POLITICAL SCIENCE

TOPIC- ROLE PLAYED BY CORPORATE CITIZENS IN NATIONAL

DEVELOPMENT
NAME- SALONI MANGAL
COURSE- BA LLB[HONS]
 WHAT IS CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP?

It is the extent to which businesses are socially

responsible for meeting legal, ethical and economic
responsibilities placed on them by shareholders. The
aim is for businesses to create higher standards of living
and quality of life in the communities in which they
operate while preserving profitability for stakeholders. It
refers to a company’s responsibilities toward society.
WHAT IS NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT?

Generally the term refers to the improvement in the

standard of living of a nation and improvement in all
areas including the political, economic, social etc. It is
the ability of a country to improve the social welfare of
the people. It could be seen as the sustainable
improvement in both the material and spiritual life of a
nation and which must be realizable in ways consistent
with the protection of human dignity.
Role played by corporate citizens
in national development

Corporate citizens or corporations play important roles

in National Development in following ways :
• EMPLOYMENT
To do this, they need to perform those roles beginning from the
community in which they find themselves in. An important
indicator of the quality of standard living is the level of
unemployment in the country. Setting up a business implies
that the corporate set up will be utilizing a part of the human
resource available to it. By doing so, it reduces the burden on
the government in providing jobs for the citizens. Also it must
ensure that it trains these individuals it has now employed.
In doing so, they add to the quality of human resource of the
nation. We must take note that quality of human resource is a
key determinant of how well a country is doing.
Now, providing jobs and training without giving them the
necessary benefits will only make the effort to develop the
nation, i.e. improve the conditions of living of the people less
effective. That is, businesses must take into account the
welfare of its employees. Thus, the necessary remuneration
that comes with the job should not be overlooked.
Contributing to increase the per capita income of the nation is
contributing to reducing poverty, social vices etc. and
contributing to National Development.
• DEVELOPMENTAL PROJECTS

At the community level, developmental projects could be

undertaken. Developmental Projects could be said to be
activities or strategies undertaken by a group of people or an
individual purposely to change the conditions of a community
or improve those living conditions already existing in the
community. Projects such as building of schools, hospitals,
libraries are ways of leaving an indelible mark or a good
impression on the society you find yourself in. It is a way of
earning some form of goodwill.
These indicators e.g. quality educations, good health care,
potable water among others are ways of determining how well a
community or a nation is committed to development and once
these indicators are present, then we can confidently conclude
that the country is developing or developed. In doing that
successfully, the corporate institution needs to effectively and
efficiently identify a need and meet it.
• LAWS
Another way corporate organizations are able to contribute to
National Development is by complying with the laws of the
nation. There are laws that govern the way businesses operate in
every country. Flouting these has implications that could harm
the survival of the business. Payment of taxes for example is one
compliance issue that can’t be overlooked. Taxes generate
revenue for the government. They are tools the government uses
in generating funds to finance development projects like
construction of roads, building of factories, provision of
electricity among others.
By paying these taxes, the corporations contribute to the nation’s
revenue generating system and contributing to the progress of
the nation. Another area corporate businesses or corporate
citizens must comply with is the area of environmental law. It is
essential that when businesses carry out their operations, it does
not affect the environment negatively. It should also come out
with strategies that contribute to the protection of the
environment.
• VOLUNTEERING

Last but not the least, corporations in contributing to the

development of their countries must consider volunteering and
honoring requests by the governments in relation to creation of
policies that require special areas of expertise. The contribution
of corporate institutions is capable of shaping the economy of a
nation for the better.
CONCLUSION
With all these issues raised in favour of national development,
Corporate Citizenship is a win-win situation as earlier indicated.
In the long run benefit from these roles in the form of goodwill,
improved brand quality, sales boost and these will all affect the
profitability of the company. Profitability means shareholder
worth in terms of value will increase.

So the importance of Corporate Citizenship cannot be

underestimated. Corporate bodies should understand this and
play their roles effectively since they stand to benefit also. If they
have a sense of nationalism then it won’t be difficult to practice.