This study critically examines the relationship between corporate citizenship discourse and corporate exploitation. The corporate citizenship approach positions organisations as actors that assume social responsibility and bear ethical obligations towards their stakeholders. Within this framework, concepts such as voluntarism, social contribution, stakeholder value and sustainability are emphasised. The literature contains findings that corporate citizenship has positive effects on organisational reputation, financial performance and employee commitment.

However, this study questions the effects of this positive framework on internal labour processes within organisations. Drawing on the labour process literature, it is emphasised that control in modern organisations can operate not only through explicit supervision but also through the internalisation of norms and voluntary compliance. The discourse of corporate citizenship can encourage employees to identify with organisational values, thereby increasing extra-role contributions and voluntary efforts. However, when the time, labour, and risk costs of these contributions are not shared equitably within the organisational hierarchy, an imbalance may arise between value creation and benefit distribution.

In this context, corporate citizenship and corporate exploitation are not considered mutually exclusive; rather, they are viewed as two dynamics that can intertwine under certain conditions. The study argues that for the discourse of corporate responsibility to have transformative potential, the distribution of contribution, risk, and reward in value creation processes must be more equitable.