Ó Springer 2008
Journal of Business Ethics (2008) 82:369–378 DOI 10.1007/s10551-008-9892-z
CSR Information Disclosure Lilian Soares Outtes Wanderley on the Web: A Context-Based Rafael Lucian Approach Analysing the Influence of Francisca Farache Country of Origin and Industry Sector Jose´ Milton de Sousa Filho
ABSTRACT. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a much-discussed subject in the business world. The Internet has become one of the main tools for CSR information disclosure, allowing companies to publicise more information less expensively and faster than ever before. As a result, corporations are increasingly concerned with communicating ethically and responsibly to the diversity of stakeholders through the web. This paper addresses the main question as whether CSR information disclosure on corporate websites is influenced by country
Lilian S. Outtes Wanderley is a Professor Adjunto at Universidade Federal de Pernambuco/UFPE in Recife/Brazil (PROPAD/DCA/CCSA/UFPE). She holds a PhD in Management Studies from the University of Cambridge/UK, a MSc in Management from Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul/UFRGS - Porto Alegre/Brazil and a BSc in Business Administration from UFPE. Her research interests include Corporate Social Responsibility and Development Studies. Rafael Lucian is a researcher on Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility. Mr. Lucian holds a MSc in Management (PROPAD/DCA/CCSA/UFPE) and a BSc in Business Administration from Universidade Federal de Pernambuco/ UFPE in Recife/Brazil. Francisca Farache is a doctoral student at Brighton Business School/UK, where she is a lecturer on Marketing. Francisca holds a MA in Marketing from the same institution and a BSc in Communication and Media Studies from UFPE in Recife/Brazil. Her research interests are Corporate Social Responsibility, Communication and Advertising. Jose´ Milton de Sousa Filho is a researcher on Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility, Sustainability and Strategic Management. Mr. Sousa Filho holds a MSc in Management from UFPE in Recife/Brazil (PROPAD/DCA/ CCSA/UFPE) and a BSc in Business Administration from Universidade Federal do Ceara´/UFC in Fortaleza/Brazil.
of origin and/or industry sector. Analysing the websites of 127 corporations from emerging countries, such as Brazil, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Thailand and South Africa, it becomes evident that both country of origin and industry sector have a significant influence over CSR information disclosure on the web (CSRIDOW). Based on the data studied, country of origin has a stronger influence over CSRIDOW than industry sector. KEY WORDS: corporate social responsibility (CSR), CSR communication, CSR information disclosure on the web, corporate website, cross-country study, emerging countries
Introduction Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a much-discussed subject in the business world and a number of issues have arisen, such as CSR communication. According to Morsing and Schultz (2006), messages regarding corporate ethics and social initiatives have the power to evoke strong positive reactions among stakeholders. As a result, corporations are increasingly concerned with communicating to the diversity of stakeholder groups in an ethical and responsible fashion. This communication with stakeholders is accomplished through a number of communication channels, such as sustainability reports, advertising campaigns on television, billboards and the Internet. The Internet is increasingly becoming one of the main tools for CSR information disclosure, as it allows companies to publicise more information less expensively and faster than ever before. This medium has been used as a multimedia communication
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channel since the 1990s. Unlike traditional media (newspapers, magazines, billboards, television and radio), the Internet allows the company to publicise detailed, up-to-date information. Moreover, the information remains permanently available on the web, allowing the Internet user to choose which subjects he/she wants to access and as often as he/she wishes. Corporate websites provide an official perspective regarding CSR within the corporation for all its stakeholders. It is important to investigate whether there are differences between countries regarding CSR information disclosure through corporate websites and whether there are relationships between disclosure, country of origin and industry sector. This present work focuses on large companies from emerging countries while recognising the diversity of economic, social and political contexts of each. Although there are major problems related to social exclusion and poverty in these countries and companies are somehow expected to play an important social role as providers of social good for society, these two aspects alone are far from establishing like-minded corporate behaviour in different industry sectors and countries within the group of 127 corporations studied. This paper investigates the ways in which the largest corporations from emerging countries disclose information on CSR through their corporate websites. A further aim is to determine whether there are any links between CSR information disclosure, country of origin of the corporation and industry sector. Thus, the following research question is posed: How far is CSR information disclosure on corporate websites under the influence of country of origin and/or industry sector? The next session will address the theoretical framework regarding CSR in the context of emerging countries and information disclosure through corporate websites.
