Corporate communicative responsibility: Kommunikation als Ziel und Mittel unternehmerischer Verantwortungswahrnehmung ; Studienergebnisse aus Österreich

"Die Daten eines Querschnittvergleichs von Managerbefragungen aus den Jahren 1995, 2006, 2007 und 2009 aus Österreich, eingebettet in die internationale Diskussion, zeigen, dass auf allen Ebenen der unternehmerischen Verantwortungswahrnehmung Kommunikation eine zentrale Rolle spielt. So wird die Verantwortungswahrnehmung kommuniziert (CSR-Kommunikation), darüber hinaus steigt das Bewusstsein für eine verantwortliche, da reflektierende (ethische) Kommunikation - unternehmensintern und -extern." (Autorenreferat)"The comparison of the data of four manager surveys 1995, 2006, 2007 and 2009 in Austria embedded in the international discussion about CSK- and sustainable practices shows that there is awareness of the necessity of the corporate responsible of business, but that possibilities to act are restricted. However, the results show that communication is both a means and an end, when it comes to new potentials of integrating ethical and entrepreneurial acting. The increased consciousness for and reflection of ethical internal and external communication is described as 'return of value-based management'." (author's abstract

Career, Covid-19, and Care: (Gendered) Impacts of the Pandemic on the Work of Communication Scholars

The study at hand analyzes the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and related restrictions on scholars in the area of media and communication studies. It aims to highlight inequalities in the negative effects of the pandemic on academic output by examining the working conditions of scholars, taking into account gender, parenthood, and the partnership-based division of professional and care work. The quantitative survey was directed at communication scholars in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The findings show that there are no significant gender differences in terms of changes in academic output during the first 15 months of the pandemic; instead, disadvantages were observed in terms of parenting, regardless of the gender of the parents. Gender-specific effects could be detected concerning family situations and partnerships. Here, male participants are more often found in relationships in which the partner only works half-time, than women who mostly live with a partner who works full-time. The data suggest that gender differences related to changes in the time allotted for professional and care work and academic output are leveled out by the characteristics of the academic career model in which German-speaking scholars work. Nevertheless, gendered structures in academia and partnerships shape how the impact of the pandemic on professional work is experienced

Eco-cultural identity building through tattoos: a conversational approach

While in the not-too-distant past, tattoos were often perceived as representing non-conformity or even deviance, tattoos now increasingly transcend class, gender, and age boundaries and are more acceptable than ever. Tattoos are created by artists and are an interpretation of a story that the client wants to tell, re-created in interpersonal communication situations—before, during, and after the actual tattooing. The project at hand conceptualizes and critically examines the ways in which tattoos alter people's sense of being not only in a semiotic way but also in a conversational way. Our guiding research question is how (much) tattooed images, ornaments, and symbols of nature (re)create the eco-cultural identity of the person wearing it and what role storytelling plays in restoring human–nature relationships. The insights were gained with a series of explorative interviews with (N =) 12 tattoo artists in Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) and Europe (Germany, Austria, and France), analyzed with an inductive categorization supported by QCAmap. The findings show that tattoos are both a device and signifier and a storytelling method. Bodies are described as landscapes where individual stories are carved out through a process of tattooing and ritual interactions and conversations tattooed bodies have with others. Tattoos have the potential to re-story the body and shape it in ways that create meaning for the tattooer, the wearer, and the society, and to create eco-cultural identities, thus regenerating or restoring human–nature relationships. This project opens a new field for communication research that helps to strengthen a conversational understanding of communication beyond the ritual perspective. The conceptualization of tattooing as a conversational process where meaning is created, common beliefs are (re)produced, new norms are cultivated, and meaningful human–nature relationships are forged stimulates further research studying other rituals and their potential to communicatively re-create a more sustainable society

