IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ijocsr/v1y2016i1d10.1186_s40991-016-0002-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Rethinking corporate social responsibility in the age of climate change: a communication perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Myria W. Allen

    (University of Arkansas)

  • Christopher A. Craig

    (University of Arkansas)

Abstract

In the winter of 2015 world leaders presented plans for keeping the global temperature rise below 2 °C due to projected climate change threats. These threats present organizations, communities, and citizens with the need to change viewing corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a voluntary luxury to being a necessity. This essay proposes refocusing CSR efforts in light of projected climate challenges and expanding our investigation into the role of communication in such efforts. Communication is more than a tool to craft a positive corporate image so as to gain or protect legitimacy. It is the means through which CSR sustainability-related initiatives are created and disseminated within organizations and among their key stakeholders (i.e., governments, communities, competitors, supply chains, employees). Suggestions for future research exploring CSR, sustainability, and communication are offered.

Suggested Citation

  • Myria W. Allen & Christopher A. Craig, 2016. "Rethinking corporate social responsibility in the age of climate change: a communication perspective," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ijocsr:v:1:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1186_s40991-016-0002-8
    DOI: 10.1186/s40991-016-0002-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1186/s40991-016-0002-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1186/s40991-016-0002-8?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Myria Allen, 2016. "Strategic Communication for Sustainable Organizations," CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance, Springer, edition 127, number 978-3-319-18005-2, October.
    2. 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.
    3. Salzmann, Oliver & Ionescu-somers, Aileen & Steger, Ulrich, 2005. "The Business Case for Corporate Sustainability:: Literature Review and Research Options," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 27-36, February.
    4. Craig, Christopher A., 2016. "Energy consumption, energy efficiency, and consumer perceptions: A case study for the Southeast United States," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 660-669.
    5. Michael Mitchell & Allan Curtis & Penny Davidson, 2012. "Can triple bottom line reporting become a cycle for “double loop” learning and radical change?," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 25(6), pages 1048-1068, July.
    6. James McFarland & Yuyu Zhou & Leon Clarke & Patrick Sullivan & Jesse Colman & Wendy Jaglom & Michelle Colley & Pralit Patel & Jiyon Eom & Son Kim & G. Kyle & Peter Schultz & Boddu Venkatesh & Juanita , 2015. "Erratum to: Impacts of rising air temperatures and emissions mitigation on electricity demand and supply in the United States: a multi-model comparison," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 132(4), pages 739-739, October.
    7. Tucker, Michael, 1997. "Climate change and the insurance industry: the cost of increased risk and the impetus for action," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 85-96, August.
    8. James McFarland & Yuyu Zhou & Leon Clarke & Patrick Sullivan & Jesse Colman & Wendy Jaglom & Michelle Colley & Pralit Patel & Jiyon Eom & Son Kim & G. Kyle & Peter Schultz & Boddu Venkatesh & Juanita , 2015. "Impacts of rising air temperatures and emissions mitigation on electricity demand and supply in the United States: a multi-model comparison," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 131(1), pages 111-125, July.
    9. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    10. Richard Heede, 2014. "Tracing anthropogenic carbon dioxide and methane emissions to fossil fuel and cement producers, 1854–2010," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 122(1), pages 229-241, January.
    11. Oguz Morali & Cory Searcy, 2013. "A Review of Sustainable Supply Chain Management Practices in Canada," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 117(3), pages 635-658, October.
    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. Béatrice Parguel & Johnson Guillaume, 2021. "Beyond greenwashing: Addressing 'the great illusion' of green advertising," Post-Print halshs-03425494, HAL.
    2. Hildegunn Mellesmo Aslaksen & Clare Hildebrandt & Hans Chr. Garmann Johnsen, 2021. "The long-term transformation of the concept of CSR: towards a more comprehensive emphasis on sustainability," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-14, December.
