Corporate Citizenship as an Ethic of Care

Abstract

This chapter presents the 'top ten corporate values' determining the import of the concept of corporate citizenship. It shows how such values are defined in a more or less legalistic context, through a content analysis of the corporate codes of ethics of Canadian multinational corporations in various industries. The chapter explains how the concept of corporate citizenship must be developed in the broader context of global governance, presenting a threefold concept of corporate citizenship: working together, hoping together and living together. Corporate citizenship should aim at internalising an 'ethic of care'. Corporate ethics implies a critical ass’s sment of discourses and practices in organisations. In corporate codes of ethics, justice is presented as key to organisational change towards 'what should be'. Human dignity is the foundation of all ethical values and basic human rights, such as equality, tolerance and freedom. Business ethics is a reflection on moral practices, discourses and values, transmitted in the business milieu as a social institution.