Operationalizing Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR) Through Reporting: A CSRD Assessment of Convergence, Resonance, and Divergence

As digital technologies transform how companies create value, Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR) has emerged as a response to both the risks and opportunities of the digital realm. However, despite the normative importance of, for example, transparent algorithms, green IT, or responsible AI, practical applications remain limited. Additionally, scholars and practitioners continue to debate the boundaries between CDR and corporate social responsibility (CSR) matters, leaving the scope and relevance of CDR unclear for many stakeholders. This chapter addresses these ambiguities. We derived 27 CDR dimensions through a content analysis of six CDR frameworks and synthesized them with the 82 disclosure requirements of the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Our analysis yielded 13 dimensions showing convergence, 9 dimensions demonstrating resonance, and 11 dimensions indicating divergence, based on which we propose a pathway for operationalizing CDR into reporting structures. Through the synthesis of CDR and CSRD, our chapter advances theoretical understanding of CDR and proposes how established reporting measures can enhance CDR in practice, recognizing that reporting primarily ensures mandatory transparency rather than actual performance achievements.