Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting in Controversial Industries

Byrd, John; Hickman, Kent; Baker, C. Richard; Cohanier, Bruno

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2894789

Cited by 20 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…First, it offers a wider range of business activities in relation to controversial industries compared to the current literature (Byrd et al, ; Cai et al, ; Kilian & Hennigs, ). The study attempts to distinguish the business activities of controversial industries on the basis of their primary impact on CSR issues.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More recently, controversial industries have also comprised companies involved with emerging environmental, social, or/and ethical issues (Byrd et al, ; Cai et al, ; Kilian & Hennigs, ). Thus, energy and mining industries are the main sectors that are required to respond to the public regarding environmental pollution, emissions of greenhouse gases, and toxic waste (Du & Vieira, ; Perez & Sanchez, ; Rodrigo, Duran, & Arenas, ).…”

Section: Conceptual Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite various isolated studies on the topic (Byrd, Hickman, Baker, & Cohanier, ; Grougiou, Dedoulis, & Leventis, ; Yoon, Gürhan‐Canli, & Schwarz, ), the research on the link between controversial industry sectors and CSR is still in its infant stage and does not focus on how these types of companies obtain legitimacy through their CSR endeavors aimed at stakeholder engagement.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Corporate social responsibility information and involvement strategies in controversial industries

Vollero

Conte

Siano

et al. 2018

Corp Soc Responsibility Env

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This paper assesses how companies belonging to controversial and non-controversial industries differ in their adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) information and involvement strategies. Drawing on legitimacy and stakeholder theories, a thematic content analysis of the websites of companies listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Word Index is used to establish a set of measures for CSR communication strategies aimed at fostering stakeholder engagement. Companies in controversial industries are found to be more likely to adopt a CSR information strategy than those in non-controversial industries but do not attempt to create stakeholder involvement.The results highlight the importance for communication managers in controversial organizations of considering information strategies as a meta-level of engagement and of implementing an involvement strategy to mitigate the level of controversy.The study offers a wider conceptualization of the business activities of controversial industries and contributes to the debate on stakeholder engagement for organizational legitimacy.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Conceptual Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Corporate social responsibility information and involvement strategies in controversial industries

Vollero

Conte

Siano

et al. 2018

Corp Soc Responsibility Env

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“…Similarly, studies suggest a link between how controversial an industry is in the public eye and the extent of its CSR reporting. For instance, Byrd et al ( 2016 ) find that alcohol, tobacco, and firearm firms disclose more on social and community actions than firms in noncontroversial industries. The authors argue that these disclosures help firms legitimize their operations and convey to the public that they take actions to offset the perceived social problems with their business model.…”

Section: Key Determinants Of Voluntary Csr Reportingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review

2021

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This study collates potential economic effects of mandated disclosure and reporting standards for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability topics. We first outline key features of CSR reporting. Next, we draw on relevant academic literatures in accounting, finance, economics, and management to discuss and evaluate the potential economic consequences of a requirement for CSR and sustainability reporting for U.S. firms, including effects in capital markets, on stakeholders other than investors, and on firm behavior. We also discuss issues related to the implementation and enforcement of CSR and sustainability reporting standards as well as two approaches to sustainability reporting that differ in their overarching goals and materiality standards. Our analysis yields a number of insights that are relevant for the current debate on mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting. It also points scholars to avenues for future research.

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“…Controversial industries use the majority of their CSR reports to communicate their socio-community activities, while uncontroversial industries devote a considerably bigger share to communicate their environmental activities. This suggests that controversial companies place more emphasis on the actions in a given area to compensate for the damage caused in other areas that is inherent to their main business [67].…”

Section: Sustainability and Controversial Industriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Sustainability of High-Value Brands in the IT Sector

2019

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Nowadays, companies have more freedom on how they can report their corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions and outcomes, despite them being increasingly important for how investors and shareholders can obtain knowledge about companies’ non-financial aspects. This is why more importance is being attached to sustainability rankings as an additional tool to seek excellence and distinguish between companies. The main objective of the present research was to analyze the degree of similarity in sustainability valuations among the most important open-access sustainability rankings that have appeared in the last decade (Green Ranking, RepTrack, Global 100 most sustainable corporations, and Finance Yahoo Sustainability). The secondary objective was to study whether these rankings incorporated the most de facto prestigious brands, and the third objective was to learn of the influence of the level of controversy in Finance Yahoo Sustainability scores in technological companies. Our results reveal wide variability among open-access CSR rankings. Not all the most valued brands appear in the sustainability rankings, which indicates the differences between the rankings of brands and CSR rankings. Finally, the level of controversy was found to be an important aspect in companies’ CSR scores.

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Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting in Controversial Industries

Cited by 20 publications

References 14 publications

Corporate social responsibility information and involvement strategies in controversial industries

Corporate social responsibility information and involvement strategies in controversial industries

Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review

Assessing the Sustainability of High-Value Brands in the IT Sector

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