ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the development of the ideas and the elements that describe what is meant by corporate citizenship. It addresses the fact that corporations are surrounded by stakeholders with whom they have to engage to fulfil their business objectives and to whom they therefore are accountable. The book focuses on the foundations of corporate citizenship and examines the corporate citizenship notion and movement, which although a relatively practitioner development involves some old issues. Social responsibility, social performance and corporate citizenship are equally diffuse conceptions. It suggests that the literature on corporate social responsibility is extensive, running into thousands of titles and extending back for at least 60 years. The book argues that corporate citizenship builds on its 'four faces': economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic and the globalisation of corporate citizenship and the United Nations.
