기업의 지식 기부활동의 전략적 사회공헌으로서의 의미에 대한 연구

Abstract

Despite growing interest and investments in corporate philanthropy, public regard for corporations remains unsympathetic. A company planning a philanthropic project consequently finds itself having to prove its feasibility internally, while externally, it is pressed to carry out the project strategically to gain the essential trust of its key stakeholders. Against this backdrop has emerged intensifying interest toward strategic corporate philanthropy. Unlike existing concepts of social contribution that stem from a passive sense of obligation, strategic corporate philanthropy is seen as an active form of investment that delivers long-term benefits to the company in return. In other words, strategic corporate philanthropy goes beyond the prevailing passive attitudes that target only short-term gains, and emphasizes strategic giving that is aligned to the long-term vision or strategic goal of the company, so that both corporations and society benefit simultaneously. In this regard, the "context-focused"approach advocated by Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer holds numerous implications. Not only did the new approach provide the basis for countering arguments by corporate philanthropy skeptics, but it also established as a basic assumption that strategic philanthropy can change and enhance the elements of a companys competitive context, to bring its social and economic goals - previously assumed to be irreconcilable - into alignment, thereby casting renewed light on the value and significance of corporate philanthropy. This paper looks at the significance of strategic corporate philanthropy by focusing on the activities of fixed line and broadband operator KT and its IT Supporters. Although the ITS volunteer program is still in its early stages, its background, objectives, and approach were found to be approximate to the approach underlying strategic corporate philanthropy as well as the "context-focused" model.... The limitations of this paper are as follows. First, although numerous theories exist regarding strategic corporate philanthropy, no standard model has been established at this time for academic application. Consequently, the "context-focused"model by Porter and Kramer used in this paper has yet to be validated through empirical studies, and therefore must continue to be the subject of future studies. Second, because this paper highlights KTs ITS activities as a case study for strategic corporate philanthropy, the paper is limited in terms of the limited number of samples surveyed. More samples must be surveyed to reinforce the validity of study findings going forward. Lastly, as KTs ITS activities were launched only in February 2007, it has not been operational long enough to be the subject of accurate empirical analysis. Therefore, a process that can continuously monitor and validate the implementation and performance of ITS activities must be put in place. In conclusion, future studies must be conducted that build on and augment the findings of this paper. We look forward to further diverse ongoing research into this area, so that the concept of strategic corporate philanthropy that aligns corporate goals to broader social goals can take firm root.