Corporate Social Responsibility in the Digital Age

Classifying Social Causes Derived from the Communication of CSR Initiatives Online: A
Theoretical and Practical Approach
Mihai Ioan Roșca Andrei Claudiu Sarău Andreea-Angela Vonțea
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 CLASSIFYING SOCIAL CAUSES
DERIVED FROM THE
COMMUNICATION OF CSR
INITIATIVES ONLINE: A
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THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL

APPROACH

Mihai Ioan Rosca, Andrei Claudiu Sarău and


Andreea-Angela Vontea


ABSTRACT

Purpose In recent years, the online environment and the Internet, as a

communication platform, have acquired an important role regarding the
companies’ activity of communicating their social responsibility. The pur-
pose of this study resides in drawing a typological classification based on
analysing the manner in which the world’s greatest companies
conduct their communication activities as depicted by their CSR reports
published online.

Corporate Social Responsibility in the Digital Age

Developments in Corporate Governance and Responsibility, Volume 7, 63 83
Copyright r 2015 by Emerald Group Publishing Limited
All rights of reproduction in any form reserved
ISSN: 2043-0523/doi:10.1108/S2043-052320150000007006
63
 64 MIHAI IOAN ROSCA ET AL.


Methodology/approach A content analysis method was used in order

to classify the common CSR activities driven by large global companies
depending on their unique approaches in terms of communication.
Findings About 100 organisations extracted from Forbes Global 2000
Leading Companies (as of 2012) were subjected to the current study.
Consequently, their latest CSR reports published on the Internet were
analysed according to a series of five variables. The most complex one
relied on what type of CSR information have the companies focused on
within their reporting activities. Thus occurs the dichotomy between
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structuring their communication endeavours as filtering them relative to

the stakeholders’ needs, or trying to emphasise the different categories of
initiatives. The resulted classification is founded mainly on the reality
observed in a company’s CSR communication activities.
Research limitations/implications The chapter argues that the classi-
fication is not limited to the proposed framework, but it may vary
depending on a corporation’s changes in communication or its interest in
supporting new CSR tendencies so that they can be enriched. Although
CSR activity is represented under various patterns by the investigated
companies, all the subsequent reports can be considered as being an inte-
gral part of the system.
Practical implications Even though not all the highlighted strategic
directions have an integrated profile in order to be included in the general
CSR reporting, they can be taken into account in the near future.
Originality/value This new approach on classifying the different com-
munication endeavours paves the way for an overall image on the manner
in which companies of all types may align their social responsibility
activities with the increasing stakeholders’ demands, given the digital
media specifics.

CSR IN THE CURRENT ECONOMICAL

ENVIRONMENT

In the last few decades, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has grown
and became from a narrow notion and often marginalised a multilateral
and complex concept (Cochran, 2007). While all the attention and interest
for the social and ecological impact of corporations is not a new subject,
 Social Causes Resulted from Communicating CSR Initiatives Online 65

lately it can be observed a raised interest due to the global problems

such as global warming, poverty, human rights violation and HIV/AIDS
(Kolk & van Tulder, 2010). The continuous pressure on major companies
due to globalisation and higher interest in the balance of power between
corporations and the society over the years, have transformed CSR in a
legal, economic, political, ethical and social discussion point of view
(Zaharia & Grundey, 2011).
2007 was the starting point of a rough period concerning business.
Financial crisis led to an economical collapse worldwide. Taking into con-
sideration the current economic growth, the lack of trust in business and
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profit oriented corporations, CSR becomes a subject of interest for busi-

ness. That is why organisations, both in theory and in practice, should
apply ethic principles. Corporations should assume the responsibility of
avoiding short-term profits obtained on the expense of others. Moreover,
as stated by Lin-Hi (2010), they have no obligation in engaging in altruistic
activities, but they do have the responsibility of not harming society.
Consumers’ consumption patterns in developed countries and, in a
greater measure, in developing countries have changed significantly due to
the fact that they started to perceive the negative effects of corporations on
different aspects of life (Sheikh & Beise-Zee, 2011). The defining elements
of an organisation mission are centred on activities that sustain relevant
societal problems for external stakeholders. Organisational values support
minimising social costs, including employee safety and therefore have a
greater importance for internal stakeholders (Sones, Grantham, & Vieira,
2009). Visser (2011) states that the essence of the CSR 2.0 lies in bringing a
positive contribution in society, and not just referring to it, but a concrete
way of doing business.
The majority of the current CSR theories are oriented over four main
aspects: (i) achieving objectives which lead to obtaining long-term profit,
(ii) making use of the business power in a responsible manner, (iii) integrat-
ing social needs and (iv) contributing to a better society by doing what is
ethically correct (Garriga & Melé, 2004). CSR integrates all those volun-
tary initiatives to help companies placing their images in internal and exter-
nal stakeholders’ reports, thus communicating a new identity (Bravo,
Matute, & Pina, 2012).
From an overall perspective, Basil and Erlandson (2008) concluded that
the definitions referring to the CSR concept found in literature include con-
sistently the notion that CSR involves benefits to society in ways that do
not involve direct benefits related to the company’s financial position or
meets the needs of a variety of organisational stakeholders. The importance
 66 MIHAI IOAN ROSCA ET AL.


