Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • December 2002
  • Other Article
  • Harvard Business Review

The Competitive Advantage of Corporate Philanthropy

By: Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

When it comes to philanthropy, executives increasingly see themselves as caught between critics demanding ever higher levels of "corporate social responsibility" and investors applying pressure to maximize short-term profits. Increasingly, philanthropy is used as a form of public relations or advertising, promoting a company's image through high-profile sponsorships. But there is a more truly strategic way to think about philanthropy. Corporations can use their charitable efforts to improve their competitive context—the quality of the business environment in the locations where they operate. Using philanthropy to enhance competitive context aligns social and economic goals and improves a company's long-term business prospects. Addressing context enables a company not only to give money but also leverage its capabilities and relationships in support of charitable causes. Taking this new direction requires fundamental changes in the way companies approach their contribution programs. Adopting a context-focused approach requires a far more disciplined approach than is prevalent today. But it can make a company's philanthropic activities far more effective.

Keywords

Strategy

Citation

Porter, Michael E., and Mark R. Kramer. "The Competitive Advantage of Corporate Philanthropy." Harvard Business Review 80, no. 12 (December 2002): 56–69.
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Register to Read

About The Authors

Michael E. Porter

Strategy
→More Publications

Mark R. Kramer

→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • October 26, 2021
    • NEJM Catalyst

    Value Chain Management to Implement Post-COVID-19 Health Care Strategy: The COVID-19 Crisis Has Created Areas of Innovation That Should Be Embraced by Health Care Leaders

    By: Michael E. Porter, Junaid Nabi and Thomas H. Lee
    • October 2021
    • Faculty Research

    Engine No. 1: An Activist Hedge Fund Pursues Stakeholder Capitalism (B)

    By: Mark Kramer
    • October 2021 (Revised January 2022)
    • Faculty Research

    Engine No.1: An Impact Investing Firm Engages with ExxonMobil

    By: Mark Kramer, Shawn Cole, Vikram S. Gandhi and T. Robert Zochowski
More from the Authors
  • Value Chain Management to Implement Post-COVID-19 Health Care Strategy: The COVID-19 Crisis Has Created Areas of Innovation That Should Be Embraced by Health Care Leaders By: Michael E. Porter, Junaid Nabi and Thomas H. Lee
  • Engine No. 1: An Activist Hedge Fund Pursues Stakeholder Capitalism (B) By: Mark Kramer
  • Engine No.1: An Impact Investing Firm Engages with ExxonMobil By: Mark Kramer, Shawn Cole, Vikram S. Gandhi and T. Robert Zochowski
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College