IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/corsem/v17y2010i2p63-69.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Corporate social responsibility: discourse, narratives and communication

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Dobers
  • Delyse Springett

Abstract

The problematic and contestable nature of discourses on corporate social responsibility (CSR) has driven the commissioning of this special issue on discourses, narratives, and communication about CSR. While CSR may be seen as sharing normative goals with the concept of sustainable development, there are fundamental questions to be asked about the nature and purpose of CSR, how it has been constructed and framed, and whether it promotes the normative goals of sustainable development in order to effect change to the business‐as‐usual model. The teasing out of the different discourses of CSR has become an important theme in academic research in recent years. In this issue, that discourse is developed. The authors discover gaps between CSR as understood by civil society groups and radical non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) and the CSR norms promoted at corporate level. The latter fail to impact on business‐as‐usual, even though the same language may be used. The link between Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reporting and market‐value is explored; and CSR principles and actions promoted by business are critiqued from the perspective of the norms of sustainable development, one conclusion being that the parameters of sustainable development as a concept need to be extended to include the dimension of culture. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Dobers & Delyse Springett, 2010. "Corporate social responsibility: discourse, narratives and communication," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(2), pages 63-69, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:17:y:2010:i:2:p:63-69
    DOI: 10.1002/csr.231
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.231
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/csr.231?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ilaria Baghi & Enrico Rubaltelli & Marcello Tedeschi, 2009. "A strategy to communicate corporate social responsibility: cause related marketing and its dark side," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(1), pages 15-26, January.
    2. Alex J. Robinson & Julia Meaton, 2005. "Bali beyond the bomb: disparate discourses and implications for sustainability," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(2), pages 69-78.
    3. Hannu Schadewitz & Mikael Niskala, 2010. "Communication via responsibility reporting and its effect on firm value in Finland," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(2), pages 96-106, March.
    4. Tarja Ketola & Cecilia Mark-Herbert & György Pataki, 2009. "Paradigms of corporate sustainability - a decade after Hijacking Environmentalism," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(2), pages 69-69.
    5. Peter Dobers, 2009. "Corporate social responsibility: management and methods," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(4), pages 185-191, July.
    6. Tomi J. Kallio & Piia Nordberg & Ari Ahonen, 2007. "'Rationalizing sustainable development' - a critical treatise," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(1), pages 41-51.
    7. Simon Bell & Stephen Morse, 2007. "Story telling in sustainable development projects," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(2), pages 97-110.
    8. Peter Dobers & Minna Halme, 2009. "Corporate social responsibility and developing countries," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(5), pages 237-249, September.
    9. Mark Brown, 2010. "A linguistic interpretation of Welford's hijack hypothesis," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(2), pages 81-95, March.
    10. Subhabrata Bobby Banerjee, 2007. "Corporate Social Responsibility," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12532.
    11. Halme, Minna & Roome, Nigel & Dobers, Peter, 2009. "Corporate responsibility: Reflections on context and consequences," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 1-9, March.
    12. Maria Joutsenvirta, 2009. "A language perspective to environmental management and corporate responsibility," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(4), pages 240-253, May.
    13. Crawford Spence, 2009. "Social and environmental reporting and the corporate ego," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(4), pages 254-265, May.
    14. György Pataki, 2009. "Ecological modernization as a paradigm of corporate sustainability," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(2), pages 82-91.
    15. Pontus Cerin, 2002. "Communication in corporate environmental reports," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 9(1), pages 46-65, March.
    16. Jenny Ählström & Monica Macquet & Ulf Richter, 2009. "The lack of a critical perspective in environmental management research: distortion in the scientific discourse," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(5), pages 334-346, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dolors Celma & Esther Martínez‐Garcia & Germà Coenders, 2014. "Corporate Social Responsibility in Human Resource Management: An analysis of common practices and their determinants in Spain," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(2), pages 82-99, March.
    2. Gary Kleinman & Chu‐hua Kuei & Picheng Lee, 2017. "Using Formal Concept Analysis to Examine Water Disclosure in Corporate Social Responsibility Reports," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(4), pages 341-356, July.
    3. Liyanage Chamila Roshani Perera & Jayawickrama Withanage Dushan Chaminda, 2013. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Product Evaluation: The Moderating Role of Brand Familiarity," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(4), pages 245-256, July.
    4. Katarzyna Klimkiewicz & Victor Oltra, 2017. "Does CSR Enhance Employer Attractiveness? The Role of Millennial Job Seekers' Attitudes," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(5), pages 449-463, September.
    5. Giovanna Michelon & Giacomo Boesso & Kamalesh Kumar, 2013. "Examining the Link between Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility and Company Performance: An Analysis of the Best Corporate Citizens," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(2), pages 81-94, March.
    6. Chris Mason & John Simmons, 2014. "Embedding Corporate Social Responsibility in Corporate Governance: A Stakeholder Systems Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 119(1), pages 77-86, January.
    7. Luis Fonseca & Vitor Silva & José Carlos Sá & Vanda Lima & Gilberto Santos & Rui Silva, 2022. "B Corp versus ISO 9001 and 14001 certifications: Aligned, or alternative paths, towards sustainable development?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(3), pages 496-508, May.
    8. José María Agudo-Valiente & Concepción Garcés-Ayerbe & Manuel Salvador-Figueras, 2017. "Corporate Social Responsibility Drivers and Barriers According to Managers’ Perception; Evidence from Spanish Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-24, October.
    9. Ozgur Isil & Michael T. Hernke, 2017. "The Triple Bottom Line: A Critical Review from a Transdisciplinary Perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1235-1251, December.
    10. Julia Wolf, 2013. "Improving the Sustainable Development of Firms: The Role of Employees," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 92-108, February.
    11. Louise Ellis & Claire Bastin, 2011. "Corporate social responsibility in times of recession: Changing discourses and implications for policy and practice," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(5), pages 294-305, September.
    12. Ignace De Beelde & Sanne Tuybens, 2015. "Enhancing the Credibility of Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility in Europe," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(3), pages 190-216, March.
    13. Andrikopoulos, Andreas & Samitas, Aristeidis & Bekiaris, Michalis, 2014. "Corporate social responsibility reporting in financial institutions: Evidence from Euronext," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 27-35.
    14. Denise M. Jepsen & Suzanne Grob, 2015. "Sustainability in Recruitment and Selection: Building a Framework of Practices," Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, , vol. 9(2), pages 160-178, September.
    15. Kaspar Villadsen & Johannes Lundberg, 2023. "Guest Editors’ Introduction to Special Issue: ‘Foucault, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Corporate Sustainability’," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-11, March.
    16. Shawn Pope & Arild Wæraas, 2016. "CSR-Washing is Rare: A Conceptual Framework, Literature Review, and Critique," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 137(1), pages 173-193, August.
    17. Enying Zheng & Wenjie Liao & Yan Xing & Jiajia Zheng, 2023. "Institutionalizing corporate social responsibility disclosure: Historical webpages of the Fortune global 500 companies, 1997–2009," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 661-676, March.

