Formative Perspectives on the Relation Between CSR Communication and CSR Practices: Pathways for Walking, Talking, and T(w)alking

Schoeneborn, Dennis; Morsing, Mette; Crane, Andrew

doi:10.1177/0007650319845091

Cited by 140 publications

(180 citation statements)

References 77 publications

(117 reference statements)

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“…Studies of such variations in felicity conditions respond to the call for greater precision in the understanding of talk-action relationships (Schoeneborn et al, 2019). Following these arguments and conclusions, our paper calls for further theoretical and empirical studies into the different contexts in which organizational aspirations are uttered, focusing in particular on the multiple felicity conditions at play as well as the different type of uptake possible.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Talk–Action Dynamics: Modalities of aspirational talk

Christensen

Morsing

Thyssen

2020

Organization Studies

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This paper investigates talk–action dynamics in the context of organizations, focusing in particular on situations where the talk concerns complex organizational aspirations, that is, situations where the implied action takes considerable effort to unfold and therefore extends into an unknown future. Using corporate social responsibility (CSR) as recurrent exemplar, we address talk–action dynamics in four different modalities of aspirational CSR talk: exploration, formulation, implementation and evaluation. By conceptualizing the precarious relationship between talk and action in each of these modalities, the paper disentangles talk and action, all the while acknowledging that the two are mutually intertwined. Hereby, the paper extends theories of communicative performativity, recovering the perlocutionary dimension and focusing on uptake beyond the moment in which the speech act is uttered.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Talk–Action Dynamics: Modalities of aspirational talk

Christensen

Morsing

Thyssen

2020

Organization Studies

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“…Some scholars claim that some companies bear higher costs of socially responsible policies only for commercial purposes, and not for altruistic reasons [52], or in some cases, to conceal fraudulent activities in order to preserve a clean-cut external image [53][54][55]. Moreover, studies mainly framed within the legitimacy theory observed that companies disclose NFI with the aim of legitimating themselves towards society, providing evidence that they operate within the boundaries established by society [56,57].…”

Section: Nonfinancial Information (Nfi) and Financial Outcomementioning

confidence: 99%

The “Walk” towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Does Mandated “Talk” through NonFinancial Disclosure Affect Companies’ Financial Performance?

2020

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With its Global Compact, the United Nations (UN) called companies to align strategies and operations with universal principles on human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption, while settling and pursuing the seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Achieving SDGs in business reporting is part of the lively debate in the literature about the ability of nonfinancial reporting in providing stakeholders with useful and value-relevant information about companies' behaviors. This paper intends to address this issue in the aftermath of the recent European Union EU policy (Directive 95/2014/EU) of mandating companies to disclose nonfinancial information (NFI) according to some of the SDGs matters. To this end, the Italian context was analyzed, and main findings provide some early evidence of the absence of association between NFI and financial/market performance. At the same time, the positive association between companies' Beta factor and size and NFI is supported. This implies that stakeholders still do not appreciate NFI reported according to the new rules and probably that more time is needed to assess the possible advantages of an improved regulation about NFI. However, results show that larger companies and/or companies with higher risk profiles (Beta) have already started to improve their NFI.

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“…Both play an important role in changing the way in which a recipient of communication understands, processes and makes decisions based on that communication. Without this step, we would focus only on the content of non-financial communication without paying attention to the form of the message, to its specific modes of transmission or to its mode of reception (Brunton et a., 2017;Rodrigue, 2014;Schoeneborn et al, 2019). Linked to the theme of perception, deception and ethics is the concept of greenwashing, often referred to as 'misleading environmental communication'.…”

Section: Background and Aimsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainability, responsibility and ethics: different concepts for a single path

Torelli

2020

SRJ

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the concepts of sustainability, responsibility and ethics focussing on their links and differences, also to understand how companies move respectively in these field; to understand how companies sometimes move away from the basic and deep meaning of these concepts, landing in a merely utilitarian sphere of personal advantage where ethics, instead of being an irreplaceable and essential stronghold, is found to be a fiction or just an instrument. Design/methodology/approach The methodology used assumes a theoretical critical approach and, based on the vast literature on the items, is based on a conceptual analysis of the themes of sustainability, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ethics and of the behaviour that companies can adopt in the three contexts. A critical approach to these issues and concepts can effectively help us to understand how companies are responding to external demands and to the challenges of responsibility and sustainability, which are becoming increasingly pressing. Findings Ethics, sustainability, CSR and social and environmental reporting are distinct constructs with different meanings but linked by important conceptual and operational relationships. Research limitations/implications The results of the research are the consequence of the application of a critical approach based on a theoretical analysis of the concepts under study. It would be interesting to support the results achieved with empirical research studies. Practical implications This conceptual path helps scholars and companies themselves to understand the difference between the three key concepts analysed. Only by understanding the basic meaning will it be possible to really make one’s own and pursue it in the correct way. Social implications Nowadays, the authors are overwhelmed by these three concepts which are used as synonyms and incorrectly. This leads to confusion and misunderstandings. Knowledge of the characteristics and differences between these concepts and their concrete applications is of great importance. Originality/value This study tries to provide a critical discussion of how the three concepts intersect and differentiate, leading to concrete results or results that have nothing to do with their meaning. There are no conceptual papers in the literature that deal with the three concepts and also analyse the implications on the real world.

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Formative Perspectives on the Relation Between CSR Communication and CSR Practices: Pathways for Walking, Talking, and T(w)alking

Cited by 140 publications

References 77 publications

Talk–Action Dynamics: Modalities of aspirational talk

Talk–Action Dynamics: Modalities of aspirational talk

The “Walk” towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Does Mandated “Talk” through NonFinancial Disclosure Affect Companies’ Financial Performance?

Sustainability, responsibility and ethics: different concepts for a single path

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