Corporate social responsibility CSR can be represented as an umbrella-term covering a diversity of subjects. Standard presentations of CSR literature begin with Bowen (1953) and go through Friedman (1962), Carroll (1979) and Freeman (1984), tracing the development of various
concepts regarding business responsibility. ‘CSR’ is more than a new term for academic study. It is a response to contemporary circumstances of globalisation, in which capitalism is expected to play a social or ameliorative role rather than merely making profits for business owners.
Corporate social responsibility in emerging countries The buzz around CSR is associated with the globalisation process, which stimulates economic and social development in emerging economies through industrial development, an increase in the job market and technological transference. However, globalisation can also interfere in the regulatory process developed by governments in emerging countries, which may encourage lower regulatory standards in order to attract multinational companies (Christmann and Taylor, 2001). As the government is not fully able to take care of the population and be responsible for its quality of life, companies play an important role in society and try to differentiate from each other through CSR actions (Jamali and Mirshak, 2007). Developed nations implement practical actions that can stimulate CSR development. For example, the Europe Commission declared 2005 as the year of CSR in countries of the European Community (Luetkenhorst, 2004). Other examples come from the United Kingdom, which was the first country to have a CSR minister in the department of Industry and Commerce. Similarly, France has a mandatory law according to which companies with more than 300 employees must draft social responsibility reports. The support of the Danish government comes in the form of a CSR research centre. However, Jamali (2007) argues that these initiatives have not encountered similar interest in developing countries. Despite the scarcity of data due to little research developed in the international context, it can be inferred that a number of factors prevent the development of CSR in developing countries, for instance: civil society is not well organised; the government does not strongly promote CSR; companies do not face strong, constant pressure; and the press has yet to assume the role of watchdog. Such countries face a number of obstacles
CSR Information Disclosure on the Web to corporate responsibility. This is mainly due to the fact that institutions, standards and systems – which are the foundation of CSR in Europe and the USA – are comparatively weak in developing nations (Kemp, 2001). Despite these weaknesses, civil society can stimulate CSR by placing greater societal demands and expectations on business responsibility (Chapple and Moon, 2005).
Corporate social responsibility communication and the Internet Corporate communication is a much underinvestigated area of CSR. Maignan and Ferrell state that ‘‘there is only embryonic marketing research on CSR communications’’ (2004, p. 17). Morsing defines CSR communication as ‘‘communication that is designed and distributed by the company itself about its CSR efforts’’ (2006, p. 171). Hutton (2001) demonstrates that expenditures on social responsibility have become the third largest budget item in corporate communication departments in larger companies. Communication is a controversial aspect within CSR. While corporations want stakeholders to be aware that they are socially responsible, they are reticent about communicating their actions, fearing criticism and wary of creating expectations (Schlegelmilch and Pollach, 2005). However, stakeholders want to find out about the corporations behind the brands and products they purchase (Lewis, 2001). The communication strategies companies use to present themselves as ethically concerned seem to be thus far under-researched (Pollach, 2003). The Internet media is gaining ground as a new communication medium companies employ to present themselves as socially responsible. It provides an approved, formalised and official perspective on CSR within the company (Bondy et al., 2004). The Internet is a relatively new context for communication as an alternative to more conventional channels and has been used as a multimedia communication channel since the 1990s. The main difference between the Internet and the traditional media lies in the fact that it allows companies to publicise more information less expensively and faster than ever before. It is available 24 h, 7 days a week, and Internet users can select the information
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they want to see. It provides new features to corporate communication, such as electronic document retrieval, search tools and multimedia applications. The internet also possesses a particular feature that allows the corporation to communicate with specific stakeholders and obtain feedback (Branco and Rodrigues, 2006). A single website can have multiple pages, each directed at a different stakeholder group (Esrock and Leichty, 2000). However, Snider et al. (2003) point out that the Internet also permits stakeholders to gain access to messages intended for other groups that are not their own. Unlike traditional media (newspapers, magazines, billboards, television and radio), the Internet allows the company to publicise detailed, up-to-date information. Moreover, the information remains permanently available on the web, allowing the Internet user to choose which subjects he or she wants