|
A
HUNDRED companies surveyed on corporate citizenship said
their top business involvement does not include
supporting dependent care for the elderly, developing
alternative energy sources and safeguarding human
rights.
A survey
by the Asian Institute of Management’ (AIM) Corporate
Social Responsibility Center determined that the top
business involvement by these companies concerns
improving the quality of products, providing skills
development training for the incumbent work force, and
improving the safety of products.
AIM
professor Felipe Alfonso, who presented the survey on
Wednesday, said these ratings were consistent with how
respondents view the business roles in society.
The
survey, which was conducted to determine the attitudes
and practices of companies on corporate citizenship,
revealed that most businesses view their roles as
primarily to run the company well and keep the employees
happy.
Of the
hundred companies that replied to the AIM questionnaire,
93 ranked managing and reporting company finances
accurately as the most important role of business in
society.
They
ranked the following accordingly: operating with ethical
business practices (92), ensuring employee health and
safety (91), protecting consumers-external customers
(91) and providing employee benefits (87).
Notably,
more small companies ranked ethical business practices
as the most important role of business, while large
businesses said it was maximizing profits.
The
respondents, which are among the 1,092 companies the AIM
tried to survey, said the least important role of
business in society is improving conditions in the
community.
Of the
1,092 companies that were sent questionnaires, only 100
responded.
Other
least important roles were protecting the environment
(63), supporting employee volunteerism (55), responding
to community or interest groups and building employee
diversity within the business.
Still, a
high 94 percent of those surveyed agreed that corporate
citizenship needs to be a priority for companies.
However,
22 said they still doubt that such concept—that
companies should have an active role in social
development—yields significant business benefit.
Some
said they lack resources, they lack support from top
management or the concept does not appeal to employees
as barriers to corporate citizenship.
Twenty-four companies even said they are not sure what a
“good corporate citizen” means.
According to the principles for global corporate
responsibility website, corporate citizenship “is about
a new contract between business and society, a vision of
partnership between different sections of community,
which allies profitable companies with healthy
communities because what happens to societies happens to
business.” |
