Corporate social responsibility communication : a case study of Oatly
The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) offers a solution for businesses to identify their roles in society in order to maintain corporate legitimacy in cooperation with the communities they exist. Even though companies started to work with CSR as part of their business, CSR communicati...
| Autor principal: | |
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| Formato: | H2 |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés sueco |
| Publicado: |
SLU/Dept. of Economics
2019
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| Materias: |
| _version_ | 1855572507468234752 |
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| author | Mendebaba, Alexandra |
| author_browse | Mendebaba, Alexandra |
| author_facet | Mendebaba, Alexandra |
| author_sort | Mendebaba, Alexandra |
| collection | Epsilon Archive for Student Projects |
| description | The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) offers a solution for businesses to identify their roles in society in order to maintain corporate legitimacy in cooperation with the communities they exist. Even though companies started to work with CSR as part of their business, CSR communication remained overlooked, and the literature is scattered around various disciplines. Therefore, this study intends to gain insight into the role of CSR communication between businesses and their multiple stakeholders. By connecting CSR with the corporate marketing philosophy, this study aims to identify key factors that promote CSR communication. At the same time, the study aspires to show the interlinkages between sustainability, corporate responsibility, and corporate marketing practices with attempts to better understand the communicative perspectives on CSR through a case from the food industry. The empirical analysis is structured in accordance with the pillars of corporate social responsibility: stakeholder theory, corporate marketing philosophy and the sharedunderstanding communication model. A qualitative method is applied to study the phenomenon of CSR communication through a single-case using Oatly AB as an empirical case. Besides, the focus group technique is included to explain how consumers perceive corporate communication intents. During the project, empirical data was collected from multiple sources, such as corporate sustainability report, code of conduct, semi-structured interview, available online materials and focus groups were organized.
Findings of the study justify that communication has the value to foster sustainability and CSR in society through a dynamic interplay between the corporation and its constituencies. Proactive two-way dialogues, including and connecting diverse actors in decision-making, are key to produce, reproduce meaning and create reality. The empirical case illustrates that the combination of the political-normative and communicative aspects of CSR and constant negotiations have the potential to attain shared meanings and value. Moreover, openness and transparency perceived to be crucial factors in communication to promote sustainability in the food industry; complemented with authentic messages, consumers are likely to obtain clear meanings of communicational intents. However, the current marketing channels are not the most optimal; thus, new alternatives are needed to avoid communication gaps. |
| format | H2 |
| id | RepoSLU15014 |
| institution | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences |
| language | Inglés swe |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publishDateSort | 2019 |
| publisher | SLU/Dept. of Economics |
| publisherStr | SLU/Dept. of Economics |
| record_format | eprints |
| spelling | RepoSLU150142020-06-04T12:17:35Z Corporate social responsibility communication : a case study of Oatly Mendebaba, Alexandra code of conduct corporate communication corporate marketing corporate social responsibility corporate social responsibility communication stakeholder management stakeholder involvement strategy sustainability report The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) offers a solution for businesses to identify their roles in society in order to maintain corporate legitimacy in cooperation with the communities they exist. Even though companies started to work with CSR as part of their business, CSR communication remained overlooked, and the literature is scattered around various disciplines. Therefore, this study intends to gain insight into the role of CSR communication between businesses and their multiple stakeholders. By connecting CSR with the corporate marketing philosophy, this study aims to identify key factors that promote CSR communication. At the same time, the study aspires to show the interlinkages between sustainability, corporate responsibility, and corporate marketing practices with attempts to better understand the communicative perspectives on CSR through a case from the food industry. The empirical analysis is structured in accordance with the pillars of corporate social responsibility: stakeholder theory, corporate marketing philosophy and the sharedunderstanding communication model. A qualitative method is applied to study the phenomenon of CSR communication through a single-case using Oatly AB as an empirical case. Besides, the focus group technique is included to explain how consumers perceive corporate communication intents. During the project, empirical data was collected from multiple sources, such as corporate sustainability report, code of conduct, semi-structured interview, available online materials and focus groups were organized. Findings of the study justify that communication has the value to foster sustainability and CSR in society through a dynamic interplay between the corporation and its constituencies. Proactive two-way dialogues, including and connecting diverse actors in decision-making, are key to produce, reproduce meaning and create reality. The empirical case illustrates that the combination of the political-normative and communicative aspects of CSR and constant negotiations have the potential to attain shared meanings and value. Moreover, openness and transparency perceived to be crucial factors in communication to promote sustainability in the food industry; complemented with authentic messages, consumers are likely to obtain clear meanings of communicational intents. However, the current marketing channels are not the most optimal; thus, new alternatives are needed to avoid communication gaps. Begreppet sociala ansvar i företagsvärlden benämns ofta med ”Corporate Social Responsibility”, CSR. Det innebär att företag tar ett etiskt ansvar för hur verksamheten påverkar samhället i stort lokalt, regionalt och globalt. Etiskt ansvarstagande blir ett sätt att etablera och bibehålla legitimitet. Även om företagsetik är ett väl etablerat koncept är kommunikationen om etiska aspekter av företagande ett splittrat forskningsfält. Den här studien bidrar till att öka förståelsen förutsättningar för dialog om etiskt företagande mellan företag och andra intressenter i samhället. Syftet med den föreliggande studien är att identifiera faktorer som utgör förutsättningar för kommunikation av företags etiska ansvarstagande. Av speciellt intresse blir uppfattningar om kommunikationsstrategier för hållbar utveckling, företagsansvar och marknadsföring. Empiriskt fokus i studien är lagt på en fallstudie inom livsmedelsindustrin, Oatly AB. Viktigt empiriskt material utgörs av strategiska dokument som speglar företagets CSR-strategier, en intervju med en väl insatt företagsrepresentant och fokusgruppstudier för att få en känsla för hur Oatly ABs kommunikation uppfattas från konsumenthåll. Resultaten i studien är strukturerade i enighet med utpekade grundvalar för CSR: intressentteori, marknadsföringsfilosofi och marknadsföringsdialog. Fallstudien pekar på den centrala rollen för kommunikation för att fostra hållbar utveckling och ansvarstagande i dialog mellan företag och samhällsaktörer. Dialogen karaktäriseras av det som kallas politisk CSR som innebär kontinuerliga förhandlingar för att skapa delad förståelse och insikt om värderingar. Den pro-aktiva dialogen utgör i sin tur en förutsättning för väl grundade CSR beslut. Öppenhet och transparens i dialog skapar förutsättningar för konsumentupplevda värden. Studien pekar på att marknadsföringskanalerna för kommunikation och dialog dock inte är idealiska i ögonen på ett ungt konsumentsegment i fokusgrupperna. SLU/Dept. of Economics 2019 H2 eng swe https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/15014/ |
| spellingShingle | code of conduct corporate communication corporate marketing corporate social responsibility corporate social responsibility communication stakeholder management stakeholder involvement strategy sustainability report Mendebaba, Alexandra Corporate social responsibility communication : a case study of Oatly |
| title | Corporate social responsibility communication : a case study of Oatly |
| title_full | Corporate social responsibility communication : a case study of Oatly |
| title_fullStr | Corporate social responsibility communication : a case study of Oatly |
| title_full_unstemmed | Corporate social responsibility communication : a case study of Oatly |
| title_short | Corporate social responsibility communication : a case study of Oatly |
| title_sort | corporate social responsibility communication : a case study of oatly |
| topic | code of conduct corporate communication corporate marketing corporate social responsibility corporate social responsibility communication stakeholder management stakeholder involvement strategy sustainability report |