attached to the CSR concept by corporate entities seems to be growing.

Consequently, this fact is underlined by the changes with evaluative role
and reporting endeavour undertaken by companies.
Sasse and Trahan (2007) concluded that companies are increasingly
determined to take action relative to the social sector, whether such an
initiative is approached as being subsequent to the social responsibility,
promoting philanthropy, or acting as a responsible citizen. By reviewing
the literature, the authors state that there are two specific cases which are
at the same time interrelated, also determining companies to engage in
CSR activities. Within the first scenario, we have a ‘win’ situation win-
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ning by creating a competitive advantage; with regard to the other one, it is

necessary to improve the community environment for business conduct
purposes.
In recent decades, CSR has been developed progressively from ideology
to reality, and the management literature has contributed significantly to
defining and characterizing the phenomenon. However, the development
and implementation of CSR has remained largely unexplored (Maon,
Lindgreen, & Swaen, 2010). At the same time, as stated by Zaharia,
Stancu, Stoian, and Diaconu (2010), companies’ commercial activities have
a direct impact on society. In this respect, the need for economic growth
along with the different requirements of sustainable development led to the
conception of strategies meant to harmonise both the economic reasons
and the social and environmental preoccupations.

USING THE INTERNET IN CSR, AS A MEANS OF

COMMUNICATION OR REFERENCE FROM FORBES
GLOBAL 2000

The Internet started to be used as a multimedia communication channel

from the 1990s. Unlike traditional media, the Internet enables a company
to disclose detailed and current information. Thus, information perma-
nently remains available on the Web, allowing Internet users to choose sub-
jects of interest they wish to access at any given time or intervals.
Corporate websites provide a formal perspective on the company’s CSR
activities by reference to all its stakeholders (Wanderley, Lucian, Farache,
& de Sousa Filho, 2008). Furthermore, the unprecedented growth of the
Internet has provided new ways for organisations to communicate with
their stakeholders. Increasingly more organisations have adopted the social
 Social Causes Resulted from Communicating CSR Initiatives Online 67

responsibility programme, or at least have been more open about their

actions in this area (Walker, Kent, & Vincent, 2010).
As Chaudri and Wang (2007) state, the Internet provides a strategic
platform for dialogue and interaction between a company and its stake-
holders, offering the latest-generated relevant content. By proactively com-
municating with stakeholders and involving them in strategy planning and
practices of CSR, companies can form long-term relationships and effec-
tively manage and respond to the growing influence of stakeholders. What
occurs in an annual report, a sustainable report or a corporate homepage
in terms of CSR activities is becoming an important platform for commu-
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nication and a condition for creating an ample support for credence

values, thus creating the base of a powerful brand (Mark-Herbert & von
Schantz, 2007).
In terms of CSR and its relationship with corporate identity, the deliber-
ate use of the Internet will improve the manner in which companies interact
with stakeholders and recognise societal concerns in ways that strengthen
company-society relationship, therefore communicating CSR programmes.
The acceptance of organisational responsibility towards society continues
with an increasingly more elaborate understanding of the influence and per-
suasive capabilities of online reporting environment. Therefore, a desired
corporate identity will continue to be a motivation for the online CSR
reporting (Rolland & O’Keefe Bazzoni, 2009).
When interacting with their stakeholders, companies need to refer to
a consistent and accessible communication strategy. Accordingly, for
responding to such demands being characterised by a wide-ranging
increase in expectation and monitoring, they make use of numerous multi-
media platforms. By acting in this manner, organisations report within the
online environment both their business activities and community-oriented
programmes on a regular basis and under the framework of different
narratives and reports. Currently, for a large number of companies,
the corporate website serves as a booming information centre; an ideal
channel through which organisational messages can be outlined (Hinson,
2011).
In a research aiming to analyse the measures and approach with refer-
ence to how responsible business has penetrated Romanian business seg-
ment based on corporate website analyses of the most valuable 100
companies, Băleanu, Chelcea, and Stancu (2011) concluded that the mere
presence of CSR corporate communication in the online environment does
not represent a guarantee on the level of real social implication, being inte-
grated in its visual strategy.
 68 MIHAI IOAN ROSCA ET AL.


