BOSTON, Mass. — Nine of the world's top performing companies have joined forces to form the
Global Leadership Network. This international network will focus on the crucial question of what constitutes world-class performance in corporate citizenship.
Collectively, this important group of companies -- IBM, General Electric, FedEx, Cargill, 3M, Diageo, Omron, Manpower, and General Motors -- represent more than $544 billion in annual revenues, employ some 1.4 million people and have multi-national operations that span the globe.
"These are best-in-class companies who have been practicing corporate citizenship activities for years," said Steve Rochlin, director of research and policy development for the
Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College. "Their willingness to share their experiences will have a significant impact on other companies, especially those with fewer resources or those who have been late to recognize the importance of integrating corporate responsibility measures into their core business strategy."
"Crucially, these leading companies are identifying elements of their corporate responsibility programs that not only improve but drive business performance," said Simon Zadek, CEO of
AccountAbility. "Capturing and harnessing this valuable knowledge is one of the key objectives of this unique business learning network."
"IBM founded this network of like-minded global companies because we know that quality corporate citizenship and responsible social engagement is an important part of the long term economic value of a company and that it must be managed with the same seriousness of purpose as any other core element of the business," said Stanley Litow, vice president of corporate community relations at IBM. "By bringing together some of the most well-known, well-respected global corporations to study these questions, we believe we can, as a group, lead by example and have a profound impact on the way all major corporations think about and manage corporate citizenship."
Directed by the Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College and AccountAbility, with support from the Ford Foundation and each participating company, this three-year research project will focus on how these companies balance the pressures for profitability against the demands to be responsive to broader societal needs.
This will be achieved by exploring how they:
- Align corporate citizenship into the core business strategy by defining what activities are material to the company.
- Respond to and learn from societal expectations in a manner that creates value for the business and stakeholders.
- Align corporate citizenship values with operational excellence to ensure that ethics and the interests of good corporate governance are maintained.
- Create opportunities for leadership that allow companies to influence the best practices of others.
Preliminary findings from the research are expected in early 2005.
