Politicization of Companies? Empirical Evidence on Corporate Citizenship Activities in Europe

This chapter critically discusses the thesis of ‘politization of companies’ developed by some academic scholars. The ‚Good Company Ranking’ of Manager Magazin screened the social engagement of EuroStoxx and DAX listed companies biannualy from 2005 onwards. The architecture of the Ranking in general and the criteria for Corporate Citizenship Engagement in particular are explained. Drawing on best practice cases and tendencies of Corporate Citizenship Engagement derived from the ranking the business logic of CC is described. In spite of a academic conceptualization the chapter pledges for more careful analysis of real world projects and proposes first analytical tools in that respect.