Communicating Corporate Social. Responsibility on the Web: A Content Analysis of Sustainability Reports in World's Best Multinational Workplaces. Dinçer Atlı ...
International Journal of Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Corporate Social Responsibility Volume 3 • Issue 2 • July-December 2018
Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility on the Web:
A Content Analysis of Sustainability Reports in World’s Best Multinational Workplaces Dinçer Atlı, Uskudar University, Istanbul, Turkey Maja Vidović, Rochester Institute of Technology Croatia, Croatia Mislav Ante Omazić, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
ABSTRACT The main focus of this article is to thoroughly examine the practice of virtual corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication of the best multinational companies in the world. By distinguishing the benchmarks for CSR communication in this fastgrowing area of online CSR communication, we are aiming to provide tools for easier analysis of the best practices and a more widespread adoption of those best practices by other organizations. The empirical analysis focuses on the aspects of the pyramid of CSR. For the topic coding, five categories were differentiated: society, environment, employees, sponsoring and volunteerism. The analysis focused on reports from five consecutive years (2010 to 2014) in order to recognize a trend. Keywords Corporate Communications, Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR Communication, Human Resource Management, Reputation Management
INTRODUCTION The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a hot topic for many companies presently. Even smaller companies are beginning to seek ways of developing their corporate image by communicating their CSR initiatives (Waddock, & Googins, 2011). There is a growing understanding that CSR has become a strategic driver of businesses and is no longer just an optional activity (Baron, 2001; Amaladoss, & DOI: 10.4018/IJSECSR.2018070101 Copyright © 2018, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.
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International Journal of Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Corporate Social Responsibility Volume 3 • Issue 2 • July-December 2018
Manohar, 2013). It is commonly recognized that CSR needs to be a part of a company’s core business practices (Osagie, Wesselink, Runhaar, & Mulder, 2018), or as in 2017 Lee, & Davies puts it, the incorporation of CSR in organizational strategic plans is now a norm. Moreover, companies have come to recognize CSR as a competitive corporate marketing strategy (Becker-Olsen, Cudmore, & Hill, 2006; Pirsch, Gupta, & Landreth, 2007; Pomering, Johnson, & Noble, 2013; Puncheva-Minchelotti, Hudson, & Jin 2018). Nowadays, consumers expect companies to behave more responsible - to be responsible corporate citizens and to help solve social problems (Mohr, Webb, & Harris, 2001; Close Scheinbaum, Lacey, & Liang, 2017; Edelman.com, 2017). In an ICT literate cross-connected world, communicating about its CSR practices is something consumers prefer (Kim, & Ferguson, 2014; Koswara, Verity, Nugraha, & Lukman, 2015). On the other hand, academics have shown considerable interest in examining CSR in recent years (Pasricha, Singh, & Verma, 2018). A number of studies have been looking into the communicative aspects of engaging in CSR and emphasize its importance in building relationships with strategic stakeholders (Waddock, & Googins, 2011). These stakeholders are not passive receivers of CSR information. Even before they learn about a CSR program, they have opinions regarding what CSR is and whether companies must adopt it (Bhattacharya, Sen, & Korschun, 2011). Furthermore, messages about corporate ethical and socially responsible initiatives are likely to evoke strong and often positive reactions among stakeholders (Morsing, & Schultz, 2006; Utgård, 2018; Pasricha, Singh, & Verma, 2018). Additionally, a recent study confirms that CSR leads to economic, social, and environmental sustainability (Sinthupundaja, & Kohda, 2017). This proves that the stakeholders interested in companies behaving socially responsible are far-reaching. Considering the best medium for communicating a company’s CSR activities, the internet is already recognized as an easy and efficient mechanism to communicate with a wide and diverse readership. Commercial websites are treated as public documents, which render them available to scrutiny equal to or more stringent than the printed form (Coupland, 2005). The important point is that using technology does not have to create distance between an organization and its publics (Kent, & Taylor, 1998). Virtuality implies the internet is a space not relying on institutions and commercial interests. However, this view denies the role of a website as a form of communication in which the narrator will be ultimately called upon to account for the identity constructed in interaction (Coupland, 2005). Considering the magnitude of the internet, with its potential to affect the image and reputation of a company, its content and presentation are obviously issues of strategic concern for a lot of companies. It is likely that firms will adopt the internet as an important legitimization device to manage their legitimacy gaps. This would mean that they should build their CSR communications as accessible on the internet (Adelopo, Moure Cea, Vargas, & Obalola, 2012; Axjonow, Ernstberger, & Pott, 2018). The main focus of this paper is to thoroughly examine the practice of virtual CSR communication of the best multinational companies in the world. By distinguishing 2
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