When corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a sensemaking process is assessed from a corporate governance perspective, this implies that stakeholders do not only influence companies by promoting and enforcing regulations and other corporate guidelines. They also influence companies by promoting regulation on influence pathways, by demanding that companies develop formal mechanisms that allow companies and stakeholders to discuss and in some cases agree on changes to principles and policies. This perspective suggests that regulation is an outcome of power relations and is, as such, a reflection of certain mental models. As such, mental models reveal the political bias in corporate governance perspectives. For this reason, CSR research needs to be clear about the underlying assumptions about corporate governance, and corporate governance research needs to disclose which mental models of CSR influence the outcomes. Taking a governance perspective on the development of mental models of CSR helps to understand the interaction between CSR and processes of sensemaking at the institutional, organizational and individual levels.
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This paper develops propositions on the added value of normatively-based, employee-oriented corporate social responsibility, specifically on the issue whether an individual owner-manager can add value within a foreign subsidiary by means of normatively-based, employee-oriented CSR. We suggest that this emerging research area sheds light on managerial discretion within a foreign environment and on the question if globalisation of business, based on economic rationality, inevitably leads to a race to the bottom or that normative resources - the view of owner-managers on the role of employees within their company - add value as well.Based on five case studies, this study develops propositions about the impact of international employee oriented CSR policies on mutual value creation within multinational SMEs. We detect conditions under which employee-oriented CSR adds value, what the influence is of the host country institutional environment and suggest differences across sectors and investment motives. The results suggest that not only motives but also the skills of the owner/manager as an institutional entrepreneur are critical in dealing with institutional variance.Conference paper bij het: 1st Interdisciplinary Conference on Stakeholders, Resources and Value Creation, Barcelona, 7-8 juni 2011
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This case study provides an analysis of the way in which a leading airline company in the world, Air France-KLM, applies Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) within its business activities. The analysis is based on a conceptualisation of the term itself and the policy of and activities performed by the company. Other companies in the airline industry regard the Air France-KLM as a ‘good practice’ since it acts in an exemplary way on the integration of sustainability in the three major domains of CSR: economy, people and environment. It caters for environmental protection, customer experience, responsible human resources and local development. A challenge remains for the whole of the airline industry: to reconsider the very purpose of their business and start working on CSR 2.0. In CSR 2.0 sustainability, scalability, responsiveness and ‘glocality’ become part of an airline’s very DNA and are not regarded mere ‘defensive’ measurements for satisfying the ‘customer’ and politics.
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This chapter calls for greater scholarly attention to business association initiatives in international corporate social responsibility (CSR) governance. Economic globalization has led to the proliferation of private governance initiatives created to address social and environmental issues. Most existing scholarship has focused on those created by multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs), an organizational form of CSR coalition driven by NGOs. Yet growing empirical evidence suggests that in most global industries, CSR initiatives created by a different type of coalition, led and composed exclusively by businesses, appears to dwarf MSIs in scale, scope, and influence. More research is needed to examine these overlooked goliaths, particularly their antecedents, organizational and governance forms, and effects on global CSR outcomes. Management and international business scholars are particularly well positioned to contribute new insights on this important phenomenon.
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The 5th International CSR Communication Conference was hosted in Stockholm, by the Stockholm School of Economics in September 2019. Scholars and practitioners from all five continents were present at this great event. Alongside with around 60 academic presentations included in the proceedings, the program was set to introduce and discuss various trending topics in CSR and sustainability. The list of keynote and panelguests included several renowned authors in CSR and sustainability research, such as: Mats Alvesson, Annavon Bergen, Nils Brunsson, Itziar Castello, Michael Etter, Mikkel Flyverbom, Jean-Pascal Gond, Ellen Quigley,Dennis Schoeneborn, and Laura J. Spence. This ‘all-star cast’, together with a number of young scholars andestablished researchers in CSR who continue to express their loyalty to this conference, have once againconfirmed the importance of the event for the CSR communication research community.Five conferences later, studying communicational aspects of CSR has become firmly institutionalized and the field of CSR communication has been established. From the start of this biannual event, the conference has produced more than 300 papers on various CSR communication-related topics. An overview of the past conferences reflects the changing agenda of CSR communication research with several new themes and research approaches emerging. Starting with the instrumental perspective that was focused on strategic management of CSR communication, the research topics moved towards more relational views featuringengagement, relationships, digital environments and internal, employee-focused aspects. And lately, agraduate emergence of communicative constitutive perspectives, the role of talk and performativity in CSR isevident.Development of CSR communication filed and scholars’ participation over time has certainly been dynamic,with several voices driving the change from within, searching new paths to study CSR, stimulating participation of scholars and inviting alternative interpretations. This (positive) dynamic seems to be critical for moving the field forward (Verk, Golob, & Podnar, 2019). Proceedings of the 5th International CSR Communication Conference reflect some of the dynamics. They are divided into several sections that cover such topics as CSR engagement, talk and dialog; CSR reporting,perceptions and internal CSR perspectives; digital media and organizing, CSR across industries, NGOengagement, corporate irresponsibility; CSR and educational organizations, and communicative aspects ofsustainability.Thank you to all conference keynote speakers and panelists, as well as to all reviewers, presenters, discussantsand participants from academia and practice for sharing new thoughts and ideas and yet again contributing to the enrichment of CSR communication debate.
