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Lookup NU author(s): Professor David Campbell
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This paper examines the strategic use of corporate philanthropy in the 1990s by UK building societies faced with an intensification of societal pressure to change legal form from mutual to corporate status. Wishing to remain mutual, many building societies sought to increase their contribution to local communities in the hope and belief that when persuaded of the economic and social cases for mutuality, members would not exert pressure on boards to demutualise. Whilst the economic case for mutuality has been made elsewhere, this paper examines the observation that community relationships were thought by management to be capable of assisting in the strategic positioning of mutual societies with regard to their legal form. By increasing charitable giving to respond to the level of societal scrutiny and discussion on the issue of mutuality, this paper argues that charitable giving, as one proxy for community involvement, was used as a strategic tool to deflect calls for demutualisation thereby preserving the existing mutual status of building societies.
Author(s): Campbell DJ, Slack R
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Business Ethics: a European Review
Year: 2007
Volume: 16
Issue: 4
Pages: 326-342
ISSN (print): 0962-8770
ISSN (electronic): 1467-8608
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8608.2007.00507.x
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8608.2007.00507.x
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