- Where to find information on particular corporate citizenship companies
Have a quick look at this link: www.nmmu.ac.za/documents/theses/Neil%20Fourie%20MBA%20Thesis.pdf . Not only does it provide you with in-depth information on three particular South African corporate citizenship companies, but it also gives a highly detailed analysis of each, and compares them with each other.
- About corporate citizenship
Used to portray a company's accountability towards society, corporate citizenship is therefore also known as corporate social responsibility. Many major companies, such as Novartis and Microsoft, use this phrase in order to illustrate their social initiatives and doings.
A wide range of people, however, also take the phrase more literally; many say that the phrase shows that corporations have a form of citizenship and so must be treated as such.
It is because of this that companies, rather than the people behind them, have the right to sue and be sued by others. This is because they can own their own assets, as they are now understood in society to be artificial persons.
However, this idea that a business may be treated as a resident does cause some issues; some believe that this business ability should enable them to the defenses and freedoms that any other human citizen would benefit from, such as freedom of speech and the right to be involved in political activities, whilst others believe that this should not be the case.
As would be expected, there have been issues raised in this belief, as is shown in the 2003 Nike versus Kasky case, which narrowly missed court; the issue was based on Nike's open defense to allegations that it was using sweatshop labor, which it claimed was political speech. Unfortunately many deemed it as commercial speech, though the two companies did finally manage to settle outside of court.
