Corporate Social Responsibility Discourse Research Articles

Internal CSR and the decline of organised labour: a possible elective affinity?

Purpose This paper aims to explore the potential relationship between internal corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the decline of organised labour in countries of the global North. Given the opposing trends since the late 20th century and the widespread adherence of internationally recognised labour standards in CSR codes, standards, and reporting frameworks, questions arise about the disparity between CSR rhetoric and practice regarding the collective rights of in-house employees. The paper further explores the tendency in CSR scholarship to overlook violations of collective rights for in-house employees in the global North. Design/methodology/approach To examine whether there is an elective affinity between the rise of CSR and the decline of organised labour, the paper uses a discursive institutionalism approach, providing a meta-theoretical analysis of academic literature on internal CSR. A scoping review methodology was used to identify relevant literature and compile it into an empirical corpus for a metatheoretical analysis. The empirical corpus, consisting of 38 articles, was generated through a Google Scholar (GS) search guided by the following questions: (1) What are the dominant conceptual framings of internal CSR? (2) What are the dominant roles and practical aspects of internal CSR? Findings The paper identifies two key disparities in the literature: (1) between rhetoric and practice regarding the collective rights of in-house employees in the global North and (2) between the extensive CSR research on violations of collective rights of value chain workers and the limited attention to in-house employees’ collective rights. The analysis highlights two factors contributing to these disparities: the integration of internal CSR into the corporate managerial toolbox and the distinction in CSR discourse between core labour standards and workplace issues. The analysis shows that internal CSR has an elective affinity with the decline of organised labour. Research limitations/implications While scoping reviews are often standalone studies, this paper used the methodology for its stated purpose. Limitations include the broad span of internal CSR across various academic fields and reliance solely on GS. Measures taken to enhance inclusivity were unlimited review period, refined inclusion criteria and keywords during the selection process and cross-checks of cited articles. Social implications Considering the implications of the decline of organised labour on workers’ collective voice, poverty and the distribution gap in wealth and income, this paper suggests that for CSR to play a significant role in advancing sustainable social justice, scholars and practitioners should look at ways to reduce the disparity between rhetoric and practice regarding employees’ voice and collective rights. Originality/value The paper lays the foundation for a better understanding of the potential links between internal CSR and the decline of organised labour. It addresses a gap in the literature on the interrelations between CSR and organised labour in the global North and proposes root causes of this gap. This contribution enriches the scarce literature exploring the potential elective affinity between CSR and transformations in the global economy and labour markets since the late 1980s. Finally, the paper deepens the understanding of the implications of CSR for employees’ collective rights and voice as well as for organised labour.

Institutional Investors and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): A Comprehensive Review of Theoretical Frameworks and Empirical Insights

In the evolving discourse of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the role of institutional investors stands out as a pivotal area of exploration. This work delves deep into the intricate interplay between these investors and CSR, emphasizing its significance in the modern corporate landscape. Drawing upon the Institutional, Legitimacy, Agency, and Resource-Based View theories, this paper elucidates how societal norms, alignment with societal expectations, and strategic asset perspectives shape corporate behavior toward CSR. In this work, we highlight the diverse strategies and objectives of institutional investors, such as pension funds and hedge funds, and their profound influence on the CSR landscape. Our findings underscore that these investors not only steer corporations toward sustainable actions but also redefine the very essence of corporate responsibility. The conclusions drawn emphasize the need for synergistic regulations and incentives, aligning with the CSR objectives of these influential stakeholders. Furthermore, the significance of this study lies in its potential to guide future research, especially in understanding the nuanced roles of different investor types and their global implications. In summation, this paper offers a comprehensive insight into the institutional investor-CSR dynamic, spotlighting its profound responsibility and potential in shaping the future of corporate sustainability.

