A Critical Reflection on the Role of Dialogue in Communicating Ethical Corporate Social Responsibility through Digital Platforms

Abstract

Organizations are under increasing pressure to communicate their position on social responsibility in a changing environment whereby more critical demanding citizens are using digital platforms to express their opinions about the actions of corporations. These changes, demand a corporate culture of listening, management commitment, responsible action and more effective forms of CSR communication with stakeholders. The emergence of digital platforms such as Facebook or Twitter provide managers with a mechanism for a dialogue with stakeholders to communicate their CSR initiatives and policies. While these digital platforms have the potential for corporations to listen and respond to stakeholder concerns in an open and honest discourse, frequently CSR communication are perceived as serving instrumental goals. This chapter argues that CSR communication through digital platforms grounded in the ethical premise of responsibility and the concept of dialogue could change this perception. The implications for organizations are that they can enact an ethical premise of CSR using digital platforms if managers adopt a dialogic mindset, and listen and respond to the views of stakeholders. The chapter makes recommendations for an implementation process of the ethical premise of CSR. Finally, our critical reflection provides researchers with a conceptual lens for future empirical studies

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