CSR Discourse Research Articles

The Evolution of the Corporation: Organization, Finance, Knowledge and Corporate Social Responsibility

This paper, which selectively focuses on the contested concept of Corporate Social Responsibility [CSR], forms part of a larger research project on the evolution of corporate governance. This research posits the evolution of corporate governance along three historical paradigms: first, the economic/industrial organization paradigm, second, the financial paradigm, and third, the knowledge paradigm. With regard to CSR, the paper explores the promises and shortcomings of the concept against the background of an evolutionary theory of corporate governance. The identification of three historical-conceptual paradigms allows us to trace the development of the relation between a general discourse on corporate governance regulation [CGR] on the one hand and a more specialized, often polemic debate over corporate (social, environmental, human rights) responsibilities on the other. On the basis of the review of the three paradigms of CSR over the course of more than one hundred years, the paper concludes that there is no convincing justification to separate the general Corporate Governance from the more specific CSR discourse when assessing the nature of the corporation. Instead, it is argued that a more adequate understanding of what defines a corporation is gained when capturing its embedded nature in a continuously changing domestic, global and functional environment. Besides being both a legal fiction and an economic actor, the business corporation is assuming a host of other roles in a functionally differentiated global society. The paper suggests that the generation and dissemination of knowledge, both internally and externally, has become the defining feature of the firm. The corporation as a knowledge actor succeeds the prior stages of assessing it as a private, political or financial actor, without however erasing these dimensions of the firm. In that, the history of the corporation - as concept and reality - shares important features with that of the state - as concept and as fact.

Peculiar Strengths and Relational Attributes of SMEs in the Context of CSR

The spotlight in the CSR discourse has traditionally been focused on multinational corporations (MNCs). This paper builds on a burgeoning stream of literature that has accorded recent attention to the relevance and importance of integrating small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the CSR debate. The paper begins by an overview of the CSR literature and a synthesis of relevant evidence pertaining to the peculiarities and special relational attributes of SMEs in the context of CSR. Noting the thin theoretical grounding in the literature on offer, the paper then presents relevant CSR theoretical perspectives that could be useful in conducting further research on SMEs. In light of this framework, the paper outlines the findings of an empirical study highlighting the peculiar CSR orientations of SMEs in a developing country context in comparison to some of their MNC counterparts. The study is qualitative in nature, capitalizing on a comparative research design to highlight differences in CSR orientations between SMEs and MNCs. The findings are presented and implications are drawn regarding the peculiar relational attributes of SMEs in the context of CSR generally, and developing countries more specifically, and how this inclination can be further nurtured and leveraged.

Csr and equality

Institutional reforms associated with neoliberalism and ‘good governance’ have altered the roles and responsibilities of states and transnational corporations (tncs) in relation to social development. Increasingly such firms are engaging more directly in social service provisioning through privatisation, claiming to be more responsive to the concerns of multiple ‘stakeholders’ through ‘corporate social responsibility’ (csr), positioning themselves as ‘partners’ in poverty reduction, and becoming more proactive in standard setting and ‘privatised governance’. Given the extent of anecdotal or piecemeal ‘evidence’ regarding the impacts of csr, attention has turned in recent years to developing frameworks that identify a range of policies, practices and effects that need to be examined to adequately assess social and developmental aspects. This paper attempts to contribute to this discussion by focusing on the contribution of csr to equality and equity, understood here in terms of minimising deprivation; enhancing equality of opportunity; correcting gross imbalances in the distribution of income, wealth and power; and social justice. While the primary responsibility for promoting equality belongs to state and multilateral institutions, the csr agenda, with is emphasis on such aspects as improvements in working conditions, community support, labour and human rights, and stakeholder participation, clearly has implications for equality and equity. Four central components of equality are considered: social protection, rights, empowerment and redistribution. It is argued that the contribution of csr in relation to these different elements varies considerably. Most csr initiatives focus on social (and environmental) protection. Belatedly csr discourse has embraced issues of labour and other human rights but csr practice associated with the realisation of rights lags well behind. Other dimensions of equality related to empowerment and redistribution remain relatively marginal in the csr agenda.

Reporting CSR – what and how to say it?

PurposeThis paper seeks to analyse and discuss what organizations say and how they say it when reporting Corporate Social Responsibility. It raises the question whether organizations report consistently on CSR in terms of genres, media, rhetorical strategies, etc.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis takes critical discourse analysis of selected corporations' CSR reporting, on the one hand, and theories and research on CSR and stakeholder relations, on the other hand, as its starting‐point. A model of analysis is proposed which presents discourse as a result of four kinds of challenges facing corporations today. The model serves to establish an ideal typology of CSR concepts and discourses and to analyse these discourses from a modern organizational and corporate communication perspective.FindingsThe analysis shows that annual reports are very dissimilar with respect to topics on the one hand and dimensions and discourses expressed in perspectives, stakeholder priorities, contextual information and ambition levels, on the other hand. The paper argues that corporations seem to be wrapped in divergent configurations of interest stemming from different institutional affiliations, such as government, regional institutions and NGOs.Originality/valueThe contribution of the paper is to highlight the value of the discourse and the discourse types adopted in the reporting material. By adopting consistent discourse types which interact according to a well‐defined pattern or order it is possible to communicate a strong social commitment, on the one hand, and take into consideration the expectations of the shareholders and of the other stakeholders, on the other hand.

Taboos in Corporate Social Responsibility Discourse

Corporations today have been engineered by CEOs and other business advocates to look increasingly green and responsible. However, alarming cases such as Enron, Parmalat and Worldcom bear witness that a belief in corporate goodness is still nothing other than naive. Although many scholars seemingly recognize this, they still avoid touching on the most sensitive and problematic issues, the taboos. As a consequence, discussion of important though problematic topics is often stifled. The article identifies three ‘grand’ taboos of CSR discourse and explicitly raises them for discussion. They are the taboos of amoral business, continuous economic growth, and the political nature of CSR. It is suggested that CSR can only be as advanced as its taboos. The critical potential of the field remains underdeveloped as a consequence of the taboos, and in many cases the CSR discourse merely produces alluring but empty rhetoric about sustainability and responsible business.

The atrium effect of website openness on the communication of corporate social responsibility

AbstractThis paper applies the image of a Roman atrium to disclosure of CSR activities on company websites, through an examination of the website content of 19 large companies operating in Portugal.The analysis reveals a CSR discourse targeting stakeholders. What is stated is carefully chosen in order to mitigate potential reactions from offended stakeholders, these coming mostly from those areas where their negative impact could be more visible.We conclude that comparison with Roman atria can be made to the extent that (a) websites allow companies to suggest positive images about themselves, (b) their openness forces companies to adopt bi‐focal messages where the target does not always coincide with the message's subject and (c) their visibility and accessibility induce companies to take a position on external events and to seek greater alignment between disclosure and action. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.