Brokering Political Corporate Social Responsibility: Production Network Intervention Programmes in Post‐Reform Myanmar's Garment Industry

ABSTRACTPolitical corporate social responsibility (CSR) research focuses on how companies leverage their CSR efforts to improve public goods provision in countries where public governance is lacking. Previous studies, due to their limited analytical scope, have not thoroughly examined the dynamic nature of these governance gaps. Another missing puzzle is how certain actors in these countries, through their regular operations, independently facilitate political CSR opportunities – such as production network intervention (PNI) programmes. Positioning PNI programmes as brokers of political CSR, we investigate four such programmes in the Myanmar's garment industry during the early years of the country's reform. We conduct neo‐Gramscian analysis to examine how these programmes attempted to establish cultural and ideological leadership over CSR discourse and practice in the industry. We analyse the manufacturers’ responses to this contestation, which evolved with the introduction of a minimum wage, and discuss the theoretical and practical implications of this study.

Communicating and managing aspirational talk-action tensions: An integrated approach of CSR discourse analysis

Inspired by propositions founded on the Communication as Constitutive of Organization literature, this paper employed a mixed method combining Cultural Discourse Analysis (CuDA) with Corpus Linguistics to investigate how companies manage aspirational talk-action tensions in corporate social responsibility (CSR) discourses for social license to operate. Ten sustainability reports of five companies in Singapore and Hong Kong were accessed to examine the emergence of CuDA discursive hubs (identity, relation, emotion, action, and dwelling), the articulation of linguistic elements via concordance analysis, and the adoption of socio-cultural dimensions in addressing tension mechanisms. Findings revealed intricate communication dynamics resulting in four strategies that companies undertook to address and manage discrepancies, thereby enabling the construction of effective narrative CSR communication. These strategies provide valuable insights for public relations practitioners who engage in sustainability reporting and seek to adequately handle aspirational talk-action tensions that can possibly cause negative impacts.

Discovering the deep roots of corporate social responsibility in SMEs

Purpose This article looks at the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Cameroon's dynamic landscape, exploring the motivations driving small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to adopt socially responsible practices. In contrast to the emphasis on CSR in large companies, we highlight the central role played by SMEs as catalysts for sustainable development. Design/Methodology/Approach Using a quantitative methodological approach, this study examines the different factors that influence the adoption of CSR in Cameroonian SMEs. We established a non-probability sample of 124 SMEs based in the following four Cameroonian cities: Douala, Yaounde, Garoua and Ngaoundere. We used binomial logistic regression to analyse the impact of financial resources, institutional environment, company size, sector of activity, managerial ethics and company age on SMEs' commitment to socially responsible practices. Findings and implications Our study highlights the key determinants of commitment to CSR in Cameroonian SMEs. Our results show that financial resources, the institutional environment, the size of the company, the sector of activity, the ethics of the manager and the age of the company appear to be key factors influencing the implementation of a CSR approach. However, the factors studied have different weights of influence in the implementation of this CSR approach. These results prompt a reassessment of CSR implementation strategies and provide valuable pointers for improving the reputation, sustainability and relevance of Cameroonian SMEs in a rapidly changing context. Limitations Although this study makes a significant contribution to the understanding of CSR in Cameroonian SMEs, certain limitations must be acknowledged. The research is specific to the Cameroonian context and the results may not be universally applicable. In addition, the dynamic nature of business environments introduces a temporal component that may impact the generalisability of our results over time. Finally, the absence of a relationship between the nature of the technologies used and the implementation of a CSR approach is counter-intuitive and would merit being tested on larger samples or being the subject of further qualitative research in order to identify other components of the variable.Originality This research fills a crucial gap in the literature by shedding light on CSR in the context of Cameroonian SMEs. The identification of multifaceted determinants offers a unique contribution to the wider CSR discourse, challenging conventional perceptions and providing practical implications for both academics and practitioners.

Plastic Politics of Delay: How Political Corporate Social Responsibility Discourses Produce and Reinforce Inequality in Plastic Waste Governance

Abstract As the global plastics pollution crisis grows in severity and complexity, diverse solutions are being proposed across the public and private sectors. Notably, multinational corporations (MNCs) from the petrochemical and consumer goods sectors have become increasingly involved. From providing recycling infrastructure to directly participating in drafting action plans and policies, MNCs are engaging as political actors in plastics waste governance, influencing discourses and actions globally, a process referred to as political corporate social responsibility (CSR). In this article, I examine Coca-Cola’s World Without Waste initiative as a case study of this process. I evaluate how Coca-Cola frames the problems of plastics waste, their solutions, and the roles that Coca-Cola asserts within this complex, transboundary environmental governance issue. Borrowing from literature on corporate climate delay tactics, I demonstrate how the initiative implements discourses and practices of delayed action, hindering comprehensive governance strategies. Through this analysis, I argue that political CSR actions can exacerbate the global plastics pollution crisis through ineffective and inequitable waste governance approaches that perpetuate uneven plastics pollution burdens.

