Good corporate citizen - or neighbour from hell

Now that so many organisations want to become 'good corporate citizens', what does it all mean and how do they set about it?

In the past twelve months we have seen BMW embarrassed by its handling of Rover, Marks and Spencer seems to have lost contact with its customers and its profitability, Monsanto has been accused of promoting 'Frankenstein foods', Microsoft is being forced to split in half and there have been so many mergers and acquisitions that the public has lost touch with who owns what!

These are all corporate citizenship issues. They are about the way business relates to people and communities and the way decisions are made.

Communities increasingly want business to deliver actions rather than fine words and issues such as workplace ethics, human rights and environmental impact have to move out of the domain of the PR department. This needs guts, determination and honesty - and perhaps a new breed of manager - it certainly requires new management strategies.

At the Warwick Corporate Citizenship conference, a panel of representatives from significant global corporations will tackle the question - what are the challenges of being a good corporate citizen?

A press briefing for the conference will be held at 9.30 on Tuesday July 11 at Scarman House, University of Warwick. The panel will include Jeremy Nicholls, Communications Director, BP Amoco and David Scharer, External Issues Manager, Shell Chemicals as well as Dr Malcolm McIntosh and Professor David Wilson from Warwick Business School.

Note to editors:

Warwick Corporate Citizenship Unit's aim is to promote first class research, education and consultancy in the multidisciplinary field of corporate citizenship by bringing together diverse people from business, government, pressure groups and civil society to examine underlying changes in the relationship between corporations, states and communities. The role, scope and purpose of business is changing rapidly as the global economy develops and management priorities and business responsibilities are under scrutiny as never before. The Corporate Citizenship Unit offers insight, understanding and learning in the complexities of managing in the new world of corporate responsibility.