Support for Corporate Citizenship

Most American companies claim to be committed to corporate citizenship and see it as a fundamental value, according to a recent survey by the US Chamber of Commerce and Boston College. Although cynics will observe that the top executives of Enron would no doubt have voted the same way if questioned, the results could help to shift discussion of the topic to a more positive plane.

More than 80 percent of surveyed companies agreed that good corporate citizenship helps the bottom line and 74 percent believe that the public has the right to expect it. The survey, 'The State of Corporate Citizenship in the United States: 2003', polled more than 500 small, medium and large companies.

The term is defined ever more broadly. In addition to traditional corporate citizenship efforts - such as job training, community economic development and educational investments - companies are increasingly involved in addressing global challenges like environmental management, poverty and human rights.

According to poll results, corporate citizenship is driven largely by internal corporate values (75 percent) and customer feedback (53 percent), implying a healthy mix of conscientious business and constructive market pressures.

The survey was funded by the Hitachi Foundation, whose President and CEO Barbara Dyer comments 'We intend this groundbreaking survey to move the conversation about business in society beyond abuse and scandal. We wanted to capture the nuances and complexity of corporate citizenship, especially within small and medium-sized businesses and see how businesses can make a real difference in distressed communities. About 1 in 5 businesses report in the survey one or more activities that assist hard-pressed communities. That's encouraging but business can do more...'

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.