Impact of CSR commitments and CSR communication on diverse stakeholders: the case of IKEA

Abstract

For many researchers and observers alike, it remains difficult to understand fully how organizations design their corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and communicate them to different stakeholders. They also have trouble determining different stakeholders' complex perceptions of and attitudes towards the organization, which means managerial guidelines are virtually nonexistent in this important area. Although prior work focuses on organizational commitment to and communication with customers, employees and prospective employees, and financial investors, it often fails to consider other stakeholders, such as trade unions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) whose influence over CSR policies continues to grow. Furthermore, previous studies generally address one type of stakeholder, which prevents them from offering an overall analysis of the value of commitment and communication in CSR. We contribute to the literature by reporting on one organization's CSR commitments and communications; we achieve this by taking into account the influences and the reactions of an organization's different stakeholders. Specifically, we report on IKEA's CSR commitments and communications and their relation to the organization's different stakeholders, which enables us to examine stakeholders' perceptions of and attitudes towards IKEA and its CSR policies and thereby gain an understanding of how stakeholders themselves influence CSR commitments and communication. By including a variety of stakeholders, our case approach provides insight into the dynamics that occur among stakeholders. We structure the remainder of this chapter as follows. First, we review the literature. Second, we provide details of the case organization developed for this study. Third, we present and discuss the findings.