Goals and Practices in Corporate Sustainability Communication: Doğuş Otomotiv Case

Abstract

The concept of sustainability was introduced in 1987 by the United Nations Brundtland Commission, at a time when global society was experiencing various political, economic and social conflicts. States developed legal measures for a more sustainable life and placed the topic at the core of their political agendas. They were followed shortly by non-governmental organizations, municipalities, companies and the media, who started developing strategies for economic growth that also integrated a sustainable natural environment and society. Although sustainability practices in the business world sometimes remained superficial for some companies and did not go beyond an effort to adapt to business trends, the proportion of corporations that take genuine action for real social change has gradually increased and this has led to the development of norms in the private sphere. In Turkey, more and more companies have redesigned their communication strategies in light of the growing awareness around sustainability and the related social expectations. In this process, it became important to understand the way in which leading companies experienced this transformation and to what extent they combined sustainability practices with the values of their stakeholders. With this purpose in mind, this study focuses on Doğuş Otomotiv’s sustainability values and the communication strategies they implement to spread them. Content analysis was con1ducted on sustainability reports and websites from a qualitative perspective, and an in-depth interview was held with a senior Corporate Communications manager. Accordingly, it has been concluded that sustainability is defined as a participatory, flexible, open communication-based concept among all stakeholders, as well as a dynamic and broad concept inherent in corporate ethics and company culture. It also appears that sustainability communication takes a different form in different channels depending on the stakeholder profile, and that in this sense, new media presents both opportunities and challenges.