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The State of Corporate Citizenship: A View from Inside
 What do we really know about the attitudes and practices of business leaders toward corporate citizenship? The media spotlight shines brightest on scandals and abuses, while the hundreds of thousands of businesses that play by the rules receive less focus. Moreover, the image that most often comes to mind when we talk about “business” is that of large global corporations – although small and medium businesses are the backbone of our economy.
In 2003, The Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Center for Corporate Citizenship, with the support of The Hitachi Foundation, partnered to identify the ways in which business leaders view corporate citizenship. The project's newest report is the 2005 State of Corporate Citizenship, which culled information directly from today’s business leaders to provide a comprehensive look at the private sector’s perceptions about its own role in society. This is the second report in a biennial series that delves into the corporate citizenship motivations, challenges, priorities and investments of small, medium, and large businesses across the U.S. Responses from 1,189 companies represent a breadth of industry sectors and geographic regions and provide a unique insight into the state of corporate citizenship from a national perspective.
This survey takes a giant leap toward developing a more accurate and comprehensive picture of the state of corporate citizenship in the United States. It directly captures the input from leaders in businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions on their motivations, challenges, priorities, practices, and investments. It is also unique in assaying how some businesses help to address the needs of our poorest people and places.
Findings from the 2005 State of Corporate Citizenship reveal that for today’s businesses, the question is no longer if corporate citizenship should be a priority, but rather, how they approach it in the context of their business and the scope of their commitment. In fact, among large companies:
- 98% believe that corporate citizenship needs to be a priority for companies (81% overall)
- 91% believe the public has a right to expect good corporate citizenship (69% overall)
- 84% believe the corporate citizenship makes a tangible contribution to the bottom line (64% overall)
Executives fall into two camps regarding business’ role in society. Slightly more than six in 10 perceive business as balancing the interests of multiple stakeholders, including investors, employees, consumers, communities, and the environment. The remaining respondents take a more compliant perspective focused on fulfilling employee and shareholder obligations. And while all companies engage in similar corporate citizenship activities, large companies are far more likely to have an expansive definition of their role in society. Among large companies:
- 64% indicate the corporate citizenship is part of their business strategy (44% overall)
- 68% have increased investment in corporate citizenship over the past two years (29% overall)
Engagement is largely driven by internal considerations – seventy-three percent of companies cite their company’s traditions and values as the primary actuating factors – and few respondents name employees (16%), top management (10%), or middle management (8%) as hindrances in their corporate citizenship efforts. Despite this internal recognition of corporate citizenship importance, executives report that, at 54%, a lack of resources is their biggest barrier. And while executives clearly view their role as societal stewards as important, the findings suggest a modest gap between executives’ expressed attitudes and the actions companies are actually undertaking.
Other business motivating factors:
- Reputation/image (56%)
- Business strategy (44%)
- Employee recruitment and retention (30%)
External driving factors include:
- Customers/consumers (36%)
- Community expectations (24%)
- Political pressure (14%)
The findings do reveal that, across the board, companies are actively engaged in public life. Private sector involvement in social issues ranges from environmental protection, supporting education, and economic development in our poorest communities. The means by which each company relates to society is unique, and there is no one universal corporate citizenship strategy.
The question raised by these findings is one of momentum – are companies becoming increasingly sophisticated in their relationships with society, and how will their approach to corporate citizenship evolve? The next State of Corporate Citizenship, to be released in 2007, will provide insight into these nuanced questions.
» View all the survey results by downloading The State of Corporate Citizenship in the U.S.: Business Perspectives in 2005.
» View the 2003 survey results.
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