Developing a Framework for Measuring Effectiveness of Sustainability Communications through Corporate Websites

Abstract

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.

Communicating Sustainability Practices and Values: A case study approach of a micro-organisation in the UK

“…Authors (e.g. Birth et al 2008;Moreno & Capriotti 2009;Siano et al 2015;Font & Villarino 2015) highlight that in a B2C market place communicating sustainability values can have a positive impact on the organisation as a whole as it can lead to an enhanced brand image and reputation, increased trustworthiness, as well as a competitive edge and increased profit margins. A question that arises is whether this remains true within a B2B context and how the owner-manager can effectively communicate sustainability values to their business clients, which is addressed in this research.…”

Rethinking the Way of Doing Business: A Reframe of Management Structures for Developing Corporate Sustainability

“…Corporate Sustainability performance [44][45][46][47][48][49] Corporate Sustainability and strategic management [34,50,51] Sustainable business models [49,52] Corporate Sustainability reporting [13,30,53,54] Corporate Sustainability frameworks, tools and practices [55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64] Sustainable supply chain [65] Environmental Corporate Sustainability [66,67] Adopting Corporate Sustainability in specific countries/regions [68,69] Table 1 presents the literature reviews in CS grouped in seven key areas of research. These literature reviews are fundamentally important to advance the state of the art in CS; however, they have specific focus on certain areas of CS research.…”

Valutare e migliorare la comunicazione digitale per la sostenibilità: un modello operativo per i siti web

“…In questa prospettiva, la comunicazione online diviene un "vettore relazionale" in grado di connettere l'impresa con i propri stakeholder ed accrescere la corporate reputation (Fombrun e van Riel, 2004;Cornelissen, 2011). La corporate communication è volta a trasmettere in modo adeguato gli impegni assunti dall' organizzazione sostenibile, evitando disallineamenti tra quanto quest'ultima dichiara in termini di "promesse" e la sua effettiva capacità di portare a termine i risultati attesi, con successive attività di rendicontazione di ciò che è stato concretamente conseguito (Siano, 2014;Siano et al, 2015). D'altra parte, il disallineamento tra promesse e risultati concreti è fonte di rischio reputazionale (Gaultier-Gaillard e Louisot, 2006;Gaudenzi et al, 2015).…”

“…In una prima fase, è stata svolta la rassegna della letteratura in tema di corporate sustainability e di digital communication (Fuchs, 2008;Sanil e Ramakrishnan, 2015). Nell'ambito di questa fase, la ricerca ha permesso di selezionare, in una prospettiva top down, le macro categorie di riferimento (macro-item), vale a dire i fondamentali elementi che impattano sulle attività di comunicazione per la sostenibilità nei siti web (Siano et al, 2015). Le macro dimensioni individuate sulla base della rassegna della letteratura sono state poi sottoposte ad un riscontro e una validazione sul piano empirico, attraverso l' esame dei website delle organizzazioni classificate dal Reputation Institute nel Global CSR RepTrak 2015.…”