Good Corporate Citizenship & Political Competence-Interrelated/Interconnected Introduction Good corporate citizenship and political competence are interconnected.
A definition of both terms will be provided. How both terms are interconnected will be discussed. Also, a mission statement from a healthcare organization (HCO), more specifically a hospital will be evaluated and interpreted to view the connection between good corporate citizenship and political competence. InterconnectionIn order to be a good corporate citizen, a business must possess five responsibilities. These five responsibilities include the following: 1) High standards of business ethics; 2) Working the community as a whole; 3) Environment protection; 4) "Providing good corporate governance; and 5) Engaging in fair trade and business practices" (Good Corporate Citizen, 2007). Political competence is the ability to understand control, take action, agenda resistance, and who is on your side (Bacharach as cited by Cronkite, n.
. ). There are three phases to being politically competent, and they include the following: 1) Mapping your political terrain, which means to identify your stakeholders; 2) Getting others on your side, which means to build your coalitions; and 3) Making things happen, which means to win others' support (Cronkite, n. d. ).
Interpretation of a Mission Statement The mission statement that has been chosen to be evaluated and interpreted is Meriter Hospital, which is located in Madison, Wisconsin.Meriter's mission statement is this: "to heal, to teach, to embrace excellence always, and to serve our communities-for a lifetime of quality health care" (About Meriter: Mission Statement, 2008). In evaluating and interpreting Meriter's mission statement it is found that they are both good corporate citizens and politically competent. So how was this conclusion found? Good Corporate Citizens Meriter's business ethics are identified in their mission, vision, and values (About Meriter: Mission Statement, 2008), as well as their Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct (About Meriter: An Overview of Meriter, 2009).
Meriter is working together with the communities that they serve. They are protecting the environment by healing, teaching, embracing excellence, and quality of health care. Corporate govern and business practices are shown through Meriter by their various awards, their expectations for their employees to follow the code of ethics and standards of conduct, and the fact that they are accredited by the Joint Commission (About Meriter: An Overview of Meriter, 2009). Politically Competent The community as a whole is being mapped out as the stakeholders.Meriter is building their coalition and making things happen by letting everyone know what happened in 2008, what they are renewing in 2009, what they are continuing into 2009, and Meriter's focus, which is their mission statement (About Meriter: Welcome to Meriter, 2009).
Conclusion In conclusion, both good corporate citizenship and political competence have been defined. A connection between the two has been shown. Finally, Meriter Hospital's mission statement was evaluated and inte
