The Hitachi Foundation and the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship recently released a report titled “Weathering the Storm: The State of Corporate Citizenship in 2009.” The survey results show that due to the recession businesses have had to rethink – both good and bad – their approach to corporate citizenship.
The survey sample included 756 executives, 36% of whom were at small businesses
(1-99 employees), 24% at medium (100-999), and 40% at large companies
(1000 + employees). The survey found that large companies are responding to the recession much differently than small companies. For example, large companies significantly increased their investments and involvement in citizenship activities – but they were also more likely to lay people off. Small firms kept true to their emphasis on treating employees well by minimizing layoffs. But they significantly decreased attention to other aspects of citizenship, such as volunteering or philanthropy.
Some additional highlights of the survey:
- Despite upheaval in the economy, a majority of U.S. companies are not making major changes in their corporate citizenship practices. Of those who made changes 38% reduced philanthropy/giving, 27% increased layoffs, and 19% reduced R&D for sustainable products.
- Most U.S. senior executives believe business should be more involved than it is today in addressing major public issues including health care, product safety, education, and climate change. Surveyed in June, just as the national debate on health care began to intensify, some 65 percent said business should increase its involvement in this issue.
- Based on current economic conditions, 15% of companies are increasing R&D for new sustainable products; 11% are increasing corporate citizenship marketing and communications; and 10% are increasing local and/or domestic sourcing or manufacturing.
- Only 34 percent of executives who responded to the survey say greater regulatory oversight by the federal government is an important part of solving the current economic crisis and creating a more stable economy.
I would like to add on to this, corporate citizenship is what I would term loosely as a “public good”, we need the involvement of the authorities to make it bona fide. The economic slump is here to stay for a couple of years. The USA government can really make use of this opportunity to reform corporate thinking and get all involved in being a citizen of society. Gini index can be improved on. Take for eg, the lost decade of Japan, the Japanese did a lot to encourage greater involvement of corporations and achieve a far more equal society than most countries of the world. Recession is a bad time, but it is precisely at these times that henceforth inflexible and rigid corporate modes can be soften and remold.
Corporate Citizenship Award by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center. The nomination comes from The Food Bank of the Southern Tier in Elmira. Wegmans was chosen as a finalist due to its social contributions, business operations and economic performance. The USA government can really make use of this opportunity to reform corporate thinking and get all involved in being a citizen of society. The four other companies competing in the Corporate Stewardship category are Best Buy, ITT Corporation, Oracle and the PNC Financial Services Group.