to access and as often as he or she wishes. Thus, corporate websites provide an official perspective regarding CSR within the corporation for all its stakeholders. This new perspective has led to an increased corporate presence on the web. According to Esrock and Leichty (1998), 80% of companies in the Fortune 500 addressed at least one CSR issue in 1998, such as community involvement, education and the environment. In 2000, another study by the same authors demonstrated that this percentage had risen to 85% (Esrock and Leichty, 2000). Pollach (2003) states that websites are replacing traditional corporate communication media, such as leaflets, brochures and informative kits. The author states that the Internet is becoming the ‘‘medium’’ of selfpresentation, replacing all traditional media, with the exception of the annual report. Hunter and Bansal (2007) argue that websites are even superior to annual reports, as the reporting cycle of annual reports makes the information less timely. However, as traditional media enjoys a certain degree of credibility among consumers, the Internet has far less. According to Goodman (1998), media coverage has greater credibility than communication the corporations themselves produce. Dawkins (2004) used a MORI survey of the British public and found that people attach more credibility to information coming from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) than that coming from company sources. A similar survey carried out in Brazil by the Akatu Institute (2006) found that 78% of consumers
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would like to know how companies try to be socially responsible, but 45% do not trust what the companies communicate regarding their social and environmental actions. To enhance the credibility of CSR Communication, Azevedo (2004) suggests that communication should be informative, educational, avoid the use of an emotional tone and provide a website or a telephone number that the consumers can use to gather more information on CSR actions. Schlegelmilch and Pollach (2005) list three factors that can lead to success in CSR communications, namely, source credibility of the communicator, honesty of the statements and the involvement of the audience with the topics that are being communicated. Other actions that can enhance source credibility are ethics awards, evidence of contributions to NGOs, news coverage, avoiding spending more on advertising the action than on the CSR action itself and high involvement of the target group with a strong personal interest in the issue (Hirschland, 2006). More recent study identified significant difference between how organisations in different industry sectors communicate CSR through two distinct media: the web and annual reports (Sweeney and Coughan, 2008). There is also evidence that the country of origin of the corporation exercises an influence over CSR communication on the web, at least when companies in the oil industry were analysed for a comparative study between UK and Brazil (Farache et al., 2007a). According to Sousa Filho and Wanderley (2007), CSR communication via the Internet can be analysed through five indicators: the availability of a code of ethics or conduct, information regarding the social and environmental projects, the outcomes of these projects posted on the website, the social and environmental partners listed, and the social report. Morsing and Schultz (2006) advocate three communication strategies for publicising CSR actions: information, response and involvement strategies. The first consists of identifying a cause to support that is important to the stakeholders, then focusing on an issue that is relevant to the company. The response strategy adopts two-way communication favouring the corporation. In other words, the corporation attempts to communicate its strategy to the stakeholders. Finally, the involvement strategy is to communicate with stakeholders in partner-
ships with NGOs, academia and opinion formers in the development of a relationship with the local community and endorsements from external stakeholders.
Methodology and data analysis To answer the main question posed: How far is CSR information disclosure on corporate websites influenced by country of origin and/or industry sector? the investigation included data collection and content analysis of corporate websites from a list of 127 largest corporations having one of the emerging countries according to Forbes as its country of origin (Decarlo, 2006). Table I displays the list of eight emerging countries with the number of large corporations in each. These countries in which large companies are based are Brazil, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa and Thailand. Other countries from the G-20 are the home of corporations as well, but have no more than three companies each. Analysing the corporations by industry sector, 14 categories are represented (Table II): Banking; Capital Goods; Conglomerates; Consumer Durables; Diversified Financials; Food, Drink and Tobacco; Insurance; Materials; Oil & Gas Operations; Retailing; Telecommunications Services and Transportation. For the analysis, descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were run using frequency data (Malhotra, 2006). Three hypotheses were develTABLE I Country of origin of 127 largest corporations from emerging countries Country Brazil Chile China India Indonesia Mexico South Africa Thailand Total
Frequency
Percentage
16 6 26 30 7 14 17 11 127
12.6 4.7 20.5 23.6 5.5 11.0 13.4 8.7 100
Source: adapted from Decarlo (2006).
