Conclusion
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Feldmann , Derrick , Michael Alberg-Seberich ( 2020 ) The Corporate Social Mind , Fast Company Press , New York . German-language edition to be published by redline in spring .
The world has changed since our first study in 2017 . Climate crisis , discrimination , poverty , pandemic – many large companies have set out to pay more attention to these problems and become more sustainable themselves . They are reducing their CO 2 emissions , creating systems to safeguard human rights in supply chains and increasing the diversity of their workforces . This work has only just begun , and there is still a long way to go on the path to realising the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals . Immense demands will be placed on companies , and they will need to avail themselves of the full array of corporate tools to achieve this transformation .
This also gives Corporate Citizenship – active societal engagement – a new meaning . It can go from being an incidental activity to a laboratory for sustainable business development . Unlike the core business , which is often oriented towards short-term revenue targets and profitability , Corporate Citizenship allows for a priority focus on social and environmental goals . Through their Corporate Citizenship , companies can therefore build complementary networks in the social , academic and political spheres . They can develop their own expertise and credibility in key sustainability issues and drive sustainable innovation in products , services and business models . They can produce success stories that provide communicative and emotional support for the transformation of the core business . The Wider Sense team shows all of this in detail in The Corporate Social Mind , a book which translates experience of working with business and civil society into a strategic framework for action . V
We have seen that sustainable business practices play a greater role in the Corporate Citizenship of DAX companies than they did a few years ago . We have noticed a continuing trend towards professionalism . Nevertheless , we also found out that only a few companies apply Corporate Citizenship in a targeted way to achieve both an internal and an external impact . Companies such as Bayer , Deutsche Post DHL , Deutsche Telekom , Merck and SAP have set out to integrate Corporate Citizenship with their sustainability efforts and to bring it into their core business . Most companies are , however , still unnecessarily missing out on the many opportunities presented .
Companies have to change – consumer behaviour , legislation and financial markets leave them no choice . The wide range of individual results from the Corporate Citizenship activities of the DAX40 is encouraging . Impactful initiatives can be attributed to one factor in particular : leadership . Committed decision-makers – whether at C-level or in CSR teams – must lead the way and initiate change as ‘ intrapreneurs ’. Corporate Citizenship can be an valuable tool for this , if it is organised to the same professional standard as the core business . In line with our four dimensions ( strategy ,
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