    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. Tiina Onkila & Marjo Siltaoja, 2017. "One Rule to Rule Them All? Organisational Sensemaking of Corporate Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 144(1), pages 5-20, August.
    2. Peter Dobers, 2009. "Corporate social responsibility: management and methods," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(4), pages 185-191, July.
    3. Tiina Onkila, 2015. "Pride or Embarrassment? Employees’ Emotions and Corporate Social Responsibility," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 22(4), pages 222-236, July.
    4. Monowar Mahmood & Janet Humphrey, 2013. "Stakeholder Expectation of Corporate Social Responsibility Practices: A Study on Local and Multinational Corporations in Kazakhstan," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(3), pages 168-181, May.
    5. Ozgur Isil & Michael T. Hernke, 2017. "The Triple Bottom Line: A Critical Review from a Transdisciplinary Perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1235-1251, December.
    6. Mike Danilovic & Marleen Hensbergen & Maya Hoveskog & Liudmila Zadayannaya, 2015. "Exploring Diffusion and Dynamics of Corporate Social Responsibility," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 22(3), pages 129-141, May.
    7. George Ted Khiong Thien, 2015. "CSR for Clients’ Social/Environmental Impacts?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 22(2), pages 83-94, March.
    8. Wirth, Herbert & Kulczycka, Joanna & Hausner, Jerzy & Koński, Maciej, 2016. "Corporate Social Responsibility: Communication about social and environmental disclosure by large and small copper mining companies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 53-60.
    9. Peter Rodgers & Peter Stokes & Shlomo Tarba & Zaheer Khan, 2019. "The Role of Non-market Strategies in Establishing Legitimacy: The Case of Service MNEs in Emerging Economies," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 59(4), pages 515-540, August.
    10. Olaf Weber, 2014. "Environmental, Social and Governance Reporting in China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(5), pages 303-317, July.
    11. Concetta Carnevale & Maria Mazzuca & Sergio Venturini, 2012. "Corporate Social Reporting in European Banks: The Effects on a Firm's Market Value," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(3), pages 159-177, May.
    12. Jose Manuel Diaz‐Sarachaga, 2021. "Shortcomings in reporting contributions towards the sustainable development goals," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(4), pages 1299-1312, July.
    13. Alina Benyaminova & Martin Mathews & Paul Langley & Alison Rieple, 2019. "The impact of changes in stakeholder salience on corporate social responsibility activities in Russian energy firms: A contribution to the divergence/convergence debate," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(6), pages 1222-1234, November.
    14. Matisoff, Daniel C., 2013. "Different rays of sunlight: Understanding information disclosure and carbon transparency," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 579-592.
    15. Sciences, Research Coach in Social & Truong, Linh, 2019. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Job Pursuit Intention: A study of Moderating Role of Personal Values. RCISS-0919-05," OSF Preprints rx6am, Center for Open Science.
    16. Antonio Corvino & Silvio Bianchi Martini & Federica Doni, 2021. "Extinction accounting and accountability: Empirical evidence from the west European tissue industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2556-2570, July.
    17. Alberto Romolini & Silvia Fissi & Elena Gori, 2014. "Scoring CSR Reporting in Listed Companies – Evidence from Italian Best Practices," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(2), pages 65-81, March.
    18. Jose Manuel Diaz‐Sarachaga, 2021. "Monetizing impacts of Spanish companies toward the Sustainable Development Goals," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(4), pages 1313-1323, July.
    19. María Mar Miralles-Quirós & José Luis Miralles-Quirós & Luis Miguel Valente Gonçalves, 2018. "The Value Relevance of Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance: The Brazilian Case," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-15, February.
    20. Vincent Amooti Bagire & Immaculate Tusiime & Grace Nalweyiso & John Bosco Kakooza, 2011. "Contextual environment and stakeholder perception of corporate social responsibility practices in uganda," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(2), pages 102-109, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:wly:corsem:v:17:y:2010:i:2:p:63-69. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)1535-3966 .

    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.