Despite the fact that culture is central in globalized and digitalized contexts, few studies have investigated how organizations are influenced by cultural dimensions in communicating their social responsibility efforts. Through the lens of cultural dimensions, this study aims at comparing communication displayed on corporate websites of top sustainable organizations. The aim is reached evaluating how Hofstede's cultural dimensions, reflected in corporate social responsibility (CSR) content, vary between companies in Asian context and other organizations worldwide. A coding scheme to analyze cultural impact on CSR communication content disclosed on websites was carried out. Findings show that Hofstede's cultural dimensions and online CSR communication belong to different levels of analysis: One is innate and diffusive, whereas the other one is intentional and rational. Differently from extant studies on cultural dimensions, results suggest that cultural dimensions are factors that should be analyzed as social aspects, whereas online CSR communication should instead be explored as strategic feature.
Abstract:The interest in corporate sustainability has increased rapidly in recent years and has encouraged organizations to adopt appropriate digital communication strategies, in which the corporate website plays a key role. Despite this growing attention in both the academic and business communities, models for the analysis and evaluation of online sustainability communication have not been developed to date. This paper aims to develop an operational model to identify and assess the requirements of sustainability communication in corporate websites. It has been developed from a literature review on corporate sustainability and digital communication and the analysis of the websites of the organizations included in the "Global CSR RepTrak 2015" by the Reputation Institute. The model identifies the core dimensions of online sustainability communication (orientation, structure, ergonomics, content-OSEC), sub-dimensions, such as stakeholder engagement and governance tools, communication principles, and measurable items (e.g., presence of the materiality matrix, interactive graphs). A pilot study on the websites of the energy and utilities companies included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index 2015 confirms the applicability of the OSEC framework. Thus, the model can provide managers and digital communication consultants with an operational tool that is useful for developing an industry ranking and assessing the best practices. The model can also help practitioners to identify corrective actions in the critical areas of digital sustainability communication and avoid greenwashing.
The growing interest in corporate sustainability (CS) orientation and the increasing attention on stakeholder engagement practices suggest to adopt new models and methods of decision-making for online corporate communication management. The working paper aims at highlighting the most significant principles, tools and content of communication for sustainability through corporate websites in order to create a successful value-proposition. The study draws from different fields of study, integrating approaches such as the Service Science Management and Engineering+Designand Viable Systems Approach. The proposed framework for CS communication on corporate websites has been defined in order to create value for the organization and increase reputational capital. The framework includes four main dimensions containing measurable sub-items. They focused on: orientation to sustainability; items belonging to the structure related to stakeholder engagement and CS governance tools; items related to content (in terms of their impact on core business and their adherence to communication principles); and process. The paper presents typical limitations of the deductive approach based on literature review. The framework could be used as a comprehensive tool to identify and avoid greenwashing traps in CS communication. This working paper could be considered a first step in a stream of research on a field of study not yet well explored to some extent.
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