Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present an empirical analysis of CSR communication posted on the websites of 70 companies listed on the main stock markets in German-speaking countries, the so-called DACH region. The results of this analysis offer answers to questions that are currently being discussed in the CSR literature, namely, on the importance attributed to stakeholder information vs stakeholder dialogues in (online) CSR communication. Design/methodology/approach Using a quantitative content analysis, the study examines the extent to which leading German, Austrian and Swiss companies are meeting communication and CSR-related requirements, especially regarding stakeholder dialogue and overall stakeholder involvement. Findings Drawing on Morsing and Schultz’s (2006) theoretical insights concerning stakeholder engagement, this study shows that current CSR communication primarily provides information for stakeholders and contains only a few elements of consultation with stakeholders. In addition, no elements indicating stakeholder involvement in decision processes were found. Data analysed in 2004, 2007, 2012 and 2016 for the German DAX companies allowed for comparisons over time. A closer examination of these data revealed increasing professionalism in CSR communication, especially in the provision and presentation of information. Regarding information clarity and opportunities for dialogue, however, the results show low progress. The criteria set developed for the study provides guidance for how companies can improve their CSR communication, but the findings on the long-term slow progress in stakeholder involvement, in some aspects even a decrease in dialogue, also raise questions about the (perceived) use of online CSR dialogues for companies. Research limitations/implications Communication is viewed from a strategic instrumental perspective. The empirical analysis focusses on the technical possibilities offered by the internet to make CSR communications and reporting available and understandable to stakeholders and to promote dialogue with and among stakeholders. Originality/value By focussing on online CSR communication in the DACH region, this study contributes to the current state of research and offers several recommendations for practitioners; it particularly provides critical reflection on online stakeholder dialogues and related paradigms (constitutive vs functionalistic perspective).

Taking a newly collected large data set on the TCP connection termination latency in GPRS networks we try to identify the underlying statistical distribution. The data extends the observed latencies to large time scales necessitating a heavy-tail distribution. Many distributions work well for the main body of the data. However, the heavy tail of the distribution benefits from mixing different statistical distributions. We compare several distributions and find that the double Pareto-lognormal distribution and the generalized Beta distribution of the second kind fit the data equally well.

We analyze existing server-side log data of a large scale automatic toll system to measure the TCP roundtrip-time (RTT) as experienced by the communication between the central system and the on-board units (OBUs) deployed for tolling heavy-goods vehicles. The RTT is estimated from passive monitoring by parsing server-side log files and aggregating fleet-wide statistics over time. Using this data we compare the characteristics of the four different types of OBU and the three GPRS (2G) networks used. We find the RTT data to be consistent with existing, smaller samples and extend the observed RTT range by an order of magnitude. The OBU types exhibit a markedly different behavior, most notably for long RTTs, and we find one of the 2G networks to 'hum' at 50 Hz and harmonics.

Complementing a recently collected large data set on the TCP connection termination latency in GPRS networks we analyze server-side log data generated in a large scale automatic toll system to observe the network bandwidth. After a recent architectural change the on-board units (OBUs) record GPS tracks and transmit track data to the central system for processing rather than transmitting the toll data after local processing. The bandwidth in upload direction is estimated from the server-side log entries and corrected for the network latency. The data collected allows comparing the performance of seven types of OBUs in three GPRS networks over time. While the three networks differ in the average bandwidth offered, the biggest performance impact is the OBU type where modems with the same specification yield different upload rates. In addition we update the GPRS network latency data by fitting two statistical distributions, improving markedly on the prior results.

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