CSR Information Disclosure on the Web TABLE II Industry sector of 127 largest corporations from emerging countries Industry sector Banking Capital Goods Conglomerates Consumer Durables Diversified Financials Food, Drink & Tobacco Insurance Materials Oil & Gas Operations Retailing Telecommunications Services Transportation Utilities Total
Frequency
Percentage
38 5 5 4 4 6 4 21 12 5 10 5 8 127
29.9 3.9 3.9 3.1 3.1 4.7 3.1 16.5 9.4 3.9 7.9 3.9 6.3 100
Source: adapted from Decarlo (2006).
oped: firstly, there is no link between country of origin and CSR information disclosure on the web; secondly, there is no link between industry sector and CSR information disclosure on the web and thirdly, country of origin and industry sector exercise the same influence (or none at all) over CSR disclosure on the web. Hypothesis 1
H10: There is no link between country of origin and CSR information disclosure on the web. H11: CSR information disclosure on the web is related to country of origin. Hypothesis 2
H20: There is no link between industry sector and CSR information disclosure on the web. H21: CSR information disclosure on the web is related to industry sector. Hypothesis 3
H30: Industry sector and country of origin exercise the same influence (or no influence) over CSR information disclosure on the web. H31: Industry sector and country of origin each
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exercise a different influence over CSR information disclosure on the web. In order to establish a set of indicators for CSR Information Disclosure on the Web, content analysis of corporate websites was applied (Altheide, 1996). Drawing from Sousa Filho and Wanderley’s five indicators of CSR communication on corporate websites, each of the 127 corporate websites were visited to discover the disclosure of the following information: (1) availability of a Code of Ethics; (2) details of CSR Projects; (3) information on CSR Project Results; (4) CSR Partnerships with companies, NGOs and/or governments; and (5) Social Reports, such as GRI, etc. (Sousa Filho and Wanderley, 2007). Added to these were two others suggested by Farache et al. (2007b): (6) Corporate Values; and (7) the expression CSR or similar issue (Sustainable Development or Environmental Responsibility) on the homepage of the corporate website. The seven items presented above showed consistency as indicators of CSR information disclosure on the web (CSRIDOW) when tested by confirmatory factor analysis (Table III). Factor analysis obtained a single factor denominated CSR information disclosure on the web or CSRIDOW. Every item had a positive strength, from a minimum of 0.458 for Code of Ethics to a maximum of 0.874 for CSR Projects. The value of 0.450 is a minimum factor considered consistent when taking into account the number of companies investigated. For this factor analysis (KMO = .848/ v2 = 420.555/df = 21/Significance = 0.0000), the TABLE III Confirmatory factor analysis Indicator
CSR Projects CSR or similar expression on the corporate homepage CSR Partnerships Project Results Value Statement CSR Social Report Code of Ethics Source: authors.
Factor strength
CSRIDOW
0.874 0.863
CSR information disclosure on the web
0.863 0.814 0.667 0.641 0.458
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TABLE IV Chi-square tests: country of origin and CSR information disclosure Chi-square tests Country Country Country Country Country Country Country
of of of of of of of
Origin 9 ‘CSR’ on the homepage Origin 9 Code of Ethics Origin 9 CSR Projects Origin 9 CSR Results Origin 9 CSR Partnerships Origin 9 Social Report Origin 9 Corporate Values
Value
df
Sigma
38.311 21.744 35.637 31.420 40.064 48.471 25.565
7 7 7 7 7 7 7
0.000 0.003 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.001
Source: authors.
