Johnson and Johnson’s History of Corporate Citizenship

Always There for Everyone

Most of us know Johnson and Johnson for the ways its products impact our lives. From simple Band-Aids to advanced pharmaceutical technologies, this enormous company serves doctors, patients, and other consumers each day. If you ever suffered a scraped knee as a kid, chances are you needed one or more Johnson and Johnson products to get patched up. Without J&J, living, playing, and healing would all be needlessly complicated affairs. Helping us fix our lives is just one of the ways J&J practices corporate citizenship.

Keeping an Eye on Impact

Corporate citizenship means that a company is responsible for its impacts on the community around it. Just like a good private citizen takes care of his house and yard, or keeps an eye out for suspicious activity, good corporate citizens make decisions based on maximizing positive impact. Corporate citizenship also means companies avoid actions that will cause harm to its people or the environment. Since Johnson and Johnson is so big, with over 250 subsidiary companies, the entire world is its community. It would be hard to find a nation, state, or village that is not in some way affected by the decisions Johnson and Johnson makes.

So how does a company like Johnson and Johnson practice corporate citizenship on a global scale? The answer lies in its extensive credo. Robert Wood Johnson led the company during the first part of the 20th century. He penned the credo in 1943. In it, he declared that J&J’s “first responsibility is to the doctors, nurses and patients, to mothers and fathers and all others who use our products and services.” He outlined standards for quality and customer service. Johnson further explained his company’s responsibilities to employees, communities, and stockholders. The credo is a groundbreaking document, one of the earliest and most comprehensive visions of corporate citizenship.

Matching Employees With Opportunities

Today, the company operates the Johnson and Johnson Corporate Citizenship Trust. It is a registered charity that manages J&J’s corporate social responsibility programs in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. One of the Trust’s main ventures is its “Secondment Strategy Program” that allows employees to spend six months away from their jobs, volunteering with partner charities that aid under-served communities. Few other companies would offer an opportunity of such size and scope in the name of corporate citizenship.

For Johnson and Johnson, a credo written over 70 years ago continues to show the way. What will guide your company’s corporate citizenship efforts?