Search results

1 – 10 of over 1000
Book part
Publication date: 11 October 2017

Wim J.L. Elving and Rosa May Postma

In this study, the strategies of companies regarding social media and stakeholder dialogue and engagement are central. Based on insights from previous studies, it showed that…

Abstract

In this study, the strategies of companies regarding social media and stakeholder dialogue and engagement are central. Based on insights from previous studies, it showed that organizations used little opportunities for stakeholder dialogue on social media. Since dialogue is a condition to create engagement, it is of importance for a follow-up study. Therefore, 10 respondents from leading European companies were interviewed and asked about strategies regarding stakeholder dialogue and related topics. From the results, we can conclude that engaging in dialogue with stakeholders on social media is still underdeveloped. Organizations are not only missing opportunities but also take risk not pursuing the opportunities social media offer.

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How Strategic Communication Shapes Value and Innovation in Society
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-716-4

Keywords

Abstract

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Responsible Investment Around the World: Finance after the Great Reset
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-851-0

Book part
Publication date: 24 June 2017

Luísa Augusto

This chapter aims to understand the communication practices of CSR in technological environments, specifically corporate websites. It is important to know what are the dimensions…

Abstract

This chapter aims to understand the communication practices of CSR in technological environments, specifically corporate websites. It is important to know what are the dimensions of CSR most valued in online communication, what content is more widespread, and if there is dialogic communication between organizations and different stakeholders. It was used a quantitative method of analysis, using the expanded web content analysis. It was based on the study results of the 1,000 largest Portuguese companies published by the Economic Journal in 2014. The chapter includes the analysis of the best companies from 24 sectors of activity of Portugal. Portuguese organizations use their websites to communicate about CSR practices. A large majority of companies dedicate to these subjects a higher number of pages. The findings indicate that the issues disseminated are various, but the predominance content is related to environmental dimension. Results suggest a low level of dialogic dimension adoption. It is proposed a theoretical framework of online communication of CSR that integrates a set of indicators from three interlinked dimensions: the technical dimension, the informational dimension and dialogical dimension, considering the different kind of publics and the different practice areas inherent to CSR. This framework is a contribution to the deepening of knowledge and understanding of online communication of CSR practices, on the perspective of public relations theory. It has practical implications to communication, because it proposes guidelines that should be considered in an effective online communication of CSR in organizations of various sectors of activity in Portugal. It is proposed a theoretical framework of an effective online communication of CSR that integrates a set of indicators from three interlinked dimensions that are part of the dialogical capacity of organizations.

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Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Governance
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-411-8

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Book part
Publication date: 24 June 2017

Lina M. Gómez and Ramón W. Borges-Tavárez

The chapter examines the employment of unique social media concepts (e.g., dialogue, engagement, mobilization, authenticity, influence, and transparency) for CSR communication…

Abstract

The chapter examines the employment of unique social media concepts (e.g., dialogue, engagement, mobilization, authenticity, influence, and transparency) for CSR communication among top companies in Latin America. A quantitative content analysis of 1,000 tweets from corporate official accounts of the top 25 largest firms in the Latin Trade ranking was performed. Tweets were randomly selected if contained hashtags or keywords related to CSR concepts (CSR, sustainability, citizenship, society, environment, etc.). Transparency was the social media concept most employed on CSR-related messages on Twitter. However, most of the companies did not include any of the social media features analyzed. The results of this chapter are consistent with previous studies that social media is used as another traditional informational channel. This work only analyzed tweets sent by Latin American companies, it did not take into consideration responses to messages (replies or retweets of the followers of each company). Future studies can examine stakeholders’ response regarding CSR communication for in-depth analysis of the use of social media by Latin American companies. Organizations and companies can benefit from the results of this work in order to craft effective content on social media that includes features and strategies that can resonance to different groups of stakeholders. CSR social media communication studies that focused on Latin America are scarce. Our study is pioneer in analyzing the usage of social media concepts for CSR communication in Latin America.

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Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Governance
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-411-8

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Book part
Publication date: 6 November 2015

Hans van Ees, Kaspar van den Ham, Theo J. B. M. Postma and Kees Verschoor

Defaults in corporations, financial institutions and semipublic organizations have resulted in (corporate) governance Codes and Law provisions that aim to improve governance, risk…

Abstract

Purpose

Defaults in corporations, financial institutions and semipublic organizations have resulted in (corporate) governance Codes and Law provisions that aim to improve governance, risk management and policy making by executive and non-executive directors of involved boards in The Netherlands and across the globe. The aim of this chapter is to discuss how semipublic organizations deal with public interest and the contribution of multiple stakeholder team production theory (MSTP) to effectively deal with the issue of how to include interests of different stakeholders and the general public interest in the governance of and policy making by boards of semipublic organizations. This includes the identification, raising awareness and analysis of various interests and their implications.