results present consistency for the estimated results (Malhotra, 2006). Once the analysis is confirmed and the theoretical framework using these seven items has exhibited consistency for CSRIDOW as a construct for investigation, the next step is to formulate hypotheses. The results of chi-square tests are presented in the two following items: 3.1 CSR Information Disclosure on the Web and Country of origin; and 3.2 CSR Information Disclosure on the Web and Industry Sector.
country of origin and indicator. Table IV displays the statistics showing the consistency of each item. ‘Country of Origin’ and ‘Social Report’ had the strongest links, whereas ‘Corporate Values’ had the weakest, but all were strong and consistent as factors under the influence of the variable tested: ‘Country of Origin’. The next item will use a similar technique to analyse the influence of industry sector over CSRIDOW.
CSR information disclosure on the web and industry sector CSR information disclosure on the web and country of origin In order to verify the first hypothesis, a chi-square test was run using the frequency data from country of origin and the seven CSRIDOW indicators. In order for this analysis to show consistency, a result of any number under 0.050 is expected between
The chi-square test was used to cross industry sector frequency data with the seven CSRIDOW indicators. The results are summarised in Table V, which displays the consistent statistics of three out of seven indicators: Social Reports, CSR expression on the corporate homepage; and CSR partnerships.
TABLE V Chi-square tests: Industry Sector and CSR information disclosure Chi-square tests Industry Industry Industry Industry Industry Industry Industry
Sector 9 ‘CSR’ on the homepage Sector 9 Code of Ethics Sector 9 CSR Projects Sector 9 CSR Results Sector 9 CSR Partnerships Sector 9 Social Report Sector 9 Corporate Values
Source: authors.
Value
df
Sigma
27.749 10.322 19.526 17.737 21.904 30.502 16.307
12 12 12 12 12 12 12
0.006 0.588 0.077 0.142 0.039 0.002 0.178
CSR Information Disclosure on the Web From the above data, it can be assumed that industry sector does not wield a strong influence over CSRIDOW. Based on the data studied, there are four indicators that are not influenced by industry sector. This, of course, leaves three indicators that are under a significant influence of industry sector.
Discussion and conclusion Dialogue between the stakeholders of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development in eight different countries (Holme and Watts, 2000; WBCSD, 1999) revealed markedly divergent understandings of CSR. What became clear from these stakeholder dialogues is that different societal expectations are placed upon corporations within specific social contexts. The WBCSD also centrally defined the social good of CSR as being ‘‘about helping to meet people’s needs’’. More specific definitions diverge according to national – and geographical – contexts. A survey of this initiative would therefore suggest that the reason that ‘‘a universally accepted definition of CSR has yet to emerge’’ (Holme and Watts, 2000) is because it never can. From the results obtained through the data analysis, it can be concluded that CSRIDOW is strongly influenced by country of origin. The confirmatory
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analysis using chi-square has provided seven significant factors: (1) Code of Ethics, (2) CSR Projects, (3) CSR Project Results, (4) CSR Partnerships, (5) Social Reports, (6) Corporate Values and (7) the expression of CSR or Sustainable Development on the corporate homepage. These available data on the corporate websites were analysed, allowing the conclusion that each of these seven indicators was confirmed as relevant when applying the chi-square test. The results allow the refusal of the null hypothesis and confirm H11. When analysing industry sector through the chisquare test, three of the seven indicators proved to be significant, which also shows the independence of each item studied. For this case, the null hypothesis was refuted, confirming H21. Thus, there is indeed a link between industry sector and CSRIDOW. The third hypothesis analysed was also refuted. While all seven CSRIDOW indicators were significant regarding country of origin, only three were significant regarding industry sector. Therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected and H31 is confirmed. It can be stated that country of origin has a far stronger influence over CSRIDOW than industry sector among the corporations analysed. It is worth reiterating that the indicators used to measure CSRIDOW were tested through confirmatory factor analysis, allowing their reliable use in further studies on CSR. One of the reasons for this