GENERAL ASPECTS ABOUT CSR

In today’s globalised and increasingly competitive conditions, companies

are trying more and more to integrate societal needs within their core activ-
ities and respond to stakeholder’s requests (Ciuchete, Grigore, Hornoiu, &
Păduretu, 2012). The idea according to which organisations have responsi-
bilities towards society beyond generating profit for their stakeholders is an
idea that has existed for centuries. However, this phenomenon has mani-
fested impressively only after the Second World War and has not grown in
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importance until the 1960s. CSR roots spread before the Second World
War (Carroll & Shabana, 2010).
In the context of scandals involving corporations anywhere in the
world, corporations are facing an increasing pressure from stakeholders to
do ‘what is right’. Showing a proactive preoccupation in terms of human
rights when hiring, along with proofing an environmentally friendly beha-
vior are two basic expectations from a corporate entity’s current or poten-
tial employees. Investors have begun to consider civic programmes as a
factor to be referred to in their investment decisions. People who are seek-
ing employment, are turning to organisations that demonstrate a well-
developed social portfolio (Brønn & Vidaver-Cohen, 2009).
More than ever, organisations allocate substantial resources for social
initiatives starting with the community and the environment to responsible
business practices. It is imperative that organisations must tailor their
CSR activities considering the specific needs of different groups of stake-
holders (Du, Bhattacharya, & Sen, 2010). A unique feature on CSR com-
munication is the fact that it has great potential audience from the
legislator, business press, investors and non-governmental organisations to
local communities, customers and employees (Dawkins, 2004 cited in Du
et al., 2010).
Consumers’ expectations towards an organisation that makes a larger
contribution in society have grown. Market research, along with academic
research, suggests that consumers expect increasingly more organisations
to aim not only to obtain economic benefits, but also to contribute to the
welfare and sustainability of the society by being socially responsible
(Dolnicar & Pomering, 2007).
Most likely, consumer expectations about CSR have increased over the
past five to ten years the number of organisations with CSR programmes
increased, more companies communicate their efforts and consumer groups
condone organisations that do not act correctly by boycotting them.
 Social Causes Resulted from Communicating CSR Initiatives Online 69

Likewise, there is evidence that companies with poor CSR meet their nega-
tive consequences when negative events become public (Becker-Olsen,
Cudmore, & Hill, 2006).
Other studies concluded that people with decisional function involve
organisations in social activities for the following reasons: personal satis-
faction, to meet stakeholder expectations, to remain competitive and to
avoid future problems. Quite surprisingly, certain defining reasons such as
avoiding regulations and improving the capabilities of solving various
social issues were identified as being located at the bottom of the list
(Brønn & Vidaver-Cohen, 2009).
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CSR initiatives can also help strengthen a company’s competitive advan-

tage by strengthening its relationships with its clients (Carroll & Shabana,
2010). Arguments about legitimacy and reputation prove that CSR activ-
ities can help a firm to enhance its legitimacy and reputation by demon-
strating that it can meet the competing needs of its stakeholders and, at the
same time, it can operate profitably. Thus, a firm will be perceived as a
member of the community in which it operates, and the transactions under-
taken by it will be sanctioned.
Arguments in favour of obtaining competitive advantage claim that, by
adopting certain CSR activities, a corporate entity may be able to build
strong relationships with its stakeholders and to obtain support in the form
of lower levels of employee turnover, access to a more specialized work
force, but also customer loyalty. Therefore, the company will be able to dif-
ferentiate itself from its competitors (Carroll & Shabana, 2010).
As long as an organisation’s risk management and CSR can merge ele-
ments such as stakeholder interests and social issues, it must be taken into
consideration that decision-making process at organisational level is profit-
oriented in a different manner than the external constraints or those ones
of the government which often slow down the mechanism and evolution of
CSR. Hence, any convergence depends on the possibility of adopting CSR
elements which serve the function of obtaining profit by corporate entities
(Boatright, 2011).
The results of the study conducted by Lee (2011) show that while the
partnerships can be considered in the contexts of social issues and benefits,
individual organisations often form partnerships primarily due to their
mutual instrumental interests. Pragmatic versions of the partnership outline
concerns regarding individual interests rather than mutual ones. Company
managers are often responsible for making decisions that help organisa-
tions to achieve goals and profit of the represented entity. However,
 70 MIHAI IOAN ROSCA ET AL.