Bioethics-CSR Divide

Bioethics-CSR Divide

Governing at a distance to change corporate social responsibility discourse: Navigating through institutions and actors

AbstractIn this paper, we demonstrate what influences the evolution of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) debates. Using the idea of ‘governing at a distance’ (Rose & Miller, 1992) from the Foucauldian governmentality perspective, we identify the mechanisms behind CSR's context‐based evolution. Examining 72 academic texts on CSR from the 1940s to the 2000s, we find that spatial political contexts and power interests shape CSR. We argue that CSR discourse is linked to governing systems and was part of a post‐WWII restructuring to support capitalism against communism in the global order. Our study reveals that academic journals and scholars introduced American CSR concepts to Turkish academia through strong ties to institutions like Harvard Business School and the Ford Foundation, influencing the emergence and change of CSR over time. Changes in CSR discourse are contextually embedded and politically laden with its emergence having a strong governmentality dimension for which academics (through their texts, academic acumen, and affiliated institutions) play a key role as intermediaries governing at a distance. While the critical perspective emphasizes the issues of coercion and contestations, our paper suggests the importance of cooperation and concerted efforts in shaping the global construction of CSR. We have demonstrated the nuanced interplay between the local and global governance of business and academic associations, challenging the perceived rigidity of their boundaries.

Communicating LGBTQ-supportive CSR for corporate legitimacy: a cultural discourse analysis in Hong Kong

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) towards the notions of diversity, equality, and inclusion (DE&I) draws a lot of attention in modern, pluralist society. The organizations’ communicative approach in conveying LGBTQ advocacy to manage tensions and avoid conflicts with various stakeholders is largely underexplored in the Asian context. This study adopts Carbaugh’s cultural discourse analysis (CuDA) to examine the socio-cultural meanings of LGBTQ-supportive CSR discourse for building corporate legitimacy in Hong Kong. CSR materials from leading corporations (2016–2022) and Facebook comments from the public were selected. We analyzed the CSR discourse using the five discursive hubs of CuDA (i.e. identity, emotions, actions, relations, and dwelling) and Suchman’s legitimacy theory (i.e. pragmatic, cognitive, and moral). Our findings revealed three different stages of corporate legitimacy: namely, symbolic, institutional, and contextualized LGBTQ advocacy. The CSR materials intertwining in the five discursive hubs also demonstrated how the organizations attempted to build corporate legitimacy by fostering social change and avoiding conflicts through positive and implicit message-framing of LGBTQ advocacy. Discourse reflected in these CSR strategies illuminated the importance of glocalizing CSR messages to facilitate stakeholder engagement and corporate legitimization in support of this controversially progressive value.

State Ownership and Corporate Social Responsibility: An Investigation on Nigerian Data

Purpose: The paper examines the central issue underpinning the growing international literature and arguments that different ownership types have varying implications for a firm’s CSR engagement. It compliments evolving studies by looking at the effect of state ownership and other types of ownership structures on CSR, specifically in the Nigerian industry. It is argued that the impact of ownership structure on corporate decisions to allocate resources to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has assumed renewed significance in the burgeoning literature of developing economies, given the exigency for corporate executives to allocate firm specific resources to other social objectives that may detract from profit maximization.
 Methodology: This paper differs markedly from the methodologies of previous studies which used composite CSR indices. It deconstructs CSR expenditure into five categories – public goods, socially desirable goods, corporate philanthropy, employee relations and environmental conservation – and estimates the effects of government, foreign and institutional ownership on CSR variables controlling for such factors as firm size, return on assets and capital intensity. Using new data on listed Nigerian firms, this paper carries out its empirical investigation with panel data estimation in order to deal with heterogeneity and endogeneity issues.
 Findings: The findings of this paper indicate that different ownership structures have varying implications for the five forms of CSR investigated in this study. It reveals that government ownership has no significant effect on CSR expenditure on public goods, corporate philanthropy and environmental conservation. However, it finds that government ownership also significantly influences CSR expenditure on socially desirable goods and employee relations.
 Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy:Theoretically, this paper extends the trajectory of CSR discourse to include an elaborate investigation of the impact of ownership structures on CSR practices in all the major sectors of Nigerian economy.The paper argues that its empirical results have several policy implications for good corporate governance practices in Nigeria and other emerging economies. This paper suggests the need to institute incentives schemes and regulatory constraints that would compel government, foreign and institutional ownership to align their incentives with some forms of CSR practices.

