I personally like the Novethic model the best, but find that it is the least accessible to the “real world”. I appreciate that it looks to social, environmental and governance factors, and while I feel somewhat uneasy about it, understand that the option to focus on the three factors in an unequal manner may be necessary. I also like that the monitoring and enforcing methods are written in to the contract between Novethic and companies looking for investors. Novethic can request documents at anytime to determine whether companies are in compliance, there is a well laid out policy of next steps in case of non-compliance. Further, there is a built in buffer for the liability concern discussed earlier, as Novethic cannot make the information pubic.
In comparison, the other two models are more geared towards consumer use. This means that they need to be put in more broad, easy to understand terms, which, as discussed can make companies more vulnerable to liability, and thus, less likely to opt in to the labeling system.
These models should be compared to the ISO social responsibility model, ISO 26000. The standard is completely voluntary and cannot be certified. It is intended to encourage organizations to go beyond legal compliance, to promote common understanding in the field of social responsibility, and to complement other initiative for social responsibility. The standard focuses on 7 core subjects: Organization, Human Rights, Labor Practices, The Environment, Fair Operating Practices, Consumer Issues, and Community Involvement and Development. (http://www.iso.org/iso/discovering_iso_26000.pdf)
Tags: ISO 26000, JUST label, Novethic, Project label, socially responsible business