    3. Susanne Rank & Francoise Contreras, 2021. "Do Millennials pay attention to Corporate Social Responsibility in comparison to previous generations? Are they motivated to lead in times of transformation? A qualitative review of generations, CSR a," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-13, December.
    4. Asif Mahmood & Rana Tahir Naveed & Naveed Ahmad & Miklas Scholz & Muhammad Khalique & Mohammad Adnan, 2021. "Unleashing the Barriers to CSR Implementation in the SME Sector of a Developing Economy: A Thematic Analysis Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-20, November.
    5. Xu, Weidong & Huang, Wenxuan & Li, Donghui, 2024. "Climate risk and investment efficiency," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    6. Riccardo Rodella & Maria Rosa De Giacomo, 2023. "How do financial markets reward companies tackling climate change concerns? A natural experiment based on the Brexit referendum," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 979-990, March.
    7. Heidi Hansen & Astrid Jensen & Cindie Maagaard, 2022. "The brand manager as practical author. An empirical study of the co-creation of a CSR-based brand," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 29(6), pages 584-597, November.
    8. Xue-Zhou Zhao & Jun Chen & Feng-Wen Chen & Wei Wang & Senmao Xia, 2020. "How High-Polluting Firms Suffer from Being Distracted form Intended Purpose: A Corporate Social Responsibility Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-29, December.
    9. Rosalynn Vasquez, 2022. "CSR, CSA, or CPA? Examining Corporate Climate Change Communication Strategies, Motives, and Effects on Consumer Outcomes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-16, March.
    10. Claudia Quitmann & Rainer Sauerborn & Alina Herrmann, 2021. "Gaps in Reporting Greenhouse Gas Emissions by German Hospitals—A Systematic Grey Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-19, January.
    11. Vasileva, Elka & Hristova – Pesheva, Juliya, 2019. "Green communications through ISO 14 000 standards series and other voluntary initiatives," MPRA Paper 106978, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Sk Alamgir Hossain & Yukon Bao & Najmul Hasan & Md Farijul Islam, 2020. "Perception and prediction of intention to use online banking systems: An empirical study using extended TAM," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 9(1), pages 112-126, January.
    13. Sara De Masi & Agnieszka Słomka‐Gołębiowska & Claudio Becagli & Andrea Paci, 2021. "Toward sustainable corporate behavior: The effect of the critical mass of female directors on environmental, social, and governance disclosure," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1865-1878, May.
    14. Wojciech Leonski, 2022. "Corporate Social Responsibility in Airports: A Study of the Largest Polish Airports," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(2), pages 198-209.
    15. Widhayani Puri Setioningtyas & Csaba Bálint Illés & Anna Dunay & Abdul Hadi & Tony Susilo Wibowo, 2022. "Environmental Economics and the SDGs: A Review of Their Relationships and Barriers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-24, June.
    16. Meenakshi Sharma & Akanksha Choubey, 2022. "Green banking initiatives: a qualitative study on Indian banking sector," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 293-319, January.
    17. Martin Gerner, 2019. "Assessing and managing sustainability in international perspective: corporate sustainability across cultures – towards a strategic framework implementation approach," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 1-34, December.
    18. Jordan Famularo, 2023. "Corporate social responsibility communication in the ICT sector: digital issues, greenwashing, and materiality," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-25, December.
    19. Anushree Poddar & Sapna A. Narula & Ambika Zutshi, 2019. "A study of corporate social responsibility practices of the top Bombay Stock Exchange 500 companies in India and their alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(6), pages 1184-1205, November.
    20. Miriam Jankalová & Radoslav Jankal, 2020. "Self-assessment of the corporate social responsibility in the area of postal company," Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, VsI Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, vol. 7(3), pages 1872-1886, March.
    21. Shouhao Li & Weiquan Cheng & Jingjing Li & Hao Shen, 2021. "Corporate Social Responsibility Development and Climate Change: Regional Evidence of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-20, October.
    22. Shaymaa Al-Said Salem & Dina Elkhattat, 2023. "Environmental Responsibility of the Banking Sector in UAE: Practices to Confront Climate Change Risks," Scientia Moralitas Conference Proceedings 01256, Research Association for Interdisciplinary Studies.
    23. Anne Elizabeth Fordham & Guy M. Robinson, 2018. "Mapping meanings of corporate social responsibility – an Australian case study," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 1-20, December.