Luxury brands and corporate social responsibility (CSR): exploring the differences between traditional and new luxury

Purpose This study aims to comprehend luxury brands' corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies. In addition to facing a demand for new CSR strategies (consumer-centric CSR), changes in CSR discourse among luxury brands are observed. This study examines how CSR-related and luxury-related agendas relate in the news media, especially concerning the difference between traditional and new luxury brands.Design/methodology/approach A total of 117,171 fashion-related news articles were collected from January 2016 to December 2020. The word2vec method was used to determine the relationship between CSR and luxury agendas.FindingsThe results indicate that company-centric CSR is more prominent with traditional luxury brands, while consumer-centric CSR is more relevant for new luxury brands. In addition, specific CSR attributes and luxury-related attributes are associated with media discourse, which means that CSR and luxury are compatible.Originality/valueStudies on CSR in the luxury industry are not extensive in the literature. This study addresses this gap through a unique framework that combines agenda-setting theory and existing CSR literature and applies them to the luxury industry. Specifically, this study captures the development of each construct (company-centric CSR to consumer-centric CSR and traditional luxury to new luxury) and identifies the specific relationships between them. This result provides a novel view of the luxury industry indicating that it has evolved to encompass CSR-related values. The empirical results also offer practical implications for luxury marketing.

Business–society interface: An exploration of a paradigmatic heuristic model of corporate social responsibility in Colombia

AbstractThis study explores how corporate social responsibility (CSR) managers in large companies conceive the business–society interface using a CSR paradigm heuristic model. The research applies a critical management studies perspective, adopting a qualitative approach. We analyze the speeches of 25 CSR managers from large companies representing four economic sectors of an emerging economy. The paradigmatic heuristic model proposes four perspectives regarding CSR, which include functionalist, constructivist, culturalist, and socio‐political paradigms. We validate the proposed heuristic model, revealing the existence of transition zones and overlapping CSR management discourses. We found that there is no single or paradigmatic discourse of CSR among the four economic sectors analyzed. In Colombia, an emerging country, new CSR approaches and discourses are uncovered that can contribute to future contextualized and contingent research in regions with complex business–society interfaces.

Capturing the dynamic tension in CSR discourses: Toward an integrative circuit of culture model

This paper adopts the Circuit of Culture (COC) – an interpretive approach to international public relations practice based on its five moments (i.e., regulations, production, representations, consumption and identity) – as a guiding framework to analyze corporate social responsibility discourses of Wilmar, a multinational corporation based in Singapore. Sustainability reports from 2009 to 2019 were first accessed to examine the negotiation dynamics that occur in textual discourse when the company dealt with the talk-action relationship through the Communication as Constitutive of Organization (CCO) approach. These were integrated with the contextual propositions nurtured in the five moments of COC to identify the negotiating mechanisms that Wilmar constructed to make sense of, explain, and justify tensional situations between set commitments and actual performance. This study aims to demonstrate how CCO can complement COC to offer a holistic interpretive approach to understand the situated communication dynamics and discursive construction process of talk-action relationship in an international public relations context.

