Four Aces: Bringing Communication Perspectives to Corporate Social Responsibility

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this chapter is to address the question of how communication studies can prove its value in relation to corporate social responsibility (CSR). As many disciplines seek to understand CSR, the role of communication has been relatively underexplored despite its prevalence in demonstrating and shaping social responsibility positions and practice.

Design/methodology/approach

Literature review.

Social implications

The literature review points to what we consider as four aces. Communication studies alert us to (1) how meaning is constructed through communication, something that has implications for the management of organizations as publics hold different views of CSR and expect different things from them; (2) how a dialogue between an organization and its publics should unfold; (3) how practices of transparency can assist organizations to come across as trustworthy actors; and, importantly, (4) how a complexity view is fruitful to grasp the CSR communication process.

Originality/value

These four key themes could be instructive for practitioners who want to argue for and demonstrate the usefulness of strategic communication for the management of CSR and bridge meso and macro levels of analysis.

Citation

Ihlen, Ø., May, S. and Bartlett, J. (2014), "Four Aces: Bringing Communication Perspectives to Corporate Social Responsibility", Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility: Perspectives and Practice (Critical Studies on Corporate Responsibility, Governance and Sustainability, Vol. 6), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 25-39. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2043-9059(2014)0000006023