Corporate citizenship is emerging as a central issue for business, and is, as a result, coming under the scrutiny of the "business case" approach. This report--written by one of Europe's leading thinkers in corporate citizenship, stakeholder relations, and social and ethical accounting and reporting--explores this theme from a variety of perspectives and in the context of actual practices by leading firms.

Major findings:

• Companies engage in corporate citizenship for a variety of reasons, among them:

1. to defend reputation and avoid potential financial loss
2. to achieve cost benefits
3. for strategic business reasons
4. to help manage risks and promote innovation in learning in a dynamic and complex environment ("the New Economy case")

• Whether corporate citizenship "pays" is not as relevant a question as how corporate citizenship contributes to achieving the core business strategy.

Special features:

• summary of key findings
• tables and graphs illustrating results
• appendix on international standards for corporate behavior