Exploring how organizational performance feedback influences corporate social responsibility (CSR): the moderating role of LGBT inclusion

PurposeCorporate social responsibility (CSR) captures organizational actions that account for economic, social and environmental performance. CSR is becoming increasingly relevant for organizations because of changing societal norms and attitudes. Prior research on CSR shows that socially responsible actions are beneficial for the firm and the society. However, much less is known about the antecedents of CSR. The authors suggest that CSR is a strategic organizational decision and use organizational performance feedback theory to explain how organizations decide on CSR activities.Design/methodology/approachUsing a longitudinal sample of 189 US public firms with 1,050 observations, the authors test how performance decreases below aspirations and performance increases above aspirations influence CSR. The authors also test for the moderation effect of LGBT inclusion on these relationships as a proxy for CSR consistency and stakeholder support.FindingsThe authors find that as organizational performance decreases further below aspirations, CSR increases and LGBT inclusion strengthens this increase. The authors also find that as performance increases above aspirations, organizations become more engaged in CSR, but LGBT inclusion does not moderate this relationship.Originality/valuePrior research recently started extending the performance feedback theory to CSR, but empirical findings on the relationships between performance feedback and CSR are seemingly inconclusive. Moreover, studies had primarily focused on performance below aspirations and to a much lesser extent on performance above aspirations. This study aims to better integrate organizational performance feedback theory to the CSR discourse.

A Corpus-based Multi-dimensional Analysis on Chinese and US Corporate Responsibility Reports: A Case Study of HUAWEI and Apple

The discourse of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report can predict the performance of CSR. Research on the CSR report of international well-known companies can provide reference and encouragement for others listed companies. Based on the multi-dimensional analysis method of Biber, this study investigates the linguistic features of the CSR report discourse of Huawei and Apple. This study makes a comparative analysis of the CSR discourse from the two firms, to explore the differences in discourse functional dimensions between Chinese and American corporate CSR reports. This study finds that, on the one hand, there are differences between Chinese and American CSR reports in dimensions of Involved versus Informational Production, Explicit versus Situation-dependent Reference, and Abstract versus Non-abstract Information. Compared with Apple’s CSR reports, Huawei’s CSR reports are more informative and explicit, but less interactive and abstract. On the other hand, there is no significant difference between Huawei’s and Apple’s CSR reports in Narrative versus Non-narrative Concerns and Overt Expression of Persuasion dimensions, indicating that CSR reports are less narrative and persuasive in both Chinese and American firms. This study has implications for improving the quality of Chinese enterprises’ CSR reports and enlightenment value for corporations to improve social responsibility performance.

Kazakhstan's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Lullabies: The Power of Culturally Familiar Narratives

Abstract: This study explores corporate social responsibility (CSR) narratives in the former Soviet nation of Kazakhstan using a mixed-method approach. Content analysis of local media treatment of CSR reveals that a worker welfare narrative, a keystone of the Soviet era, dominates coverage. Our survey of Kazakhstani citizens demonstrates that the same narrative is reflected in public understandings of CSR. We suggest that the construction of CSR narratives to closely reflect cultural patterns and historical legacies in posttransitional economies may curtail valuable discussion on how companies can best serve society. That is, the cultural familiarity built into CSR discourse renders it highly acceptable and thereby serves to avert further questioning of corporate practices such as the corruption that is currently widespread. This finding raises ethical concerns around how companies may design their CSR narratives with culturally familiar discursive modes specifically to shield themselves from criticism.

Should we be responsible to their society? Corporate social responsibility of Chinese-owned restaurants in Malaysia

Along with the Belt and Road Initiative, many Chinese investments are going abroad. This research explores corporate social responsibility (CSR) of small and medium-sized Chinese-owned restaurants in Malaysia by investigating the Chinese owners’ understandings and practices of CSR, and the underlying determinants. Based on 23 in-depth interviews with the owners, the research finds that they see their CSR stakeholders include not only customers, employees, local community, competitors, and environment, but their home country–China. Their CSR practices are motivated by profit-oriented and faith-based drivers, while restricted by both personal and external reasons. The study suggests that the interplay of contemporary Chinese pragmatism, Confucianism, and religious teachings, framed by the Malaysian context, underpins the owners’ CSR discourse. Notably, Chinese pragmatism, rather than traditional Chinese culture as represented by Confucianism, is the most prominent determinant. This study contributes to the understanding of CSR in Chinese SMEs overseas from an emic perspective.

