IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i5p3012-d764205.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“Waging War” for Doing Good? The Fortune Global 500’s Framing of Corporate Responses to COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Nur Uysal

    (College of Communication, DePaul University, Chicago, IL 60604, USA)

  • Emel Ozdora Aksak

    (Department of Communication and Design, Bilkent University, Ankara 06800, Turkey)

Abstract

This study examined corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication and pandemic responses of large corporations across multiple industries in a global context. Specifically, this research (1) described the state of CSR communication during the pandemic, and (2) identified how top global Fortune 500 corporations framed their COVID-19 pandemic responses as part of their social advocacy. An in-depth content analysis of the corporate communication messages revealed that top global corporations positioned their pandemic responses as an extension of their ongoing CSR commitment, prioritizing their philanthropic responsibilities over the ethical, legal, and economic responsibilities. They often relied on war metaphors, portraying the virus as the “common enemy” and employees as “heroes,” and highlighted their leadership role in the global “fight” against the pandemic as a “partner” of governments, “protector” of employees, and “supporter’’ of the communities. Analyzing a large data set from a global perspective, this study provides a comprehensive look at the state of CSR communication during the pandemic and demonstrates how corporations as authoritative societal actors help shape the ongoing discourse on the global COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the study makes several practical and theoretical contributions to sustainability research and our understanding of the evolving relationship between business and society.

Suggested Citation

  • Nur Uysal & Emel Ozdora Aksak, 2022. "“Waging War” for Doing Good? The Fortune Global 500’s Framing of Corporate Responses to COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-19, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:5:p:3012-:d:764205
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/5/3012/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/5/3012/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carroll, Archie B., 1991. "The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: Toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 39-48.
    2. He, Hongwei & Harris, Lloyd, 2020. "The impact of Covid-19 pandemic on corporate social responsibility and marketing philosophy," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 176-182.
    3. Schwartz, Mark S. & Carroll, Archie B., 2003. "Corporate Social Responsibility: A Three-Domain Approach," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(4), pages 503-530, October.
    4. Jordan, Lisa & van Tuijl, Peter, 2000. "Political Responsibility in Transnational NGO Advocacy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(12), pages 2051-2065, December.
    5. Shuili Du & Edward Vieira, 2012. "Striving for Legitimacy Through Corporate Social Responsibility: Insights from Oil Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 110(4), pages 413-427, November.
    6. Zyglidopoulos, Stelios C. & Georgiadis, Andreas P. & Carroll, Craig E. & Siegel, Donald S., 2012. "Does media attention drive corporate social responsibility?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(11), pages 1622-1627.
    7. Niloufar Fallah Shayan & Nasrin Mohabbati-Kalejahi & Sepideh Alavi & Mohammad Ali Zahed, 2022. "Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a Framework for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-27, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Valenzuela Fernández, Leslier & Jara-Bertin, Mauricio & Villegas Pineaur, Francisco, 2015. "Práticas de responsabilidade social, reputação corporativa e desempenho financeiro," RAE - Revista de Administração de Empresas, FGV-EAESP Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (Brazil), vol. 55(3), May.
    2. Meyer, Margit & Waßmann, Jan, 2011. "Strategische Corporate Social Responsibility. Konzeptionelle Entwicklung und Implementierung in der Praxis am Beispiel 'dm-drogerie markt'," Research Papers on Marketing Strategy 3/2011, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Lehrstuhl für BWL und Marketing.
    3. Jared Peifer, 2014. "Fund Loyalty Among Socially Responsible Investors: The Importance of the Economic and Ethical Domains," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 121(4), pages 635-649, June.
    4. Nir Halevy & Sora Jun & Eileen Y. Chou, 2020. "Intergroup Conflict is Our Business: CEOs’ Ethical Intergroup Leadership Fuels Stakeholder Support for Corporate Intergroup Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 162(1), pages 229-246, February.
    5. Yuan-Shuh Lii & May-Ching Ding & Chih-Huang Lin, 2018. "Fair or Unfair: The Moderating Effect of Sustainable CSR Practices on Anticipatory Justice Following Service Failure Recovery," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-21, December.
    6. Monica Thiel, 2010. "Innovations in Corporate Social Responsibility from Global Business Leaders at Panasonic, Thomson Reuters and Nanyang Business School," American Journal of Economics and Business Administration, Science Publications, vol. 2(2), pages 194-200, September.
    7. Ruth Alas & Külliki Tafel, 2008. "Conceptualizing the Dynamics of Social Responsibility: Evidence from a Case Study of Estonia," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 81(2), pages 371-385, August.
    8. Siying Cai & Wenzhong Zhu & Yuting Wang, 2023. "Corpus analysis of evaluative language and framework implementation for pharmaceutical industry CSR reports," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 2037-2052, July.
    9. Maria Johann, 2022. "CSR Strategy in Tourism during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-12, March.
    10. Chen, Hongtao & Fang, Xiumei & Xiang, Erwei & Ji, Xiaojia & An, Maolin, 2023. "Do online media and investor attention affect corporate environmental information disclosure？Evidence from Chinese listed companies," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 1022-1040.
    11. Rabin Ibnu Zainal, 2019. "Analysis of CSR Legislation in Indonesia: Mandate to Business," Business and Economic Research, Macrothink Institute, vol. 9(3), pages 165-181, September.
    12. Christina Deselaers & Alina Dahmen & Sonia Lippke, 2022. "Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on CSR Activities of Healthcare Providers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-27, December.
    13. Beck, Donizete & Ferasso, Marcos, 2023. "How can Stakeholder Capitalism contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals? A Cross-network Literature Analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PA).
    14. Dominik Aaken & Florian Buchner, 2020. "Religion and CSR: a systematic literature review," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 90(5), pages 917-945, June.
    15. RAMLUGUN Vidisha Gunesh & RABOUTE Wendy Geraldine, 2015. "Do Csr Practices Of Banks In Mauritius Lead To Satisfaction And Loyalty?," Studies in Business and Economics, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 10(2), pages 128-144, August.
    16. Juan Carlos Fandos-Roig & Javier Sánchez-García & Sandra Tena-Monferrer & Luis José Callarisa-Fiol, 2020. "Does CSR Help to Retain Customers in a Service Company?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-21, December.
    17. Rojan Baniya & Brijesh Thapa, 2021. "CSR Communication among Tourism SMEs through Their Websites," Tourism and Hospitality, MDPI, vol. 2(3), pages 1-8, August.
    18. Alla Mostepaniuk & Elsie Nasr & Razan Ibrahim Awwad & Sameer Hamdan & Hasan Yousef Aljuhmani, 2022. "Managing a Relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-23, September.
    19. Francisco González Santa Cruz & Iliana Loor Alcívar & Nelly Moreira Mero & Amalia Hidalgo-Fernández, 2020. "Analysis of the Dimensions of Corporate Social Responsibility: Study Applied to Co-operativism in Ecuador," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 148(2), pages 517-534, April.
    20. Keke Bai & Farid Ullah & Muhammad Arif & Sahar Erfanian & Saima Urooge, 2023. "Stakeholder-Centered Corporate Governance and Corporate Sustainable Development: Evidence from CSR Practices in the Top Companies by Market Capitalization at Shanghai Stock Exchange of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-25, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:5:p:3012-:d:764205. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.