A. Definitions
Assurance - The term usually describes the methods and processes employed by an assurance provider to evaluate an organisation’s public disclosures about its performance as well as underlying systems, data and processes against suitable criteria and standards in order to increase the credibility of public disclosure. Assurance includes the communication of the results of the assurance process in an assurance statement.
Inclusivity - For an organisation that accepts its accountability to those on whom it has an impact and who have an impact on it, inclusivity is the participation of stakeholders in developing and achieving an accountable and strategic response to sustainability.
Materiality - Materiality is determining the relevance and significance of an issue to an
organisation and its stakeholders. A material issue is an issue that will influence the decisions, actions and performance of an organisation or its stakeholders.
Organisation - an entity, company, corporation, firm, enterprise, site, authority or institution, or part or combination thereof, whether in corporate or not, public or private, that has its own functions and administration.
Output – The immediate result of an activity.
Outcome - The observable short-term and medium-term changes resulting from an output.
Responsiveness - Responsiveness is an organisation’s response to stakeholder issues that affect its sustainability performance and is realised through decisions, actions and
performance, as well as communication with stakeholders.
Stakeholder - Stakeholders are those groups who affect and/or could be affected by an organisation’s activities, products or services and associated performance. This does not include all those who may have knowledge of or views about the organisation. Organisations will have many stakeholders, each with distinct types and levels of involvement, and often with diverse and sometimes conflicting interests and concerns.
Stakeholder Engagement - The strategies and processes used by the organisation to engage with relevant stakeholders and the results of the engagement.
B. References
A list of references and useful resources for those wanting to expand their knowledge will be included.
C. Supporting materials
D. The AA1000 Series
The AA1000 Series is comprised of three standards:
AA1000APS (2008) AccountAbility Principles
AA1000AS (2008) Assurance Standard
AA1000SES (2005) Stakeholder Engagement Standard
The series is supported by Guidance Notes and User Notes. The Guidance Notes provide information on how to apply the standards. The User Notes provide examples of the use of the standards.
E. The AccountAbility Stakeholder Engagement Technical Committee
F. About AccountAbility
AccountAbility www.accountability.org is a global non-profit network with representatives in London, Washington, Beijing, Geneva, Sao Paulo and San Francisco. It was established in 1995 to promote accountability innovations that advance sustainable development. AccountAbility works with business, government and civil society organisations to advance responsible business practices and the governance of collaborations between public and private institutions. AccountAbility’s leading-edge accountability innovations include: the AA1000 Series Standards, the Partnership, Governance and Accountability framework, and the Responsible Competitiveness Index covering the links between responsible business practices and the competitiveness of over 100 countries,. AccountAbility is convenor of the MFA Forum, an international alliance of business, international development agencies, NGOs and labour organisations working on the links between national competitiveness and labour standards in global supply chains. AccountAbility and the Centre for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College are co-founders and convenors with IBM and GE of the Global Leadership Network, an international network of leading businesses committed to building alignments of corporate responsibility to business strategy by advancing joint learning and relevant analytic tools and benchmarking.
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