    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. Craig, Christopher A. & Feng, Song, 2017. "Exploring utility organization electricity generation, residential electricity consumption, and energy efficiency: A climatic approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P1), pages 779-790.
    2. Craig, Christopher A. & Feng, Song, 2016. "An examination of electricity generation by utility organizations in the Southeast United States," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 116(P1), pages 601-608.
    3. Stefan Schaltegger & Jacob Hörisch, 2017. "In Search of the Dominant Rationale in Sustainability Management: Legitimacy- or Profit-Seeking?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(2), pages 259-276, October.
    4. Mark Anthony Camilleri, 2017. "Corporate sustainability and responsibility: creating value for business, society and the environment," Asian Journal of Sustainability and Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 59-74, September.
    5. Craig, Christopher A., 2016. "Energy consumption, energy efficiency, and consumer perceptions: A case study for the Southeast United States," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 660-669.
    6. Christian Felber & Vanessa Campos & Joan R. Sanchis, 2019. "The Common Good Balance Sheet, an Adequate Tool to Capture Non-Financials?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-23, July.
    7. Roman Tylżanowski & Katarzyna Kazojć & Ireneusz Miciuła, 2023. "Exploring the Link between Energy Efficiency and the Environmental Dimension of Corporate Social Responsibility: A Case Study of International Companies in Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-18, August.
    8. Antony Paulraj & Injazz J. Chen & Constantin Blome, 2017. "Motives and Performance Outcomes of Sustainable Supply Chain Management Practices: A Multi-theoretical Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 145(2), pages 239-258, October.
    9. Duygu Turker, 2009. "Measuring Corporate Social Responsibility: A Scale Development Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 85(4), pages 411-427, April.
    10. Yousif Munadhil Ibrahim & Norsiah Hami & Susan Sabah Abdulameer, 2020. "Assessing Sustainable Manufacturing Practices and Sustainability Performance Among Oil and Gas Industry in Iraq," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(4), pages 60-67.
    11. Larissa Shnayder & Frank J van Rijnsoever & Marko P Hekkert, 2015. "Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is: Why Sustainability Reporting Based on the Triple Bottom Line Can Be Misleading," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(3), pages 1-23, March.
    12. Louisa Pollok & Sebastian Spierling & Hans-Josef Endres & Ulrike Grote, 2021. "Social Life Cycle Assessments: A Review on Past Development, Advances and Methodological Challenges," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-29, September.
    13. Cole, Wesley & Lewis, Haley & Sigrin, Ben & Margolis, Robert, 2016. "Interactions of rooftop PV deployment with the capacity expansion of the bulk power system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 473-481.
    14. Shelby D. Hunt, 2017. "Strategic marketing, sustainability, the triple bottom line, and resource-advantage (R-A) theory: Securing the foundations of strategic marketing theory and research," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 7(1), pages 52-66, June.
    15. Lis, Bettina, 2012. "The Relevance of Corporate Social Responsibility for a Sustainable Human Resource Management: An Analysis of Organizational Attractiveness as a Determinant in Employees’ Selection of a (Potential) Emp," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 23(3), pages 279-295.
    16. Fant, Charles & Boehlert, Brent & Strzepek, Kenneth & Larsen, Peter & White, Alisa & Gulati, Sahil & Li, Yue & Martinich, Jeremy, 2020. "Climate change impacts and costs to U.S. electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    17. Hannah Jun & Seoyoung Moon, 2021. "An Analysis of Sustainability Integration in Business School Curricula: Evidence from Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-19, March.
    18. Szennay, Áron, 2020. "A vállalati társadalmi felelősségvállalás megközelítései és a fenntartható fejlődés [How popular approaches to corporate social responsibility relate to sustainable development]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(10), pages 1057-1074.
    19. Sojin Jung & Jung Ha‐Brookshire, 2017. "Perfect or Imperfect Duties? Developing a Moral Responsibility Framework for Corporate Sustainability from the Consumer Perspective," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(4), pages 326-340, July.
    20. Massimo Battaglia & Francesco Testa & Lara Bianchi & Fabio Iraldo & Marco Frey, 2014. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Competitiveness within SMEs of the Fashion Industry: Evidence from Italy and France," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-22, 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:spr:ijocsr:v:1:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1186_s40991-016-0002-8. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.