Methodology/approach

The authors use a literature review and their own experience.

Findings

Based on our literature review and experience converging in a case study design, we hold that a semipublic organization’s exposure to public interests and how it deals with that will remain a critical issue.

Practical implications

We develop a research approach for dealing with stakeholders’ and the public interest and conclude that a governance perspective grounded in team production theory allows for a much better focused incorporation of possibly conflicting stakeholder interests, including public stakeholder interests and stakeholder commitment and cooperation than the dominant control perspective that is currently prevailing.

Originality/value

We contribute to the literature by arguing that the combined MSTP approach offers a pre-eminent approach to influence and shape board behaviour, an increased awareness of interests of different stakeholders coalescing in the public interest and an alternative, complementary view on decision-making by boards viewed as a team.

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Contingency, Behavioural and Evolutionary Perspectives on Public and Nonprofit Governance
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-429-4

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 19 February 2021

Paul Capriotti, Ileana Zeler and Mark Anthony Camilleri

Web 2.0 and the social networks have changed how organizations interact with their publics. They enable organizations to engage in symmetric dialogic communications with…

Abstract

Web 2.0 and the social networks have changed how organizations interact with their publics. They enable organizations to engage in symmetric dialogic communications with individuals. Various organizations are increasingly ­using different social media to enhance their visibility and relationships with their publics. They allow them to disseminate information, to participate, listen and actively engage in online conversations with different stakeholders. Some social networks have become a key instrument for corporate communication. Therefore, this chapter presents a critical review on the organizations’ dialogic communications with the publics via social networks. It puts forward a conceptual framework that comprises five key dimensions including ­“active presence,” “interactive attitude,” “interactive resources,” “responsiveness” and “conversation.” This contribution examines each dimension and explains their effect on the organizations’ dialogic communication with the publics. Hence, this contribution has resulted in important implications for corporate communication practitioners as well as for academia. Moreover, it opens future research avenues to academia.

Book part
Publication date: 28 July 2014

Sarah Inauen and Dennis Schoeneborn

The era of globalization has increased the challenges for multinational corporations (MNCs) to retain legitimacy. In striving for legitimacy, MNCs increasingly engage in dialogue…

Abstract

Purpose

The era of globalization has increased the challenges for multinational corporations (MNCs) to retain legitimacy. In striving for legitimacy, MNCs increasingly engage in dialogue processes with their stakeholders. However, the era of globalization and the parallel rise of the Internet and the new “Web 2.0” have dramatically widened the range of options for such dialogue processes. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in particular make use of “social media” (e.g., Facebook, Weblogs, Twitter) which enable them to quickly generate attention regarding socially and environmentally harmful business practices by MNCs. In response, MNCs have started applying social media technologies for corporate communication purposes. However, given the novelty of these activities, we lack knowledge on how these organizations make use of social media. Therefore, in this chapter, we examine how MNCs and NGOs utilize one particular social media application, that is, Twitter, for dialogic stakeholder communication.

Design/methodology/approach

In our empirical study, we examine current practices of Twitter usage by MNCs and NGOs. We investigate a dataset of more than 3,000 Twitter articles from 30 MNCs and 30 NGOs in the German-speaking world. Our analysis is based on the “conceptual orality or literality” scale by Koch and Oesterreicher (1994).

Findings

The comparative analysis shows that on average MNCs and NGOs exhibit a surprisingly similar profile on Twitter. Both tend toward conceptual literality. However, the analysis of Tweets per organization reveals a much larger variance. At the extreme poles, while some NGOs (like Greenpeace Youth) make extensive use of the medium’s potential for conceptual orality, some MNCs (like Deutsche Börse) almost entirely adhere to conceptual literality. In other words, these MNCs promote a classical one-way model of communication and fail to make use of the dialogue-like qualities of the medium.

Research limitations

We analyzed a small number of organizations and we restricted our study to MNCs and NGOs in the German-speaking world. Furthermore, Twitter only allows for short messages with a maximum of 140 letters or signs. This, in turn, renders questionable whether the medium is suited to establish deliberative dialogues between MNCs and NGOs that are based on more elaborate arguments which can be expressed in the short format.

