Search results

Antiglobalisation sentiments appear to be on the rise in some parts of the world. As such, there are concerns that this may in turn jeopardise some of the common business practices, such as corporate social responsibility (CSR). This study argues that that is not the case. On the contrary, CSR is firmly entrenched as an institution in the political, economic and social structures of the globalised market. By that reason, it is relatively insulated from any attempts to undo the process of globalisation. However, the proliferation of connections between individuals, organisations and institutions across the world in recent years has irrevocably changed the market dynamics, particularly in relation to the process of value creation between a firm and its stakeholders. In this new market landscape, stakeholders play an active role in exchanging resources amongst themselves towards achieving socioeconomic outcomes, with the firm facilitating or mediating the connections. Thus, we see the rise of new value chains and business propositions. In light of that, CSR too would need to evolve and adapt to the current market circumstances or otherwise risk losing legitimacy. For that purpose, a fresh market paradigm is required. To that end, this study proposes the adoption of the service-dominant logic (SDL) perspective as a general framework for firms to conceive and operationalise their CSR. It concludes with an illustrative case, which provides some indication of how the precepts of SDL could be applied in the context of CSR, in an age of enhanced interactivity between the various actors.

This chapter aims to understand to what extent the use of cause-related marketing, can become a tool of strategic positioning and differentiation for influencing consumption decisions of a critical type of external stakeholder, that is, the customers (participants and non-participants), in the context of school sports events. Accordingly, quantitative empirical research was carried out resorting to a questionnaire. A sample of 829 pupils in mainland Portugal was gathered, covering both participants and non-participants in School Sports events associated with food products, namely, Compal Air and Nestum Rugby. The results reveal that customers’ perception of the attributes of social responsibility and of the general attributes of the brand has a positive influence on consumption decisions, especially with regard to participants in this type of event. In addition, individual motivations, determining the decision to participate or not in events, are found to influence the consumption decision.

To investigate consumer responses to conditional (CRM) versus unconditional (corporate philanthropy) corporate giving initiatives in advertising. Cross-cultural approach to investigate whether Dutch and Germans differ in their responses.

2×3, between-subjects experiment, involving 178 Dutch and German consumers (convenience samples). Nationality and type of corporate giving initiative were the independent variables. Type of corporate giving initiative was manipulated in a product advertisement. Attitude to company, attitude to product and purchasing intent were measured in a written questionnaire.

Main effect for type of corporate giving initiative: participants exposed to the conditional (CRM) or the unconditional (corporate philanthropy) giving initiatives displayed significantly more positive attitudes to company than participants in the control condition. Main effect for nationality: German participants were significantly more positive about the product and the company than the Dutch. No effects on purchasing intent, and no interaction between nationality and type of corporate giving initiative.

Communicating about corporate giving (in advertising) can contribute to positive consumer outcomes, with respect to attitude to the company. The two nationalities studied did not differ in their response to the two types of corporate giving initiative, suggesting that both types could be effective in boosting corporate reputation in these countries.

Cross-cultural research on consumer response to CSR initiatives is underrepresented, as are studies that investigate the relative effects of different types of corporate giving. This study regionally expands research on the efficacy of corporate giving to Germany and the Netherlands.

The increasing importance of corporate social responsibility in recent years has been largely discussed, mainly as a part of business strategies to cope with growing environmental challenges. Discourses regarding corporate social responsibility intensified with the emergence of financial crisis. Many of these debates refer to the role CSR plays in society and reasons for a company to involve in supporting social causes in times of crisis.

We examine the role of communication in stimulating consumer attitudes and buying behavior regarding corporate social responsibility (CSR).

We review the literature on communicating CSR to consumers through (1) messages constructed and verified by the company (such as product claims and corporate advertising), (2) messages constructed by the company, but verified by a third party (such as disclosures), and (3) messages constructed and verified by a third party (such as independent consumer guides and publicity).

Communication messages constructed and verified by the company can be quite effective in persuading consumers, if they are communicated in a credible way. The latter can, for example, be done by including specific behaviors and/or outcomes in the message. Messages constructed by the firm, but verified by a third party tend to have a higher credibility, but risk containing either too little information or too much. Finally, messages constructed and verified by a third party can be seen as highly credible, but can sometimes be seen as merely PR. In addition, both messages focusing on deontological responsibility (the firm’s motives and behavior), and messages focusing on consequentialist responsibility (the outcomes of the firm’s behavior) seem important to consumers.

