MANAGEMENT APPROACH

Management approach.

We at MAS Business recognise one factor as being pivotal, and that is the importance to any organisation, regardless of its size, of the need to be accountable to its stakeholders, to the extent that this refers to material issues concerning them in the field of sustainability.

To this end, as an organisation committed to sustainability (Sustainability Context Principle), we adhere to the Accountability Principles Standards (AA1000APS),namely the:
Foundation Principle of Inclusivity (G4 principle of stakeholder participation);
Principle of Materiality (G4 principle of materiality and completeness); and,
Principle of Responsiveness.
(NOTES FOR SPANISH SPEAKERS IN THE ORIGINAL):

-The term "accountable" is widely recognised in the sphere of performance in sustainability. Although there are some translations, such as "rendición de cuentas" or "responsabilidad", neither of these entirely captures the spirit of the original term, which is a combination of both, so as to be more transparent and strengthen stakeholder engagement.

 -None of the meanings of the term "materialidad", as defined by the Dictionary of the Spanish Royal Academy (Real Academia Española/RAE), translates the concept of materiality. It is for this reason that the English term "materiality" has been used; similarly, the pertinent adjective has also been used to translate the relevant concept.]

Stakeholder participation.

For the review of compliance with the Foundation Principle of Inclusivity, we used the methodology proposed in the AA1000SES Stakeholder Engagement Standard (2011): the pertinent stakeholders must be identified for the purpose and scope of engagement. A methodology to identify stakeholders must be established.
 
The methodology used by the organisation has been guided by the following attributes:

Dependency - groups or individuals who are directly or indirectly dependent on the organisation's activities, products or services and associated performance, or on whom the organisation is dependent in order to operate;

Responsibility  - groups or individuals to whom the organisation has, or in the future may have, legal, commercial, operational or ethical/moral responsibilities; and,

Influence - groups and individuals who can have impact on the organisation's or a stakeholder's strategic or operational decision-making.

We identified eight stakeholders, seven of whom are crucial to the success of the business and with whom we maintain a very direct and interactive relationship. The eighth stakeholder is society in general and, though our power of influence and interaction is minimal, we consider that, by fostering the development and dissemination of good practices in CSR, we are contributing to a more sustainable, fairer and better world for all.

The methodology proposed in the above AA1000SES Standard lays down that stakeholders must be profiled and mapped, and a methodology for such profiling and mapping must be established. This profiling and mapping is to be taken into consideration in the planning and implementation of the engagement.

The system used for the initial description and mapping was based on an effort to understand:
the different groups that exist, according to their specific characteristics;
the impact that the stakeholder can have on the organisation;
the impact that the organisation can have on the stakeholder;
the expectations of engagement, from the standpoint both of the organisation and of    its stakeholders; and,
the geographical scale of the operation.
The methodology proposed in the AA1000SES Standard lays down that the owners of the engagement must determine the level(s) and method(s) for engaging with stakeholders that are best suited to the purpose and scope of engagement and to the relevant stakeholders.

The system used for the initial description and mapping identified:
the methods of engagement associated with the respective stakeholders, bearing in mind their nature and degree of involvement;
the members of the organisation's management team who maintain relationships with each and every stakeholder; and,
the respective interlocutors at the individual stakeholders.
The result was a map of our organisation's stakeholders, from which we have extracted the following chart: