Corporate citizenship is a key component of Boeing’s business strategy – fueling commerce, providing meaningful employment and playing a role in our communities.

Our corporate citizenship work is particularly important as globalization and changing demographics continue to transform business. With more than 75 million baby boomers nearing retirement in the United States alone, technology-based companies face a skills shortage as fewer students gain the qualifications needed for the high-tech jobs of today and tomorrow.

Like many of our industry peers, our competitiveness relies not only on our access to a robust, highly-skilled work force educated in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) but also that they enter the work force prepared with problem-solving, team work and collaborative skills needed for success. Read the rest of this entry »

As the Fourth of July holiday approached, discussions of our national heritage and celebration of the American spirit were ubiquitous. Among the many inspired quotes that I heard over the weekend was one from Robert F. Kennedy who was paraphrasing the playwright George Bernard Shaw. “There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why … I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?”

Corporate citizenship professionals are often asked why their firms should make investments in the community and environment – and there is then often a scramble to find a financial return justification. It is neatest when we can do well by doing good, but that is not always possible. Sometimes the return on community investments is not immediately quantifiable (on the quarter) and sometimes returns are purely social. They may create a more welcoming or more manageable environment in which the business can operate, but the firm might be just as profitable without having made them. Read the rest of this entry »

A growing number of companies around the world are reporting non-financial (social, environmental and governance) information. To discuss emerging trends, challenges and opportunities of non-financial reporting, the Carroll School of Management Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College hosted a one-day symposium under the auspices of the Global Education Research Network (GERN). Prominent experts from around the world shared their views and perspectives on the importance and future development of nonfinancial reporting. Read the rest of this entry »

A group of corporate citizenship professionals and academics from around the world gathered at the Carroll School of Management recently for a symposium sponsored by UPS, “Forecasting the Future: Non-financial Reporting for Global Companies.”

The Global Education Research Network symposium hosted by the Center for Corporate Citizenship opened with a panel titled “Looking at the Big Picture of Non-Financial Reporting.” Moderator Brad Googins, associate professor at the Carroll School, was joined by Steve Lydenberg, partner, Strategic Vision, Domini Social Investing, and Michael Sadowski, vice president, SustainAbility Inc. Googins asked the pair of experts to roll out a crystal ball and give their take on where CSR reporting is headed. Read the rest of this entry »