management decisions surrounding corporate philanthropy are somewhat

different from those of general business. In a specific sense, the result
related to the activities of corporate philanthropy and money donations for
supporting social causes, sponsorships and employee involvement in the
local community do not tend to be purchased directly by consumer, as it
happens in the case of products. Most of these consumers are not the bene-
ficiaries of charitable activities themselves. Consumers simply have a better
opinion about companies that are active in this area because they value an
entity that invests its financial and non-financial resources to improve
society (Lee, Lancendorfer, & Reck, 2012).
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In general, research in the field of CSR tends to focus on external pres-

sures and results that lead to a neglect of CSR as a dynamic and ongoing
process that is centred on employee engagement as a defining stakeholder
relative to its co-creation and implementation (Bolton, Kim, & O’Gorman,
2011). The study conducted by Jahdi and Acikdilli (2009) intended to
examine the roles played by different marketing communication vehicles
with regard to communicating, publicising and highlighting the organisa-
tional CSR policies addressed to the various stakeholders groups.
Moreover, it was also taken into consideration the assessment process
related to the impact of such communications on an organisations’ reputa-
tion and brand image.
With regard to the subsequent results of the above-mentioned study, it
was demonstrated that marketing communication tools can play a defining
role in terms of transferring the company’s CSR messages and of communi-
cating a responsible image from a social viewpoint. Consequently, the same
authors concluded that any tool related to marketing communication is
able to convey a company’s CSR messages and, thus, to contribute to its
corporate image and brand equity. Nevertheless, certain communication
vehicles can be more influential and effective than others as public rela-
tions, advertising or sponsorship (immutable associated to cause-related
marketing).
In their turn, Callado Muñoz and Utrero-González (2011) analyse the
relationship between the financial performance and CSR from two different
perspectives. In the first one’s framework, they develop a strategic competi-
tion model which integrates the consumers’ perceptions towards the com-
pany’s social performance. It is revealed by the fact that, in the presence of
a positive evaluation of the social responsibility practices by the consumers,
a company which conducts itself by such a responsible behaviour is likely
to achieve a better strategic position on the market, along with an increased
margin, demand and profit.
 Social Causes Resulted from Communicating CSR Initiatives Online 71

In addition, the same authors state that not each dimension of the CSR
concept has relevance for consumers on the one hand, there are activities
which can exert a certain impact over their wellbeing (e.g., culture); on the
other hand, there are activities which can be looked from an overall per-
spective (e.g., environment). Given that consumers value CSR activities,
corporate entities may enhance both their competitive position on the mar-
ket, but also their profits resulted from operating according to a socially
responsible behaviour. Thus, the endeavour of conceiving and implement-
ing CSR practices can provide companies with a competitive advantage
relative to their counterparts.
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The different studies conducted in the field of CSR tended to relate

mainly to the external stakeholders and the subsequent results. In this
regard, they were outlining a limited amount of information concerning the
internal effects. Such a matter could help in explaining the impact of corpo-
rate marketing strategies exerted on internal stakeholders, as are the
employees. From a particular viewpoint, the employees which perceived
their employer as being more socially responsible, were less likely to take
into account leaving the company and more inclined to engage themselves
in activities involving an organisational citizenship behaviour.
The study conducted by Hansen, Dunford, Boss, Boss, and Angermeier
(2011) clearly demonstrates that the linkage between the CSR performance
and the financial one, can be functional at least partially and, probably, the
most proximate, on the basis of enhancing the employee’s trust in the given
organisation. In terms of their implication on the companies’ managerial
aspects, it is clearly demonstrated that the CSR activity can constitute an
efficient strategy, as not just a stand-alone tool for fostering the relation-
ships with the external stakeholders such as consumers, but also as a tool
capable of greatly improving the employees’ perception towards the com-
pany within which they work.

