what is corporate citizenship 
corporate citizenship involves the social responsibility of businesses and the extent to which they meet legal ethical and economic responsibilities as established by shareholders corporate citizenship is growing increasingly important as both individual and institutional investors begin to seek out companies that have socially responsible orientations such as their environmental social and governance esg practices understanding corporate citizenshipcorporate citizenship refers to a company s responsibilities toward society the goal is to produce higher standards of living and quality of life for the communities that surround them and still maintain profitability for stakeholders the demand for socially responsible corporations continues to grow encouraging investors consumers and employees to use their individual power to force management of companies to work harder think more creatively and act in line with their values or become at risk of being affected negatively if they do not share or follow these values all businesses have basic ethical and legal responsibilities however the most successful businesses establish a strong foundation of corporate citizenship showing a commitment to ethical behavior by creating a balance between the needs of shareholders and the needs of the community and environment in the surrounding area these practices help bring in consumers and establish brand and company loyalty in 2010 the international organization for standardization iso released a set of voluntary standards meant to help companies implement corporate social responsibility companies go through different stages during the process of developing corporate citizenship companies rise to the higher stages of corporate citizenship based on their capacity and credibility when supporting community activities a strong understanding of community needs and their dedication to incorporate citizenship within the culture and structure of their company the development of corporate citizenshipthe five stages of corporate citizenship are defined as in the elementary stage a company s citizenship activities are basic and undefined because there are scant corporate awareness and little to no senior management involvement small businesses in particular tend to linger in this stage they are able to comply with the standard health safety and environmental laws but they do not have the time nor the resources to fully develop greater community involvement in the engagement stage companies will often develop policies that promote the involvement of employees and managers in activities that exceed rudimentary compliance to basic laws citizenship policies become more comprehensive in the innovative stage with increased meetings and consultations with shareholders and through participation in forums and other outlets that promote innovative corporate citizenship policies in the integrated stage citizenship activities are formalized and blend in fluidly with the company s regular operations performance in community activities is monitored and these activities are driven into the lines of business once companies reach the transforming stage they are deeply aware that corporate citizenship is an integral part of the company s strategy it fuels sales growth allows expansion to new markets enables hiring the best talent enables acquiring cheaper capital and establishes an emotional bond and love for the brand economic and social involvement is a meshed activity of a company s daily operations in this stage corporate social responsibility csr corporate social responsibility csr is a broad concept of corporate citizenship that can take various forms depending on the company and industry through csr programs philanthropy and volunteer efforts businesses can benefit society while boosting their own brands as important as csr is for the community it is equally valuable for a company csr activities can help forge a stronger bond between employees and corporations they can boost morale and can help both employees and employers feel more connected with the world around them in order for a company to be socially responsible it first needs to be responsible for itself and its shareholders often companies that adopt csr programs have grown their business to the point where they can give back to society thus csr is primarily a strategy of large corporations also the more visible and successful a corporation is the more responsibility it has to set standards of ethical behavior for its peers competition and industry starbucks as an examplelong before its initial public offering ipo in 1992 starbucks was known for its keen sense of corporate social responsibility and commitment to sustainability and community welfare starbucks has achieved corporate citizenship milestones including 1starbucks goals include hiring 10 000 refugees across 75 countries reducing the environmental impact of its cups and engaging its employees in environmental leadership 3