Department/School

Center for Ethical Business Cultures

Date of this version

2011

Document Type

Working Paper

Keywords

corporate social responsibility, corporate citizenship, stakeholders, ethics, Corning Incorporated and glass industry

Abstract

This working paper explores the evolution of Corning Incorporated (never Corning Inc.) relating to corporate responsibility and the reasons behind that evolution in management and practice. Over the nearly 160 years of the company’s existence, Corning was not an unwavering paragon of responsible behavior in all aspects of what is traditionally termed CSR, but neither was it the kind of mimetic enterprise portrayed by institutional theorists relative to its industry and competitors. Corning’s leaders were becoming intentional in their attitudes toward some aspects of CSR even before World War One. How they became concerned and intentional when they did, and why they made the choices they made, is the substance of this account. Most of the policies Corning adopted were “age-appropriate” for the type of company it was at the time as the company grew from a small niche producer in upstate NY to a global corporation.

Citation/Other Information

Copyright: This paper is copyrighted by the Center for Ethical Business Cultures.

URL: This paper is posted on the Center for Ethical Business Cultures website at http://www.cebcglobal.org/index.php?/knowledge/history-working-papers/.

Citations: This working paper may be cited as: Graham, Margaret. 2011. CorporateResponsibility at Corning Incorporated.CEBC History of Corporate Responsibility Project Working Paper No. #7.Minneapolis, MN: Center for Ethical Business Cultures located at the OpusCollege of Business, University of St. Thomas - Minnesota. www.cebcglobal.org (Keyword: Graham). The views expressed in this working paper are those of the author.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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