FORMS OF CSR AS TRANSPOSED INTO DIFFERENT

TYPES OF INITIATIVES

The socio-economical actors are increasingly requesting organisations to

demonstrate their economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic character. An
increasing number of organisations develop and implement social and
environmental programmes, conceive ethical codes, involve themselves in
partnerships with NGOs, collaborate on CSR networks and try to position
 72 MIHAI IOAN ROSCA ET AL.


the values and ethics in the centre of their organisational culture (Maon
et al., 2010).
Corporations have been warned for a long time to involve themselves in
resolving and identifying viable solutions for the current pressing social
needs. With regard to corporate giving, the subsequent motivation is not
always an altruistic one. According to Nevin-Gattle (1996), it can be a reac-
tion to the changes produced in the social climate that occur in each period
of history.
Companies’ social responsibility actions are becoming more and more
important relative to the modern business environment, fact revealed by the
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majority of the leading companies’ conduct of including a certain statement

concerning their own CSR policy into the issued annual reports. Indeed, the
permanently changing societal expectances, the more and more intrusive
media reporting and the pressure groups as being more influential than ever,
all determined organisations to approach their extended social responsibilities
with a greater concern, not only on the basis of the altruistic motivations, but
also due to the need of considering the potential impact of their policies on
the relationships with stakeholders (Bowd, Bowd, & Harris, 2006).
Society’s expectations regarding the social obligations of a company
are permanently changing themselves, being mainly influenced by the dif-
ferent approaches from the economic theory and the socio-economic,
political and cultural events which influence the business environment,
but also by a subsequent change of the social mentality which puts a cer-
tain pressure on the national or multinational companies. As a reaction
to these factors, the corporate entities around the world adapt their social
responsiveness, as well as their mode of approaching different social
responsibilities (Iamandi, 2007).
Investments in CSR are considered to create value not only for the com-
pany’s stakeholders, but for itself too. A possible manner by which this
value for the corporate entity can be created consists of corporate responsi-
bility marketing (van de Ven, 2008). The last decades’ experience indicates
that the main reason for which companies involve themselves in social
initiatives resides in an expanded range of bottom-line benefits which could
be associated with a responsible practice, by its nature. In other words,
from a general perspective, the reason consisting of obtaining profits is the
one which ultimately determines companies to engage in CSR initiatives
(Iamandi, 2007).
There is a notable difference between praising the philanthropic activ-
ities and informing stakeholders on a regular basis. In this respect, van de
Ven (2008) brings into discussion the strategic approach of this problem
 Social Causes Resulted from Communicating CSR Initiatives Online 73

analysed by Kotler and Lee (2005) according to whom, in terms of a com-

pany’s good intentions it is recommended to be outlined by other entities.
Consequently, the more a company can benefit from its social initiatives,
the more it will be determined to integrate CSR into a strategic level of
making decisions. Strategic integration increases the social responsibility
initiatives’ effectiveness relative to promoting worthy causes.
Likewise, a company can restrict its communication endeavour with
regard to the CSR policies and practices to the social and environmental
reporting, namely to its website. This approach of a company’s involve-
ment in terms of CSR is rather lacking of benefits, since it does not involve
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the use of the marketing communication tools such as public relations,

advertising, sponsorship and promotions.
The CSR concept refers to approaching initiatives in the society’s benefit
on the basis of a certain part of the profits obtained by the companies given
that they use society’s resources. In their turn, the priorities associated to
these initiatives of the companies modify themselves according to the needs
and requests of the society within which the latter ones operate, and the
most frequently supported social aims are grouped under headings as
health, security, education, employment, environment, social and economic
development, and activities conceived to satisfy other basic needs
(Yelkikalan & Köse, 2012).
While there exists the expectation according to which large-scale CSR
initiatives will tend to produce the adequate exposure in order to lead to
positive evaluations, this result is one which cannot be guaranteed. Thus,
the evaluations made by stakeholders on the companies’ CSR initiatives are
related to, often completely different from, the absolute level of the CSR
activity handled by the company (Bhattacharya, Korschun, & Sen, 2009).
The fact that corporate entities are becoming more and more strategic
regarding to the giving behaviour, is revealed by the manner in which the
analyse, support and manage a pre-determined number of giving pro-
grammes. In such a case, each programme is conducted by its own motiva-
tional factor, along with its own strategic purpose. These aims may vary
from building a certain profile, improving staff morale, to obtaining a
license to operate. The study conducted by Noble, Cantrell, Kyriazis, and
Algie (2008) emphasises that the contextual factors characterizing a certain
geographic region or economic and legal system can influence the motives
referring to corporate giving.
The focal idea of the CSR concept is that according to which the busi-
ness sector should play a more significant (non-economic) role than the
mere goods production and profits achievement (Málovics, Nagypál
 74 MIHAI IOAN ROSCA ET AL.


