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Multi-Nationals More Likely to be Good Corporate Citizens
Multi-Nationals More Likely to be Good Corporate Citizens
Published 02-08-01
Submitted by Echo Research
Multi-national companies are more likely to be good corporate citizens than domestic companies, a new global study reported here today indicates. BPAmoco, Ford, The Body Shop and McDonalds's lead all corporations included in the international study on corporate citizenship and corporate social responsibility. The top 10 of 122 companies rated are all multinational.
Echo's research shows that global organizations attract the most recognition for best corporate social responsibility practice, and see it as a license to operate in a competitive society. However, the report highlights distinct differences in the way corporations in individual countries approach social responsibility. European companies, appear to be driven by avoiding regulation, while the research pointed to the long tradition of philanthropy in the U.S.
Perhaps because of this, social welfare came through in the Echo study as much more developed in Europe than in the U.S. In the U.K. the emphasis was not just on 'donations' but on engaging in a two-way dialogue. In France there were concerns expressed against seeing corporate citizenship substituting for social services. In Germany, the environmental aspects of sustainability were emphasized as much as social ones.
In the U.S., according to Jacqui Walford, a senior vice president of Echo and head of its New York office, "The research highlights the need to bring shareholders on board as their short-term interests are at odds with corporate social responsibility. There is a need to quantify the benefits of being a good corporate citizen, so that an ethical balance sheet can sit alongside the financial one."
Echo's report shows that businesses are under growing pressure and opposition from many areas of society. The Seattle demonstrations, discussion on the Internet and a media hungry for transgressions, means that there are more dangers in not being a good corporate citizen than in being one. However, added: "There is a risk if companies use CSR as a sticking plaster to cover deeper underlying problems. Also expectations may exceed delivery from an organization, thus causing risks for shareholders as well as damaging the public perception of the company."
Note to editors:
Echo Research Group, global leaders in communications research and evaluation, provides intelligence about image, to help clients understand the structure of their reputation, and adds practical advice to facilitate their strategic decisions. Echo has offices in London, Brisbane, Brussels, Paris, Stockholm, New York and Kuala Lumpur. Echo's world-class clients include a quarter of the FTSE 100.
A full copy of the report is available to the press by calling Echo Research's New York office, 646-495-5416.
