Corporate Citizenship in a Global Context

From Asia to the Americas, business leaders are under intense pressure to rebuild public trust, manage new and unfamiliar risks, respond to rising societal expectations and remain profitable and competitive in a global economy. As a result, the subject of corporate citizenship is in the spotlight as never before. In leading companies, it is moving beyond the boundaries of legal compliance, public relations and philanthropy, to become a more integral part of corporate governance, strategy, risk management and reputation. Values-driven performance, aimed at protecting existing corporate value and creating new corporate value, and backed by rigorously evaluated and publicly reported targets and metrics, is becoming a defining feature of the world’s best-led companies.

Over the past two decades, the forces of economic globalization, political transformation and technological innovation have increased the global reach and influence of the private sector. The UN estimates, for example, that the number of transnational corporations almost doubled from 37,000 in 1990 to over 60,000 today, with some 800,000 foreign affiliates and millions of suppliers and distributors operating along their global value chains. This process has conferred new rights and created new business opportunities for global corporations and large national companies, while also exposing weaknesses in national and global governance structures. It has also resulted in new competitive pressures and risks, and led to increased demands for greater corporate responsibility, transparency and accountability.