Csigéné, & Kraus, 2008). Within the framework of the study conducted by
Rondinelli and Berry (2000, cited in Málovics et al., 2008), CSR activities
are divided into two categories external and internal practices. The exter-
nal practices consist of, for example, incentives for employees and man-
agers who cooperate on projects of environmental enhancement,
philanthropic activities which bring their contribution in supporting differ-
ent communities, efforts of national and international scale for improving
the environmental conditions, and strategic alliances between multinational
companies and environmental or public interest groups founded for solving
defining environmental issues. The internal practices integrate enhanced
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regulatory compliance in order to reduce the negative environmental

impacts of the corporations in terms of significant emissions in the commu-
nities within which they operate; referring to prevention in terms of pollu-
tion and clean manufacturing practices which prevent pollution before its
occurrence; re-designing the products and the processes in order to obtain
environmental impacts more beneficial towards customers; recycling and
re-use and resource conservation.
The CSR practices within which there are allocated the most of CSR
resources take into account, in general, the relative sustainability and eco-
efficiency, while the external practices, although refer to the absolute sus-
tainability, continue to have attached an extremely low rate of business
resources. Most of them are concentrated only at a local level. Since the
CSR practices are motivated mainly by business reasons, companies fail in
addressing more important issues such as their impact on communities, the
manner in which they conduct their business, along with the way of influen-
cing various consumption patterns.
Málovics et al. (2008) conclude that, given the current market circum-
stances, companies do not seem to be able to identify solutions for
strengthening the durable development. Achieving the sustainability aim
requires more than CSR and eco-efficiency. It needs the active involvement
and the cooperation of the governments, companies and of citizens for set-
ting the sustainable consumption as a society’s common objective, and to
obtain an agreement regarding its own conditions. But such an agreement
must also involve quantity rather than quality, and each sphere of society
has its own obligation of bringing its own contribution.
Crittenden, Crittenden, Pinney, and Pitt (2011) state that organisations
are responsible for issues like:

• not harming the environment;

• properly treating employees;
 Social Causes Resulted from Communicating CSR Initiatives Online 75

• a responsible supply chain management;

• reducing the impact on climate changes;
• improving the educational level of the surrounding communities;
• responding to public concerns;
• increasing the global economic stability;
• helping in reducing the wealth-poor gap;
• reducing the abuses with regard to human rights;
• supporting social causes or projects;
• solving social issues;
• sustaining the governments’ progressive policies.
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Kotler and Lee (2005, p. 3) state that corporate social initiatives are
‘major activities undertaken by a corporation to support social causes and
to fulfil commitments to corporate social responsibility’. The social initia-
tives which can be handled by a corporate entity can be framed according
to six options corporate cause promotions, cause-related marketing,
corporate social marketing, corporate philanthropy, community volunteer-
ing, and socially responsible business practices (Kotler & Lee, 2005,
pp. 23 4).
During the 1950s a common fact was the one by which companies
should not only rely on profits, but also on employees, clients and public,
in general. The period between 1960 and 1970 brought into discussion
topics as the social consciousness, acknowledging the responsibility, asso-
ciating to community’s problems the attention for the urban environment,
correcting the racial discrimination, reducing the pollution and the philan-
thropic activities. The study conducted by Carroll and Shabana (2010)
resulted in determining the following five more frequent dimensions refer-
ring to CSR the stakeholders, the social dimension, the economic dimen-
sion, the volunteers and the ecological dimension.
Lerbinger’s pyramid offers a useful structure for determining the audi-
ences to which should be addressed the company’s CSR messages, being
based on a content analysis of websites, according to its five levels (Sones
et al., 2009). Regarding the first level, the organisation operates in order
to make profit, without affecting the environment or society. The second
level requires minimising the social costs taking into consideration not to
harm the environment or society. These social costs are relevant for the
company and for what it produces. The social costs are referred to be by
the social consequences of obtaining profits. The third level is dedicated
to the identification and contribution to solving certain social problems.
The fourth one refers to those organisations which develop programmes
 76 MIHAI IOAN ROSCA ET AL.


of which purpose consists of enhancing and strengthening the societal

community and infrastructure. According to the fifth level, the organisa-
tion supports the public policies which are integrated within the citizens’
interest by establishing and adhering to the highest standards. All these
levels involve the consideration of both the internal and external stake-
holders, including the traditional groups as the employees, customers,
shareholders and the parts which do not have a direct transactional link-
age with the company, but which share a common interest the societal
good (Sones et al., 2009).
Peloza and Shang (2011) enrol CSR activities into three major cate-
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gories, namely philanthropy, business practices or related to product ones.

