The organisation ‘Changing Our World’ carried out a study in the US regarding authenticity in corporate citizenship, which is an increasingly important concept referring to the responsibilities that corporations have towards society, and a report entitled ‘The Authenticity Opportunity’ has been recently released.
Having more than 1,000 respondents aged 18-65, the study aims at investigating how the US citizens perceive and what they expect on the topic of corporate citizenship, thus demonstrating the importance of promoting social responsibility and authentic engagement in corporations.
According to the report, women and the younger generations tend to care more about companies’ efforts in social issues as many of them believe that social responsibility is a basic element in conducting business. On the other hand, a significant majority hold a sceptical attitude towards companies’ authenticity when they claim and report their efforts in social responsibility by means of advertisement and purpose statements. In most cases, people would have the impressions that companies are just giving empty talks or concealing something negative, rather than believing in their devotion and commitment.
Nonetheless, it is pointed out that companies’ efforts in corporate citizenship would be remunerated if stakeholders are convinced that they are ‘authentic’ enough. For example, consumers would more likely to be in favour of their products, to share them with friends and family, and to forgive the companies in the case of scandal and wrongdoing; while employees would more likely to work harder, stay in the companies for a longer time and recommending the companies to others.
Furthermore, the report suggests four authentic and convincing ways of contributing to corporate citizenship, which are developing long-term strategy, skinning in the game through investments, making use of companies’ core assets such as specific skills and expertise, and cultivating third party advocates to increase the credibility of the efforts.
In short, the public are not only paying more attention to companies’ efforts in corporate citizenship, but also to the sincerity and authenticity of their efforts, so companies should actively and consistently demonstrate their dedication in social issues while supporting them with solid actions, thus getting rewarded by the stakeholders.
Source: https://www.changingourworld.com/the-authenticity-opportunity-substance-over-splash-in-corporate-citizenship/