Analyzing the Voice of Recipients of CSR Activities from #NBATogether Campaign: Analyzing Twitter Posts and Comments through Critical Discourse Analysis Lens

This study aimed to analyze the voice of recipients of professional sports teams’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis (CDA) was adopted and analyzed 275 tweets from every NBA team that included the #NBATogether hashtag from March 20th to April 20<sup>th</sup>, 2020. Results suggested the public mostly complied with discourses created by NBA teams, but challenging discourses were constantly created in comments. This study provided possible reasons to support these findings. First, the conceptual background of CDA is provided to justify the creation of different discourses in comments. Second, the characteristic backgrounds of users following professional sports teams’ social media were mentioned as a possible cause of complying discourse as dominant in comments. Third, the research also highlighted how social media should not be a panacea for delivering CSR discourse, which brings up the necessity for the traditional media to be considered as not all public have internet access. Finally, the importance of analyzing the public’s discourse was mentioned to emphasize the benefits of both professional teams and communities.

Business as service? Human Relations and the British interwar management movement

To what extent should business have an implication of service when its fundamental purpose is profit-seeking? We explore this issue through a contextually informed reappraisal of British interwar management thinking (1918–1939), drawing on rich archival material concerning the Rowntree business lectures and management research groups. Whereas existing literature is framed around scientific management versus human relations schools, we find a third pronounced, related theme: business as service. Our main contribution is to identify the origins in Britain of the discourse of corporate social responsibility in the guise of business as service. We show that this emerged earlier than commonly assumed and was imbued with an instrumental intent from its inception as a form of management control. This was a discourse emanating not from management theorists but from management practitioners, striving to put the corporate system on a sustainable footing while safeguarding the power, authority, and legitimacy of incumbent managerial elites.

Distilling the curriculum: An analysis of alcohol industry-funded school-based youth education programmes.

Background and aimFor decades, corporations such as the tobacco and fossil fuel industries have used youth education programmes and schools to disseminate discourses, ideas and values favourable to their positions, and to pre-empt regulation that threatens profits. However, there is no systematic research into alcohol industry-funded youth education programmes. This article serves to address this important gap in the literature.MethodsUsing a discourse theoretical approach informed by poststructural discourse theory and critical discourse analysis, we analysed teaching materials from three school-based youth education initiatives which focus on alcohol consumption and health harms: Drinkaware for Education, The Smashed Project (funded by Diageo), and Talk About Alcohol (Alcohol Education Trust). These materials, some of which are disseminated internationally, are provided to schools through intermediary bodies in receipt of alcohol industry funding.FindingsThe analysis found that these materials drew from and presented discourses of personal responsibility, moderate alcohol consumption, and involved a narrowing of the problem definition and causes. The locus of the problem is located by the discourses within individuals including youth, with causes of youth alcohol consumption repeatedly presented as peer pressure and ‘poor choices’, with little or no mention of alcohol industry marketing or other practices. All programmes promoted familiarisation and normalisation of alcohol as a ‘normal’ adult consumer product which children must learn about and master how to use responsibly when older. The discourses constructed in these materials closely align with those of other alcohol industry corporate social responsibility discourses which employ selective presentation of harms, including misinformation about cancer, and ambiguous terms such as “responsible drinking”. Furthermore, the role of alcohol price, availability and access, and the impacts of alcohol and the industry on inequities were not articulated within the discourses. The research was limited to an analysis of teaching materials and further research is needed to explore their impact on youth, teachers and wider discourses and social norms.ConclusionAlcohol industry-sponsored youth education programmes serve industry interests and promote moderate consumption while purportedly educating children about harms and influences of alcohol use. There are considerable conflicts of interest in the delivery of alcohol education programmes funded by the alcohol industry and intermediary bodies in receipt of such funding. Alcohol education materials should be developed independent from industry, including funding, and should empower children and young people to understand and think critically about alcohol, including harms and drivers of consumption, and effective interventions needed to protect them and others from alcohol-related harms. Independent organisations can use this analysis to critique their materials to strengthen alignment with meeting student and public health interests. The ongoing exposure of children and young people to such conflicted and misleading materials needs urgent attention from policymakers, practitioners, teachers and parents, and resources dependent on industry support should cease being used in schools.