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This study investigates customers’ perceptions of the notion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and how such perceptions influence their consumption behavioural intentions and outcomes in the hospitality industry in Bethlehem, Palestine. The research study adopted a qualitative methodology using semi-structured interviews with fifteen tourists who stayed in Bethlehem hotels. This study reveals that customers view the different dimensions of CSR in their right and stand-alone constructs. Paradoxically, our study suggests that customer’s willingness to pay and loyalty were not influenced by understanding such a distinction as responsibilities. This study further reveals that the interaction between customers’ perceptions of CSR and contextual and situational factors such as trust, transparency and service quality can determine customer behavioural responses to the hotels’ CSR orientation. The study offers recommendations on practical measures that can be undertaken to influence and enhance customers’ responses to hotels’ CSR agenda. The paper finally ends by identifying the study’s limitations and avenues for further research.
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Purpose – This paper aims to introduce the special issue on CSR communication attached to the First International CSR Communication Conference held in Amsterdam in October 2011. The aim of the introduction is also to review CSR communication papers published in scholarly journals in order to make a summary of the state of CSR communication knowledge. Design/methodology/approach – The existing literature on CSR communication was approached via systematic review. with a combination of conventional and summative qualitative content analysis. The final dataset contained 90 papers from two main business and management databases, i.e. EBSCOhost and ProQuest.Findings – Papers were coded into three main categories. The results show that the majority of the papers are concerned with disclosure themes. Considerably less salient are papers that fall under process-oriented themes and the outcomes/consequences of CSR communications. The most important outlets for CSR communication-related topics are Journal of Business Ethics and Corporate Communications: An International Journal.Originality/value – This paper represents the first attempt to perform a systematic and comprehensive overview of CSR communication papers in scholarly journals. Its value is in making this rather vast and heterogeneous literature more visible and accessible to all CSR communication scholars.Keywords - CSR communication, Scholarly journals, Systematic review, Content analysis, Special issue, Journals, Social responsibilityPaper type - Research paper
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In this chapter, I will present not only an outline of current developments ofcorporate social responsibility (CSR), environmental, social, and governance(ESG), and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to the newEU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (European Union, 2024)and the consequences these have for organizations but also the opportunitiesand risks they provide in relation to the spread of disinformation. I will alsodiscuss the recent court cases against companies and governments regardinggreenwashing and discuss opportunities for organizations to position themselvesas innovative and attractive for future and current employees with afocus on sustainability in the war for talent
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Competitive and working papers as well as abstracts in these proceedings discuss recent academic insights and link academic research to the practice field in order to exchange knowledge on contexts and effects, potentials and challenges of CSR and communication, on best practices and newest developments. They give a variety of insights on CSR and communication from academia (communication, management, marketing science etc.) and the practice field (corporations, consultancies, associations).
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I argue that a governance perspective on corporate social responsibility (CSR) makes it possible to explain why the concept will always be under-defined, is normative and thus political by nature, and is and should be difficult to measure. The perspective also makes it possible to understand the interaction between corporate values and stakeholders values.In processes of dialogue within governance systems and governance structures, changing insights into the principles of CSR can lead to regulation or its adjustment. Power is important in these dialogues. Principles are at least partly shaped within governance systems and governance structures, and they influence the outcomes of corporate policies. Changes within the regulatory framework could also lead to changes in the principles of CSR.Value attunement processes could lead to regulation, which again influences the governance structures and thus the power of stakeholders within the dialogue. The theoretical model provided helps to analyze why CSR is different in companies, cultures and academic traditions.
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