Running head: CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP
Corporate Citizenship
Cody Groves
Global Ethics/Southwestern College
Dr. Fuller
November 3, 2012
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CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP
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Corporate Citizenship
The purpose of this paper is to review an article, From causality to capability: Towards a
new understanding of the multinational corporation's enlarged global responsibilities, by
Florian Wettstein (2005). The purpose of this article was to provide rights based perspective on
corporate citizenship, as changes are being demanded by concurrent changes in political,
economical, and societal roles. The article discusses some of the issues that are at stake and some
of the new responsibilities that must be faced by multinational organizations in the conduction of
global business and the organizations’ role as a citizen in the global market. Wettstein (2005)
focuses these changes on a shift from casualty based to capability-based responsibilities that
must be adopted by the multinational organization. The ever present public scrutiny of
multinational organizations, especially when acting as a corporate citizen, makes the importance
of making this shift even more demanding as the demands for change increase. Defining
corporate citizenship is important when thinking of the associated responsibilities, as well as, the
rights based approach that was discussed in Wettstien’s (2005) article.
Corporate Citizenship
Corporate citizenship is a concept that designates the activities and organizational process
in which multinational organizations follow in order to meet their social responsibilities
(Maignan and Tomas, 1999). An organization, which practices in corporate citizenship, takes on
the role of citizen over the role of the organization and practices in the behaviors of an individual
citizen on a multinational or global scale. Acting as a citizen is based primarily on a moral
concept rather than on a legal commitment (Wettstein, 2005). The Conference Board, a nonprofit business research organization, has published a series which focuses on business
perspectives and practices related to corporate citizenship and have reported three similarities
discovered in the reporting of corporate business practices; Integration of citizenship values
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throughout all operations of the organization, highly transparent citizenship related performance
goals, and assessment and reporting based on standards set forth by the Global Reporting
Initiative, The AccountAbility 1000 Standards, or ISO 14001:2004 (Business and the
Environment, 2005).
Rights Based Approach to Corporate Citizenship
Rights based approaches to corporate citizenship can be found in the works of Ulrich,
Matten, Werhane, and many others ranging from approaches based on republic liberalism,
political philosophy, and even moral rights (Wettstein, 2005). All of these approaches stem from
the moral underlying concept that actions should reflect the constitutional or human rights of an
individual or society. The rights based perspective to corporate citizenship discusses the
corporation’s social duty to conduct its daily business in a responsible manner, as well as to stay
out of the political process in which it derives its citizenship from (Wettstein, 2005). However,
staying out of the political process is not an option for many corporations that operate on a
multinational level. With this link being necessary, a corporation can conduct their business
practices as corporate citizens by focusing their procedures based on human rights and by doing
so, develop partnerships with governmental agencies that are guided by social justice.
Summary
After reviewing this article, the concept of corporate citizenship became clearer in the
way that I can more closely understand the role of an organization as a citizen in global markets
when approached by a rights based perspective. Multinational organizations, which operate in
global markets, should consider more than just the rights of their local citizens, but also the
citizens in which their business practices affect on a global scale.
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References
Corporate citizenship performance: Measuring (and reporting) success. (2005). Business and
the Environment, 16(12), 8-8.
Maignan, I., O, C. F., & G Tomas, M. H. (1999). Corporate citizenship: Cultural antecedents and
business benefits. Academy of Marketing Science.Journal, 27(4), 455-469.
Wettstein, F. (2005). From causality to capability: Towards a new understanding of the
multinational corporation's enlarged global responsibilities. The Journal of Corporate
Citizenship, 19,105-118.