Can business make decisive contributions to development? Towards a research agenda on corporate citizenship and beyond

Abstract

This introductory article considers the increasingly prominent expectation that business can and will make a significant contribution to sustainable development under the banner of corporate citizenship or related terms. It suggests a research agenda that questions the underlying assumptions of this discourse and addresses some of the practicalities of enhancing the business contribution to development, with a focus on southern Africa. The suggested key research themes acknowledge the complexity and contradictions in current debates and expand the corporate citizenship agenda to embrace the possibility of more fundamental and systemic changes. These themes are (1) relating corporate citizenship to the southern African context; (2) the scope for innovative business opportunities and a new purpose for business; (3) the drivers and enabling conditions for corporate citizenship; (4) implementing corporate citizenship; and (5) measuring and monitoring the impacts of corporate citizenship efforts. The article cautions against too much optimism or excessive reliance on business contributions to development and it emphasises the need and opportunity for investigating the many open questions introduced here and in the articles in this special issue.

The author is grateful to Ellen Kallinowsky, Karien Pienaar, and Nkosi Ndlovu for their comments on earlier versions of the paper.

Notes

²See www.adopt-a-light.com

³Examples of corporate citizenship are Christian Aid, or, in South Africa, Groundwork (www.groundwork.org.za).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ralph Hamann

Head of Research, Centre for Corporate Citizenship, University of South Africa (UNISA). This paper is a result of the First Southern African Corporate Citizenship Symposium held at the UNISA School for Business Leadership, Midrand, in July 2005, hosted by the UNISA Centre for Corporate Citizenship.