On Wednesday September 17, 2014 four German companies including the Otto group (in the category of ‘a company with more than 5000 employees’) and the soft packaging company Bischof + Klein GmbH & co. KG (in the 500 to 4999 employees category) were awarded the “Corporate Social Responsibility Prize”(CSR-Preis der Bundesregierung) by the German Federal Government. This prize was created in 2013 by Andrea Nahles (SPD) German Minister for Labor and Social affairs and aims to acknowledge exemplary and innovative companies that systematically and continuously integrate social, environmental and economic sustainability into their business operations. As a pedagogical tool the prize also attempts to encourage others to undertake similar CSR steps. This initiative forms part of the CSR action plan adopted by the federal government in 2010 and aims to make CSR one of the characteristics of the German economy.
A long-term commitment. For several years now the German government has been actively committed to developing CSR within German companies. The government set up the “National CSR Forum” in 2009. It is a body of 44 experts from business, trade unions, NGOs and academia. In October 2010, the Minister for Labor presented the CSR action plan that is designed to strengthen companies’, especially SMEs, commitment to society (c.f. article No. 100716). The then Minister for Employment, Ursula von der Leyen laid out the roadmap saying ” customers and investors are always more sensitive to social and environmental issues.
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