The Year of Corporate Philanthropy

This new government initiative is very well timed for AQA BUSS4 students!

Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt is aiming to kick start a culture of corporate philanthropy this year to fill the gap left by public spending cuts. In this radio report, lasting just under 4 minutes, Will Gompertz reports on the aim to bring together the need for sponsorship of the arts or sport, with a corporate desire to be seen to get involved in the Big Society and provide that support.

Mr Hunt suggests that banks, which have suffered such a downturn in their public image, might find this a good way to rehabilitate themselves. But with an 18% drop in business donations, this is going to be an uphill task for the minister. What would their other stakeholders think?

This brief report could provide a good bridge from teaching the introductory topic of Stakeholders, to two of the new research themes on CSR for BUSS4 students:

(1) The potential benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility relative to the costs for businesses and stakeholders

(6) The extent to which governments should influence Corporate Social Responsibility