The State of Corporate Citizenship

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The State of Corporate Citizenship in the
U.S. Business perspectives in 2005
Produced in cooperation with
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Partner Organizations
Supported by the Hitachi Foundation
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Business Contributions to Society in 2005
Intangibles -- Values -- Leadership --
Commitment
Intangible Benefits

• Business engagement with society
• addressing consequences of business behavior on
  society
• addressing consequences of social/political/enviro
  nmental issues
• and events on business

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Key Trends in Corporate Citizenship

• Big Year for Corporate Disaster Aid U.S.
  Businesses provide almost 1.5 Billion for
  tsunami and hurricane aid
• Social Reporting on the Rise 64 of the largest
  250 global companies publish social
  environmental reports
• Codes of Conduct Proliferating Over 1000 codes
  of business conduct from environment, to labor,
  to corruption, to human rights, and more
• Partnerships and Networks Gain Businesses are
  forming partnerships with with government and
  non-profits on
• Education Work force development
• Youth Environment
• Community economic Health
  development and more

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Why did we do this research?

• Growing expectations for business as citizens
• The only survey to document corporate citizenship
  attitudes and practices of small, medium, and
  large companies
• The first to gather information on business
  efforts in low-income communities.
• To examine business engagement in economically
  distressed communities
• To follow trends in corporate citizenship

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The sample

• Population U.S. businesses
• Sample U.S. Chamber of Commerce members, The
  Center at Boston College members
• Margin of error ? 3
• Total responses 1,189
• 72 from small companies (1-99 employees)
• 18 from medium companies (100-999 employees)
• 10 from large companies (1000 employees or more)
• Analogous distributions by revenue
• 10 are public companies
• Balanced distributions by industry and geography

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Key Findings
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Companies are actively involved in public life
98 of large companies and 75 of companies
overall, are actively involved in supporting or
taking action in at least one societal issue
area.
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Businesses report active involvement in
economically distressed communities
To what extent are companies doing things for the
community?
Providing training for lower-wage employees
51 are involved in a significant or very
significant way in economically distressed
communities.
Improving conditions in economically distressed
communities
Purchasing from women-owned suppliers
Purchasing from minority-owned suppliers
Offering job training to people in economically
distressed communities
Hiring people from poor communities
Locating company facilities in poor communities
Great/Large Extent
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Corporate citizenship is integral to good
business practice

• Corporate Citizenship makes a tangible
  contribution to bottom line
• Corporate Citizenship needs to be a priority for
  companies
• Public has right to expect good corporate
  citizenship from companies
• Many companies do a great deal more for their
  communities than is talked about or known

64
81
69
91
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Business has multiple stakeholder commitments
Public Steward (667)
House in Order (413)
Maximize profits Manage financial reporting
accurately Operate ethically Ensure employee
health and safety Provide employee
benefits Provide jobs Protect the
environment Improve conditions in
communities Protect consumers Work with
suppliers to ensure ethical operations
v v v v v v v v v v
v v v v v
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Intrinsic values motivate companies to be good
corporate citizens
What drives companies to embrace corporate
citizenship?
Internal motivators
External pressures
Traditions and values 73 Reputation/image
56 Business strategy 44 Retain
employees .30
Customers and consumers 36 Expected in
community 24 Laws and political
pressures .. 14
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Resources limit companies efforts to become
better corporate citizens
What are the barriers to corporate citizenship?
Lack of resources
54
Top management does not support it
Not sure what being a good corporate citizen
means
10
Not of real interest to employees
16
Middle management does not support it
10
No significant benefit to the business
13
8
Resources
Management/Employees
Business Case
14
Company investments in corporate citizenship
remained stable
How are companies investing in corporate
citizenship?
94 have invested more or the same in corporate
citizenship over the past year
95 of companies have invested more or the same
in assisting economically distressed communities
Increased 29 Remained the
same ..65 Decreased ..7
Increased 19 Remained the
same ..76 Decreased ..5
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Attitudes outpace behaviors
Issues U.S. companies support vs. aspire to
support
Less than half report extensive involvement in
supporting or addressing the related social
issues of climate change, education, healthcare,
and responsible sourcing.
16
Executives give companies mixed reviews as
corporate citizens
17
Size matters
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The State of Corporate Citizenship is Louisiana
Living the survey data The role of business in
the Gulf State region recovery is essential to
long-term success