Originality/value

Our study addresses the lack of research regarding new possibilities for stakeholder communication in the age of social media. Moreover, the study methodologically contributes to the study of social media in the context of corporate communication by applying the scale of “conceptual orality or literality” to MNCs’ and NGOs’ Twitter usage.

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Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility: Perspectives and Practice
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-796-2

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 26 August 2019

Veronica Cunningham

Purpose and Methodology – Championing a shared vision and strategy for informed learning (INFL) as an approach to information literacy (IL) education (ILE) centers on establishing…

Abstract

Purpose and Methodology – Championing a shared vision and strategy for informed learning (INFL) as an approach to information literacy (IL) education (ILE) centers on establishing a common understanding of IL/INFL that is sensitive to the variation in the ways stakeholders perceive their information context and conceptualize IL. Accordingly, the purpose of this chapter is to examine findings from a recent phenomenographic study of conceptions of IL that captures the understanding of IL held across multiple stakeholder groups in an international school community (Cunningham, 2017) and to use these findings to revisit Bruce’s (2008) RACER framework as a compass to champion INFL throughout an organization.

Findings and Originality – The phenomenographic study found that stakeholders did not hold one singular conception of IL but rather they shared a series of conceptions of IL to varying degrees, and that the variation in the ways IL was conceptualized prevailed across three continuums namely the individual-collective, affective-cognitive, and competency–personal mastery continuums. Furthermore, the comparative analysis of the series of conceptions of IL created the opportunity to develop a model of the common ground of conceptual understanding of IL thereby making an original contribution to knowledge. By undertaking a comparative analysis of this common ground model of IL with Bruce’s conceptions of IL/INFL and RACER framework for championing IL, the outcome is to present a new IL “without borders” model offering a blended strategic approach to advancing INFL/ILE based on a more representative understanding of the ways stakeholder groups perceive their information context and conceptualize IL.

Details

Informed Learning Applications: Insights from Research and Practice
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78769-062-2

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 28 July 2014

Magdalena Bielenia-Grajewska

The aim of this chapter is to discuss the communicative side of modern companies operating in the food industry, paying attention to the CSR discourse conducted in online…

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this chapter is to discuss the communicative side of modern companies operating in the food industry, paying attention to the CSR discourse conducted in online communication. In this contribution, an attempt is made to show how the dialogue on corporate social conscience taking place at corporate websites shapes the way companies can be perceived in terms of organizational metaphors and how this perception mirrors the performance of CSR-oriented companies.

Methodology/approach

The approach applied in this chapter relies on both discursive and social theories, characteristic of investigating metaphors. To narrow the scope of the research exclusively to one sector and its online identity, the author focuses on the role of websites and their discursive content to study the CSR communication in the food industry.

Findings

The analysis of online corporate representation related to CSR practices in the selected companies operating in the food industry has led to the creation of six metaphors that can be used to discuss the performance of modern food producers from the metaphorical perspective.

Research limitations

The chapter concentrates on analysing the selected websites of Polish and Italian food companies, without dividing the alimentation sector into subtypes.

Practical implications

The topic discussed in this study may be interesting not only for the specialists and academics interested in CSR but also for the broadly understood stakeholders of the alimentation sector.

Social implications

The chapter draws the readers’ attention to the role of communication in the relation between organizations and stakeholders and how it may shape organizational identities.

Originality

The issue of CSR-oriented communication in the food industry has not been studied in detail as far as organizational metaphors are concerned. As has been shown in this chapter, organizational metaphors facilitate the understanding of corporate identity in the alimentation sector, stressing its focus on corporate social conscience.

Details

Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility: Perspectives and Practice
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-796-2

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 9 July 2013

Adriana Budeanu

Sustainable development of tourism depends on the fragile balance between its fast growth and the tendency to “consume” its own life support systems: nature, culture, and…

Abstract

Sustainable development of tourism depends on the fragile balance between its fast growth and the tendency to “consume” its own life support systems: nature, culture, and communities. Finding equilibrium between the two conflicting aspects requires a shared rule making, which is seldom encountered, especially in tourism-centric approaches. The emergent new technologies, and particularly the evolution of social media, seem to offer a neutral ground that favors open participation and stakeholder dialogue. This chapter explores the employment of social media by individual users of TripAdvisor and by institutional actors (destination organizations) as platforms for initiating stakeholder dialogues that focus on sustainable tourism. The findings show that individual and institutional actors are slow in adopting social media as a means to discuss the sustainability of tourism.

Details

Tourism Social Media: Transformations in Identity, Community and Culture
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-213-4

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 1000