In their turn, these are addressed by singular activities, by certain concen-
trated activities which include more activities within the same category, or
diffuse activities which integrate activities from two or three categories pre-
viously mentioned. Numerous companies find that having a socially
responsible corporate image is an extremely valuable strategic asset. As sta-
ted by Kim, Lee, Lee, and Kim (2010), CSR initiatives can be framed as
being internal or external ones, depending on the types of stakeholders to
whom it is oriented their handling process.
The assessment of CSR activities is rather difficult since there exists rela-
tively many uncertainties about its efficiency. While some specialists regard
CSR initiatives as an expression of the corporate strategy, corporate iden-
tity, power exerted on the market or dependence of certain stakeholders,
the challenge for management becomes more serious in terms of under-
standing the stakeholders’ real needs and of the manner in which CSR pro-
grammes can influence the audiences. Organisations have at their disposal
a number of initiatives which, in their turn, are related to a certain number
of implementation mechanisms. Consequently, initiatives can be functional
(specific human resources, marketing activity, supply chain) and corporate
ones (development, environment protection, corporate governance)
(Anghel, Grigore, & Rosca, 2011).

While numerous companies can handle CSR in order to do good and
not only for gaining visibility or improving their reputation, the question
remains are CSR initiatives effective? (Koljatic & Silva, 2010). In gen-
eral, the range of social issues includes the positive community involve-
ment, environment protection, safe products, ethical marketing, an
increased level of employees’ diversity and uncontroversial work practices
relative to the international market of a company (Bansal, Maurer, &
Slawinski, 2008).
 Social Causes Resulted from Communicating CSR Initiatives Online 77

FORBES GLOBAL 2000 LEADING COMPANIES

The methodology used by Forbes in putting together Global 2000 Leading

Companies is that they compile this list by screening Interactive Data,
Thomson Reuters Fundamentals and Worldscope databases via FactSet
Research Systems for publicity traded companies. Next, they screen for the
biggest companies in four metrics: sales, profit, assets and market value.
All figures are accounted in US Dollars. Depending on the origin country,
fiscal declaration from the last 12 months is being used or, the latest fiscal
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year (DeCarlo, 2013).

Four separate lists of the 2000 biggest companies are being created
with the metrics: sales 2000, profits 2000, assets 2000 and market value
2000. In order to qualify, a company’s minimum cut-off values should be:
sales of $3.89 billion, profits of $232.2 million, assets of $7.85 billion and
market value of $4.25 billion. A company needs to qualify for at least one
of the lists in order to be eligible for the final Global 2000 ranking. If a
company ranks below any metric’s 2000 list cut-off, it receives a zero
score for that metric. We sort the companies in descending order by the
highest composite score and then apply our Forbes Global 2000 rank
(DeCarlo, 2013).
From a similar perspective, the study conducted by Morhardt (2009)
emphasises the selection not of a single one field, but of the most represen-
tative ones integrated among the first 100 such entities. The above men-
tioned study concludes that there are major differences with regard to
sustainability reporting relative to a branch of industry, as well as between
the companies operating in the same sector. The subsequent results indi-
cated that there are only a few sectors within which the market leaders are
located at a significant distance in comparison to their followers. Within
the other sectors it has been indicated that CSR reporting is attached to a
progressive decrease. In addition, the results indicate the wide range of
reporting manners characterizing each sector and the distribution a uni-
form one, in general of the reporting process among all the analysed sec-
tors from high performing to weak ones.
With regard to the top Fortune Global 500, there was observed a very
diverse level of the reporting’s quality and, concomitantly, there does not
exist proof designated to confirm the company’s dimension influence on
the reporting’s quality. Almost all the entities which perform in reporting,
as well as many of those non-performing, were integrated within this
group.
 78 MIHAI IOAN ROSCA ET AL.


CLASSIFICATION OF CSR ACTIVITIES

Our analysis is trying to find key common CSR elements registered by the
world’s greatest public companies. Our starting point was Forbes Global
2000 Leading Companies from where we selected the first 50 companies,
followed by an extension of another 50 companies. The ranking contains
2000 companies which are active in 80 fields of activity. ‘Major Banks’
represents only 3.3% of the total, whilst ‘oil & gas operations’ 4.9%.
The figures represent the result of the companies’ economic power in these
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two fields of activity.

