Social Report

In 1973, BASF launched a special publication to inform its employees about the most important developments and results from the previous year. Under the title “Menschen Arbeit Geschäft” (People, Work, Business), the company reported on business development alongside social and staff-related aspects. The latter soon became the focus as part of BASF’s attempt to take responsibility for the social impact of the company’s business. 

A special paper on social balance was published for the first time in 1976. This paper was an attempt at measuring the company’s social performance in order to demonstrate that social responsibility was not just an empty promise for BASF. The social balance sheet showed the performance flows which ran from BASF to the individual stakeholders (called company partners in those days), and analyzed their impacts on society. 

The social report was published for the final time in this form in 1999 (for the year under review 1998) and was replaced in 2001 by the social responsibility report.