We often talk about the fact that corporate citizenship means something different from corporate philanthropy. You may have also heard the cliché, “doing well by doing good.” But what does corporate citizenship mean in practice and how exactly can it benefit businesses?
Here’s a nice example from Egypt. The Egyptian Junior Business Association (EJB), a CIPE partner, decided to undertake a corporate citizenship program that would be a win-win situation for its member businesses as well as for a particular segment of society. It established a business education program for a creative development center within a university engineering faculty. EJB offers engineering students training that they would not receive from the education system, such as training in project management, business English, and so on. Then, students are connected with particular EJB firms for practical on the job training.
The benefit to students who take advantage of the program seems clear. Why does it make sense for the participating businesses? It can be said that Egypt has not an unemployment problem but an employability problem. In other words, graduates are not up to the standards that businesses require. By participating in the EJB program, businesses can directly assess the caliber of students that they might eye for future employment. It’s a neat solution and a win-win situation indeed.
Published Date: February 29, 2008