The results offer suggestions on how to communicate about CSR to consumers.

The chapter provides the first comprehensive overview of the literature on communication about CSR to consumers.

Considering a macro view of business and higher education interactions, this chapter explores key facets for business interest in other organizations (e.g., other businesses and their social agendas, nonprofits, and higher education) and a trend toward the creation of signature programs, which allow most companies to focus efforts by highlighting Carroll's (1991) Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility and Jacoby's (1973) Three Models of Behavior of the Business Enterprise. This chapter also addresses ethical opportunities and problems.

This chapter reviews The Bruntland Report (United Nations, 1987) and World Economic Forum's (2002) views and broader concerns for people, profit, and planet. Cone's (2010a) corporate citizenship spectrum is explained and discussed. This more modern concept focuses on more sophisticated behaviors of companies including employee engagement, modern measurements of impact and outcomes, and consideration of signature programming.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an essential part of business, and companies should genuinely incorporate social responsibilities toward internal and external stakeholders in their operations. The most important stakeholder group is the personnel, which is why employers should pay attention to strengthening the employer–employee relationship. The purpose of this text is to demonstrate the connections between employer branding and CSR.

Theory on employer branding and CSR indicates that there are both strategic and operational connections. Strategically, employer branding can be considered the outcome of the co-operation among branding, CSR, and human resource management (HRM). At an operational level, there are several CSR activities that can be of use when developing and implementing economic, functional, and psychological employer-branding elements.

In order to establish how CSR is used in employer branding in practice, a qualitative content analysis of the website communication of three multinational IT companies was made. All of the companies have been acknowledged for their strong internal employer brands, and the analysis focused on what types of CSR activities they communicate externally as part of their employer branding efforts.

The study concludes that CSR can be relevant to employer branding and presents a categorization model for facilitating a concrete integration of CSR and employer-branding elements.

In current economic systems, the role played by non-profit and voluntary organisations is relevant. Several studies analyse the development of these organisations and suggest reasons related to the dissemination of policies that first consider public intervention and then ‘the third way’ of the economy as a way to increase wealth and support economic development. In this context, it should be noted that:

• Modern non-profit organisations (NPOs) take the form of enterprises encouraging the development of capabilities to satisfy human needs in terms of production of goods and utilities.

• A systematic cooperation with the local context (i.e. enterprises and Public Administration) is becoming increasingly more important for the survival and development of NPOs.

• Excellent opportunities for economic and social growth and for mutual development can develop from this type of cooperation.

• Starting from this premise, the purpose of the research is to suggest some insight on the theme of cooperation between for-profit and non-profit world in the light of the thought of Church’s Social Doctrine, and in particular, of the Encyclical Letter of Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate – On Integral Human Development in Charity and Truth. In this sense, the contribution is a conceptual work; the study could improve with empirical research concerning the level of diffusion and the form of collaborations for-profit/non-profit in the Italian context.

Modern non-profit organisations (NPOs) take the form of enterprises encouraging the development of capabilities to satisfy human needs in terms of production of goods and utilities.

A systematic cooperation with the local context (i.e. enterprises and Public Administration) is becoming increasingly more important for the survival and development of NPOs.

Excellent opportunities for economic and social growth and for mutual development can develop from this type of cooperation.

Starting from this premise, the purpose of the research is to suggest some insight on the theme of cooperation between for-profit and non-profit world in the light of the thought of Church’s Social Doctrine, and in particular, of the Encyclical Letter of Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate – On Integral Human Development in Charity and Truth. In this sense, the contribution is a conceptual work; the study could improve with empirical research concerning the level of diffusion and the form of collaborations for-profit/non-profit in the Italian context.

From a methodological point of view, after a literature review on NPOs and corporate social responsibility, the chapter analyses reasons, strategies and tools of collaborations between non-profit and for-profit worlds (the role of Public Administration and hybrid organisation is excluded). Then, focus moves up on Church’s Social Doctrine and Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate with particular attention to the topic analysed in this chapter (collaboration for-profit/non-profit enterprises). The vision emerging from the Encyclical is that the dichotomy between for-profit and NPOs should be resolved by striving for the development of a ‘civil economy’ with the capacity to promote the overall development of the human being. The research highlights the importance of dissemination of initiatives promoted predominantly by NPOs, with the objective of stimulating and supporting the implementation of forms of structured collaboration; we are sure that a ‘connection point’ between for-profit and non-profit is now necessary.