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Communicating Responsibility: Responsible Communication

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Handbook of Integrated CSR Communication

Part of the book series: CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance ((CSEG))

Abstract

Taking the theoretical concept of CCR into consideration, the following chapter follows an integrated approach to CSR communication. Basically, responsible stakeholder relations are perceived as condition for and outcome of CSR activities; furthermore, CSR is described as both, strategy and framework of internal as well as external communication processes and structures. After providing a critical introduction to CSR, the Quadruple Bottom Line of Responsibility is introduced, where communicating CSR and communicating responsibly complement each other. Thus, the chapter presents and discusses a concept of integrated CSR communication as condition for the realization of CSR in an organization.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A look into the history of thoughts about corporate responsibility shows that “a new emphasis on political action, public affairs, lobbying, and public relations directed toward ‘strategic philanthropy’ and ‘cause-oriented’ marketing” was already observed in the 1970s in the Anglo-American area (Cheney, Roper, & May, 2007: 5). In this phase, ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ was so well known that the acronym CSR could stand by itself.

  2. 2.

    Related to this see also Chap. 16 of this Handbook: “Knowledge Integration in European CSR Communication field: an Institutional Perspective” by Urša Golob, Nataša Verk, and Klement Podnar.

  3. 3.

    In German, ‘social responsibility of companies’ is the most popular translation, often also simplified, or rather unidimensionally condensed, as ‘social responsibility’.

  4. 4.

    “It is interesting that ‘social responsibility’ here is rather associated with social market economy system and therefore produces a given condition. In the United States, ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ (CSR) rather means active measures and practical programs to facilitate responsible actions in daily business” (Lunau, 2002: 66).

  5. 5.

    Here it is pointed out that the so-called environmental science, or environmental communication is one of the essential roots of the sustainability and CSR debate in sciences and practice (Cox, 2010; Hansen, 2010, 2011; for climate communication (Boyce & Lewis, 2009; Nerlich, Koteyko, & Brown, 2010).

  6. 6.

    Social Responsibility as one of the six dimensions contributing to the reputation of a company is also found, for instance, in Fombrun and Riel (2003: 243f.).

  7. 7.

    Fields of implementation are, for example, the UN Global Compact (2009) or also standardizations, as recently discussed for the Social Responsibility Standard ISO 26000:2010 (cf. Winistörfer, 2008: 18).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Media and Communication, Klagenfurt University, Klagenfurt, Austria

    Franzisca Weder & Matthias Karmasin

Authors
  1. Franzisca Weder
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  2. Matthias Karmasin
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Correspondence to Franzisca Weder .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inst. f. Media a. Communication Studies, Klagenfurt University, Klagenfurt, Austria

    Sandra Diehl

  2. Inst. f. Media a. Communication Studies, Klagenfurt University, Klagenfurt, Austria

    Matthias Karmasin

  3. School of Journalism & Media Studies, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA

    Barbara Mueller

  4. Dpt. of Marketing and Int. Management, Klagenfurt University, Klagenfurt, Austria

    Ralf Terlutter

  5. Inst. f. Media a. Communication Studies, Klagenfurt University, Klagenfurt, Austria

    Franzisca Weder

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Weder, F., Karmasin, M. (2017). Communicating Responsibility: Responsible Communication. In: Diehl, S., Karmasin, M., Mueller, B., Terlutter, R., Weder, F. (eds) Handbook of Integrated CSR Communication. CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44700-1_5

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