Good Works Not Enough to Bolster Business Image

Forty-four percent of Americans believe that U.S. businesses are headed in the “wrong direction” when it comes to

corporate citizenship, a new survey has found. And while corporate giving can bolster a company’s image, the survey shows it is less effective than other actions that businesses can take.

Of the 3,500 people surveyed, 28 percent said they thought businesses were headed in the right direction in exercising corporate citizenship, and 28 percent believed the direction is mixed or stagnant.

The survey, conducted by the public-relations firm GolinHarris in Chicago, was based on interviews conducted via the Internet. It suggests that corporations are still feeling the effect of the corporate scandals of the past few years.

Participants were asked to rank by level of importance a set of 12 corporate behaviors aimed at building goodwill. Although 59 percent of respondents said corporate philanthropy — a company’s willingness to donate or invest profits, goods, or services to benefit others — was an important factor, it ranked last among the list of 12. At the top of the list was valuing and treating employees fairly, with 85 percent of respondents saying it was important.

The survey suggests that nonprofit groups are useful in helping companies get out the word about their good works and citizenship. Respondents rank “people and organizations helped by the company’s corporate citizenship” as the number-one source for information about such corporate practices — ahead of coverage by print and electronic news organizations.

The survey also asked people to rate 108 corporations based on their impressions of their citizenship practices. Johnson & Johnson, which manufacturers health-care products, received the best marks, followed by Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream company and the Walt Disney entertainment company.

The report, “Doing Well by Doing Good 2005: The Trajectory of Corporate Citizenship in American Business,” is available free at the GolinHarris Web site, http://www.golinharris.com.