Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility Performance of Organisations: A Key to Winning Stakeholders’ Goodwill

Corporate social responsibility is an approach whereby a company considers the interests of all stakeholders, both within the organisation and in society and applies those interests while developing its strategy and during execution; it offers organisations various opportunities not only to differentiate themselves from competitors, but also, for reducing costs. However, organisations must endeavour to communicate their corporate social responsibility initiatives to the stakeholders. Therefore, this study is an examination of the importance of communicating CSR initiatives of organisations to the stakeholders. The analysis shows that it is important for organisations to communicate their CSR initiatives to the different  stakeholders so as to win their goodwill. A disconnect in communication between CSR initiatives and public awareness will impede any potential benefits to an organisation. Thus, it is important to intelligently and strategically communicate this to the public. Some of the channels for communicating CSR initiatives are: press releases, internal web portals, newsletters, emails, television commercials, print advertisements, billboard advertisements and Internet communications, which offer opportunities to engage and share information with vast audiences. The paper therefore recommends that it is imperative for every organisation to communicate its corporate social responsibility initiatives to the stakeholders through different channels of communication as it is one of the ways to win the goodwill of the stakeholders.Key words: Communication, corporate social responsibility, initiatives, stakeholders and goodwil

Universities and Corporate Social Responsibility Performance: An Implosion of the Reality

The paper examines the need for universities to carry out corporate social responsibility programmes. Two theories were used as theoretical framework for the study (stakeholder’s theory and uncertainty reduction theory). The qualitative research method was used as the research method while personal interview was used to gather data from the respondents. The population was made up of members of Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Plateau State Chapter. Ten public relations practitioners were interviewed on the need for universities to carry out corporate social responsibility programmes. Responses from the interview show that universities ought to be socially responsible to their stakeholders. Findings further show that CSR helps organisations, including universities to improve on their image. Findings also show that there are various areas of CSR universities can pay attention to; these areas are: economic responsibility, philanthropic responsibility, environmental responsibility, employee wellness and health, employment of qualified lecturers and legal responsibility. The paper therefore concludes that universities in the world over need to always engage in corporate social responsibility so that they can win the goodwill of their stakeholders. Based on the conclusion therefore, the study recommends that universities should endeavour to be social responsible, if they want to win the goodwill of their stakeholders and should endeavour to communicate their corporate social responsibility programmes to the stakeholders so that the stakeholders will understand them.Key words: Universities, corporate social responsibility, performance and goodwil