5 Areas Companies Should Behave as Global Citizens

By on January 25, 2012

This week, Barri Rafferty, senior partner and director, New York, is blogging from the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

Last night, I attended the opening mission session with founder of the WEF, Klaus Schwab. His speech focused on how companies should behave as global citizens and he laid out five areas of focus:

  • Corporate Governance – following business practices that advance integrity and make ethical use of resources
  • Social Responsibility – recognizing and acting in best interests of diverse stakeholders
  • Corporate Philanthropy – committing to consistently giving to social organizations
  • Social Entrepreneurship – exercising business innovation that addresses social need (He used the electric car as a good example.)
  • Corporate Global Citizenship – positively shaping global society in multiple aspects

He went on to say, “The complexity of the issues we are facing is key to the Forum’s success.” In other words, by focusing on the big picture instead of a single issue, the WEF creates an opportunity to look at the issues on the global agenda in an integrated way.

He said the WEF’s list now contains more than 50 issues, because “Davos is a mirror of what is happening in the world.” That’s clearly a lot to tackle this week, and, with 1,000 corporate attendees – including Ketchum – out of the 2,600 guests, it means there are many things for all of us to integrate.

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About Barri Rafferty

Barri leads Ketchum’s largest office and also oversees the digital transformation of the agency as Senior Partner responsible for Ketchum Digital. She has more than 20 years of PR experience in leading a wide range of integrated marketing campaigns for blue-chip brands, and previously led Ketchum’s brand marketing and entertainment units as well as its Atlanta and Dallas offices, among her many roles.

All posts by Barri Rafferty