Corporate Foundations: Their Role for Corporate Social Responsibility

Abstract

According to their statutes and published objectives, many foundations focus on the solution of social problems and on responding to unmet social needs. They aim at social value creation and serve as an ' antenna ' or ' sensor ' for societal needs and expectations. If the work of the foundation is coordinated with that of the founding corporation and knowledge is flowing between these organizational entities, corporations can profit from the foundation ' s activities and insights. However, since corporate foundations by their legal nature and very statutes are independent entities that are to exclusively pursue public-benefit purposes, this relationship is not free of potential conflicts of interest. Through expert interviews with representatives of fi ve major corporate foundations in Germany and their founding corporations, the practices of this cooperation were explored and implications for its improvement were discussed. Corporate Reputation Review (2006) 9, 144 -153.

Audience Enabling as Corporate Responsibility for Media Organizations

“…For example, Golob et al (2009, p. 458) define social and stakeholder expectations as the main drivers of corporate responsibility, and Westhues and Einwiller (2006, p. 145) see corporate responsibility as the anticipation of societal expectations and correspondence with corporate behavior and prevailing social norms, values, and performance expectations. Societal expectations were also mentioned by Bitektine (2008), Colleoni (2013), Golob et al (2009), Ihlen (2008, , and Westhues and Einwiller (2006) in relation to legitimacy that was seen to derive from congruence with societal expectations and norms, or to be dependent on the ability to meet, exceed, or even anticipate different societal expectations. What these societal expectations are in more detail-and, in particular, how they are formed-was often left unexplained.…”

“…However, a common assumption presented was that the expectations for corporate responsibility have, and most probably will continue to increase (see, e.g., Hanson & Stuart, 2001;Lindgreen & Swaen, 2005;Steyn & Niemann, 2010). Hence, being able to meet, exceed, or even to anticipate different societal expectations was seen essential for gaining legitimacy (Bitektine, 2008;Westhues & Einwiller, 2006). The concept of relationship was explained through expectations, especially in the sense that meeting expectations is essential for the continuation of relationships.…”

“…(Illia, Schmid, Fischbach, Hangartner, & Rivola, 2004, p. 11) "If there is any discrepancy between the expectations of those stakeholders that the company considers to be important and the company's own perceived identity, the company will nd itself compelled to modify those deviant elements in its identity." (Piechocki, 2004, p. 107) In my literature sample, expectations were used to explain reputation as the ability or capacity to fulfill the expectations posed by stakeholders or publics or as an assessment of how well the organization is meeting expectations (e.g., Coombs, 2007;Westhues & Einwiller, 2006). Furthermore, exceeding expectations was mentioned as a way to strengthen or improve reputation, whereas failing to meet expectations was seen as a source for reputational threats (e.g., .…”

“…Furthermore, exceeding expectations was mentioned as a way to strengthen or improve reputation, whereas failing to meet expectations was seen as a source for reputational threats (e.g., . Responsibility was explained in my sample as conformance to societal expectations or as anticipation of societal expectations (e.g., Golob, Jancic, & Lah, 2009;Westhues & Einwiller, 2006), much in the same vein as legitimacy, which was defined as societal support for organizational actions that result from congruence with societal expectations and norms (e.g., Barnett, 2007;.…”

Responsabilidad social de las empresas y fundaciones empresariales en la construcción de marcas responsables

“…These stakeholders include employees as well as clients, service providers, and the broader community. A corporate foundation even allows the company to improve its relationship with stakeholders that it could not reach otherwise, including audiences who benefit from the services provided by the corporate foundation, but who have never purchased the company's products or services (Westhues;Einwiller, 2006). In this way, the foundation mediates dialogue between the brand and interest groups (Pedrini; Minciullo, 2010) in terms highly focused on the company's CSR rather than in marketing or propaganda terms (Illia et al, 2010 Often both the company and its foundation will engage in activities that flow from the same social compromise but are uncoordinated…”