Corporate Citizenship: Definitions and Expenditure

In recent years several significant global scale corporate citizenship initiatives have emerged via the operations of major international bodies such as the OECD, the UN and the World Bank. The first section of this chapter outlines key guidelines and protocols emanating from each of these globally influential bodies. The reality that such initiatives are being supported at a multilateral level is suggestive of the extent to which notions of corporate citizenship are entering mainstream thinking concerning the role of multinational corporations (MNCs) in the present phase of globalisation. The chapter continues by examining one aspect of corporate citizenship, philanthropy (or giving), which has a long-standing tradition in the USA and we continue our comparative analysis through an examination of current trends in philanthropic activity in the UK and the USA. The corporate citizenship projects, which form the core focus of this book, are the major part of the objects of corporate giving.