The primary analysis was made on the first 50 largest companies.
Consequently, it revealed defining similarities between these 50 companies.
28% of them were activating in the ‘major banks’ field of activity, while
22% companies were listed by ‘oil & gas operations’ field. Therefore, these
two fields brought almost half of the analysed companies.
The purpose of the present research wasn’t a representative analysis on
global companies, not even those in Global 2000.
With regard to the selection of the company to better suit worldwide
economic reality, we added 50 more companies, verifying the existence of a
proportional number of companies from each field of activity, with the
exception of the fields which were represented by one single company, but
including fields that even though were represented by one company, were
present in the first 100. Therefore, our selection contains 50 top companies,
16 companies ranked between 51 and 100, 23 companies ranked between
101 and 250 and 11 companies ranked between 251 and 500.
For these companies, we analysed their CSR reports published on the
Internet and we researched the CSR reporting content, both from the form
and content viewpoint. We graded these reports from 1 to 5 judging by the
degree of ‘user friendly’ content. Therefore, short and to the point reports,
with images, graphics, colour coded, were marked with a 5 and technical
reports, with complex information, Excel indicators, were marked with 1.
We took into consideration aspects like ‘easy reading’ by the clients, wide
audience, students etc., not from a researchers point of view interested in a
certain aspect. The main purpose of this classification was to visually evalu-
ate these reports.
Another aspect analysed was to classify by ranking from 1 to 5 the easi-
ness of getting to the CSR information and how accessible it was.
The third variable analysed was if the report took into consideration a
reporting standard such as GRI or another type standard.
 Social Causes Resulted from Communicating CSR Initiatives Online 79

The fourth aspect was the manner in which it addressed and to which
level of involvement was written. As a result, we were searching for the
existence of the CEO statements.
The last and most complex studied aspect was on which type of CSR
information have the companies focused on within their reporting activ-
ities. The starting hypothesis was that companies will either structure their
information taking into consideration interested stakeholders, either the
type of CSR initiatives supported by the company.
As a result, we generally observed reporting that does not respect any of
the two systems mentioned above, and that most important CSR activities
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are brought to the general public by each company.

We identified a reporting/a direction which contains as initiatives eco-
nomic growth and local, regional or global economic development. The
second emphasised direction was the level of involvement in resolving some
problems through financial means charity or human involvement
volunteering. The third direction presented by companies was their
involvement in educational activities and supporting human rights for
underprivileged groups (women, kids, poor, minorities). Another deter-
mined direction was that of ethic and corporate governance presented by
the companies.
An interesting direction is the attention given to safety and by that we
mean safety for the consumer, community, product, employee and environ-
ment. The importance on which these activities are taken into consideration
by companies make us to believe that CSR safety concepts are of great
importance.
Certain chapters in CSR reports have showed great importance when
referring to stakeholders. Therefore employees, clients, local communities,
suppliers could have had a separate category if they were mentioned in a
greater number.
The last direction with three determined categories is the environment.
As a result, we identified a sub-direction that refers to reducing the impact
of natural disasters (flooding, earthquakes). Another sub-direction refers to
manmade potentially harmful activities, such as oil spills (the aid given
after such an event). The third sub-direction is green energy. In this cate-
gory we included reducing energy consumption, sustaining new ways of
producing energy, renewable and energetic efficiency.
In the third category we included the concept of green marketing (pro-
duct, place, promotion and price), concept that also includes environ-
mental footprint. Other directions observed in analysing the reports were
 80 MIHAI IOAN ROSCA ET AL.


technology and innovation. Because these directions were mentioned only

by a few companies, from the electronics sector, it was not included in the
main directions. Even though these directions do not have a tendency to be
included in the general CSR reporting, they can be taken into consideration
in the future.
Our proposed classification is extracted from the communication module
on CSR information of the world’s greatest companies. Thus we propose a
classification based not on theoretical principles but on the reality observed
in a company’s CSR communication activities.
Consequently we draw attention to the 11 CSR topics such as:
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a. Green development;
b. Responsibility towards employees;
c. Safety for the environment, community or employees;
d. Responsibility towards local communities;
e. Ethics and corporate governance;
f. Human rights and care for disadvantaged groups;
g. Care for additional needs of clients;
h. Supporting economic growth and balanced economic development;
i. Volunteering and philanthropy;
j. Energy efficiency;
k. Manmade or natural disaster management.
Among these 11 themes, we may also add compliance requirements and
same values to suppliers as those of the companies. This classification does
not end here, depending on a corporation’s changes in communication or
the interest in supporting new CSR tendencies, it can be enriched.
In conclusion, although CSR activity is represented differently within
large global companies, all reports can be included in the proposed system.
This new classification would solve the problem of classifying CSR activ-
ities in the absence of a unified CSR report of activity. As shown above,
there are visible differences in approach and communication in various
fields of activity or country of origin sector. For example, Chinese compa-
nies are slightly behind in the manner in which they report CSR activities.

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