Research Paper on:
Social Responsibility in the Corporate World

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
Corporations are now trying to make more of an effort of goodwill towards those whose environments and lives they will touch. CORPORATE GOODWILL The relationship between the corporation  and its broader society has been an issue for executives since the advent of the modern corporation. Pioneers in philanthropy and community service, like James Cash Penney and Julius Rosenberg  believed and acted on an ethic that business could not be successful without the community thriving. They therefore took an active role, and likewise expected their managers to do the  same, in supporting community activities, both with their time and money. This ethic of community responsibility and being a corporate "citizen" became institutionalized at JCPenney and Sears as a result  of these founders values (Becket 1998). Use of the term corporate citizenship has grown exponentially in the corporate sector in recent years, and while it is readily used, there is  no agreed-upon definition. In the academic literature a closely related concept is corporate social responsibility, the belief that the firm has multiple purposes, both economic and social. Corporate citizenship can  be defined as the practice of matching companies with the rest of society. Studies show organizations are acting as corporate citizens, meaning they are engaging in partnerships for community development  all over the world, and they are increasingly taking a holistic approach to business. Under this model, philanthropy is outdated. Reputation is a valuable commodity, and it takes political  know-how and personal savvy to understand and implement this (Jacobs 1999). It seems that reputations, whether good or bad are what have the real staying power. Despite the negative  headlines this year when people in Europe reported illnesses after drinking Coke products, nearly half of the people who rated Coca-Cola Co. in the survey said they would trust it