountability International

Socially Responsible 

Supply Chain Trends
§  Increasing use of Strategic Suppliers

§  Working with suppliers to build internal capacity

§  More training, less auditing
§  All industries struggling with how to manage sub-contractors
§  Integrating social compliance into sourcing operations and
performance measurements

§  Shift from the stick to the carrot

 Prescription
versus
Judgment

© Social Accountability International 2011

 Discrimination or Not?

§  Women at the shoe factory in India are not

allowed to perform certain production jobs after
the age of 25 since younger workers are
considered to be more efficient at this particular
task.

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 Prescription

§  Choice 1 §  Choice 2

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u
The Third Option

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 More Choices – More Decisions

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 Prescription vs. Calibration

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Judgment and the Theory of
Motivated Reasoning

§  Our Beliefs versus New Facts

§  Confirmation Bias
§  Disconfirmation Bias
§  Changing Attitude is REALLY HARD

© Social Accountability
International
 Measure &
Improve
Using a Process-based Approach
You Can’t Improve What 

You Don’t Measure

§  Losing weight

§  Running a marathon

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International
Social Fingerprint® Program Approach

§  “Measure & Improve”

§  Focuses on processes and management systems –
not only code violations

§  Builds on SA8000 management systems

§  Analyzes system development and implementation
§  Supports continual improvement along any
standard, industry code or corporate code

§  Shapes the path and creates small steps to

improvement
 Social Fingerprint® Programs

Supply Chain
Company
Management

Looks inside a Looks at how a

company at how company manages
they manage social social performance
performance in its supply chain

Typically for Typically for

suppliers brands/retailers

© Social Accountability International

Social Fingerprint® Program: Uses

§  Self-Assessment
§  Internal tool to measure and improve
§  Risk assessment tool
§  “Remote” Independent Evaluation
§  Phone interview and document review
§  Benchmarking
§  Field Verification

© Social Accountability
International
Social Fingerprint® Process Categories
Company Program Supply Chain Management Program
(Supplier) (Brand/Retailer)
Management Systems Scope & Risk
Internal Social Performance Team Aggregate Score of Suppliers
Worker Involvement & Annual Improvement of Suppliers
Communication
Complaint Management & Internal Integration of Compliance
Resolution and Sourcing
Level & Type of Non-Conformance Supplier Communication &
Purchasing Practices
Progress on Corrective Actions Complaint Management & Resolution
External Stakeholder Engagement
Training & Capacity Building

Management of Suppliers &

Contractors
© Social Accountability International
Social Fingerprint® Levels

§  1 = Little or no awareness, systems or interest

§  2 = Limited systems with sporadic implementation
§  3 = Systems in development with partial implementation
§  4 =
Fully developed systems with improving
implementation

§  5 =Mature systems, fully implemented inside and

outside company
 Mapping Social Fingerprint® to
SA8000 or a Rigorous Code

§  Implementation Tips

§  Verify that policies and procedures in
Management Systems meet SA8000 or Code
§  Think both ways
§  Use the 9 Social Fingerprint categories to
tackle any individual labor code element
§  Use the 9 Social Fingerprint categories as a
detailed plan for a management systems audit
§  Social Fingerprint improvement tips can help
with corrective actions and remediation

© Social Accountability International

Human resource policies and procedures
meeting the selected code or standard


Trained multi-department team that leads
the effort and includes worker
representation
Effective two-way communication
channels and joint participation
The system for handling and addressing
grievances
Severity and frequency of problems in
meeting labor standards – systemic or
isolated
Effective system for addressing problems
and making changes to prevent them from
recurring
Cooperation with outside auditors and
involvement with external stakeholders to
enhance efforts to improve labor
standards
System for training on the attitude, skills
and knowledge needed to improve labor
standards - in your company and supply
chain
System for informing suppliers of labor
standard and methods for influencing
them to meet the code or standard and
improve
 Social
Fingerprint®
in Action
 §  Comparison: 50 Suppliers in China
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
Self-Assessment
1.5
1 SAI Evaluation
0.5
0

© Social Accountability International

 Case Study: Benefits & Results
§  60 vendors in one country - random survey of 23:
§  91% agreed or strongly agreed - online system
easy to use
§  100% implemented improvement tips
immediately (57% 3-5 tips; 24% implemented
6+ tips)
§  Improvement highlights–reporting “significantly
better”
§  Management Systems – 48%
§  Internal Social Performance Teams – 44%
§  Worker Involvement & Communication – 35%
§  Progress on Corrective Actions – 44%
§  82% agreed or strongly agreed that Social
Fingerprint was more helpful than other
social performance programs

© Social Accountability International

 Social
Fingerprint®
Getting
Started:
Quick Tour
© Social Accountability
International
© Social Accountability International