Literatur-Rundschau

Christian Klenk: Ein deutscher Papst wird Medienstar. Benedikt XVI. und der Kölner Weltjugendtag in der Presse (Rene Schlott)Manfred Lütz: Gott - eine kleine Geschichte des Größten (Hubert Feichtlbauer)Andrea Weil: Der öffenthchen Meinung entgegentreten. Erich Schairers publizistische Opposition gegen die Nationalsozialisten 1930-1937 (Kurt Koszyk)Peter Merseburger: Rudolf Augstein. Biographie (Wolfgang R. Langenbucher)Rüdiger Funiok: Medienethik. Verantwortung in der Mediengesellschaft (Claus Eurich)Alexander Filipovic: Öffenthche Kommunikation in der Wissensgesellschaft. Sozialethische Analysen (Horst Pöttker)Michael Schramm: Der unterhaltsame Gott. Theologie populärer Filme (Benjamin Städter)Matthias Bemstorf: Emst und Leichtigkeit. Wege zu einer unterhaltsamen Kommunikation des Evangeliums (Daniel Meier)Michael Meyen/Maria Löblich (Hg.): "Ich habe dieses Fach erfunden." Wie die Kommunikationswissenschaft an die deutschsprachigen Universitäten kam. 19 biografische Interviews (Franzisca Weder

(Re)storying Sustainability: The Use of Story Cubes in Narrative Inquiries to Understand Individual Perceptions of Sustainability

Narratives represent storied ways of knowing and communicating. Therefore, storytelling, framing and narrative analyses have always been a key feature in media and communication research. In this paper, an innovative approach to narrative inquiries is introduced to capture reflections on individual experiences of sustainability over time. Storytelling is perceived as an act of problematization and, at the same time, as method of analysis. Using Rory’s Story Cubes® (dices with pictograms), we stimulated 35 interviewees from various cultural backgrounds (Asian, European, Anglo-American) to story life events that they relate to sustainability and put it into order and meaning. Our analysis and evaluation of the interviews focused on the story as a whole, which was then linked to the individual biographical background to understand motives and the moral frame(work) for problematizing (un)sustainable behavior. In particular, we focus on problematization as core process of storytelling and complement existing approaches coming from actor-network theory and Foucault’s discourse analysis with Entman’s concept of framing. In this paper, this innovative form of a narrative inquiry is put up for discussion for environmental communication research in order to create a better understanding of individual perceptions of sustainability and sustainability related issues

‚Verantwortung‘ als trendige Referenz der Wirtschaftsberichterstattung oder: der fehlende öffentliche Diskurs über Corporate Social Responsibility

Der medienöffentliche Diskurs über Verantwortlichkeiten im Wirtschaftshandeln stürzt sich vor allem auf individuelles Fehlverhalten. Vor allem in der Debatte um zu hohe Managergehälter und Bonuszahlungen war und ist ‚verantwortliches‘ Handeln eine als Anspruch formulierte Referenz, die inzwischen mehr als nur ‚trendig‘ ist – die im Dezember 2011 öffentlich in Frage gestellte Kreditvergabe an den deutschen Bundespräsidenten ist ein weiteres, aktuelles Beispiel. Dennoch zeigt eine aktuelle Medienanalyse deutschsprachiger Printmedien zur Darstellung unternehmerischer Verantwortung‚ dass ein wirklicher Diskurs, das heißt die Darstellung unterschiedlicher Positionen und Ausdeutungen der Verantwortung und deren Wahrnehmungsmöglichkeiten, nicht stattfindet

CSR as common sense issue? A theoretical exploration of public discourses, common sense and framing of corporate social responsibility

The article aims to explore and define Corporate Social Responsibility as common sense related discourse in corporations and amongst organizations and their stakeholder and discusses the potential of CSR as “communication content” for media and communication studies. To theoretically capture CSR as “common sense”, issues in general are conceptualized as ‘fields’ in Bourdieu’s sense, complemented by an innovative concept of framing. From a content related perspective, the theoretical reflections enable the definition of CSR as common sense issue by differentiating it from neutral positions and hegemonic frames