Appendix 127 Corporations from emerging countries (G-20): Brazil, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Thailand Advanced Info Service China Construction HDFC-Housing Devel Air China Cemig Hindalco Alexander Forbes Cencosud Hindustan Petroleum ALFA China Cosco Huaneng Power Intl Aluminum Corp of China China Intl Marine ICICI Bank Ame´rica Mo´vil China Life Insurance Impala Platinum Antarchile China Merchants Bank Imperial Holdings Aracruz Celulose China Minsheng Banking Inbursa Financiero Astra International China Shenhua Energy Indah Kiat Pulp & Paper Bajaj Auto China ShippingContainer Indian Oil Banco Bradesco China Telecom Indian Overseas Bank Banco de Chile China Yangtze Power Indl Dev Bank of India Banco do Brasil CMPC Ipiranga
Mexico, South Africa and Reliance Industries Remgro Sanlam Sappi Sasol Shanghai Electric Shenzhen Develop Bank Siam City Bank Siam Commercial Bank Sinopec-China Petroleum Soriana Standard Bank State Bank of India Group
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Bangkok Bank Bank Ayudhya Bank Central Asia Bank Danamon Bank Mandiri Bank of Baroda Bank of Communications Bank of India Bank Rakyat Indonesia Baoshan Iron & Steel Barloworld BCI-Banco Credito Bharat Heavy Electricals Bharat Petroleum Bharti Airtel Bidvest Group Brasil Telecom Canara Bank Carso Global
Coca-Cola Femsa CPFLnergia CSN-Cia Siderurgica Datang Intl Dongfeng Motor Group El Puerto de Liverpool Eletrobra´s Falabella Femsa FirstRand GAIL (India) GFNorte Gold Fields Grupo Bimbo Grupo Carso Grupo Elektra Grupo Me´xico Grupo Modelo HDFC Bank
result may be the different forms of political culture related to democracy, freedom of the press and business competition. As a final remark, CSRIDOW requires more detailed information on the characteristics of each country of origin in order to provide a deeper understanding of the context involved. Some suggestions can be made, such as investigating the socioeconomic situation, political culture, freedom of the press, legislation and business competition in each country and the influence these factors have over CSRIDOW. Another option is to categorise business branding directly addressed to consumers and/or businesses mainly related to other businesses – B2C and B2B. As an illustration, within the ‘Food, Drink and Tobacco’ industry, there are six companies that direct their CSR campaigns to final consumers. ‘Transportation’ brings five corporations into the industry sector, including three B2B and two B2C companies. It is therefore puzzling that Air China and Thai Airways – predominantly B2C – have very low CSRIDOW performances. Exactly to what extent does country of origin have a stronger influence over CSRIDOW than industry sector? This question is beyond the scope of the current research.
Itau´sa ITC Kasikorn Bank Krung-Thai Bank Larsen & Toubro Maanshan Iron Metalurgica Gerdau Metropolitan Holdings MTN Group National Aluminium NTPC Oil & NaturalGas Oriental Bank Petrobras - Petro´leo Brasil PetroChina PICC Ping An Insurance Group PTT Public Company Punjab Bank
Steel Authority of India Steinhoff Intl Tata Motors Tata Steel Tele Norte Leste Telekom Indonesia Telkom Thai Airways Intl Thai Oil Tiger Brands TMB Bank UCO Bank Unibanco Group Union Bank of India Usiminas Vale do Rio Doce Wuhan Iron Yanzhou Coal
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Lilian Soares Outtes Wanderley and Jose´ Milton de Sousa Filho PROPAD, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rego, 1235 – DCA/CCSA/UFPE, Cidade Universita´ria, Recife/PE, CEP 50670-901, Brazil E-mail:
[email protected] E-mail:
[email protected] Rafael Lucian PROPAD, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Estrada da Batalha, 239 – Prazeres, Jaboata˜o dos Guararapes/PE, CEP 54410-280, Brazil E-mail:
[email protected]
Francisca Farache Brighton Business School, University of Brighton, Mithras House, Lewes Road, Brighton, BN2 4AT, England, U.K. E-mail:
[email protected]
