What CSR can mean for the PR-profession in 2018:
The classics and the state-of-the-art

   In order to advance the profession as well as to ensure that the wheel isn’t reinvented, one could say that an important part of the PR-profession is staying up to date. This blog aims to facilitate exactly that for the topic Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). CSR is an invaluable part of the profession, as PR shifts from being externally oriented profession, to a profession that connects/ blurs the boundaries between the in-/external of organizations.

 

 The classics 

Figure 1Carroll model (2017 adaptation of Mahmood Oskooei)

There are in particular two classical texts that you should know about if you are a PR-professional that’s knowledgeable about CSR. The first is of Archie Carrol (2015 being the most recently updated text). Carrol (2015) defines CSR as being made up out of economic legal, ethical and discretionary expectations. The first two addressing more traditional understandings of what a corporation is when its responsible; economically profitable and adhering to legal standards. While the latter two are more social, and provide grounds for expanding or updating current practices of PR. 

 





Figure 2 Elkington model (2017 visualization of Sahimi, Turan, & Johan)

The second classical text, you must know about is of John Elkington (1998). This author came up with the notion that CSR was to be conceptualized as a triple bottom line. Next to the widely known, financial bottom line Elkington argues for a bottom line for the way an organization deals with people, as well as how it deals with the planet. This approach is conveniently also called triple-p. Sustainability, the concept that Elkington (1998) uses in his study, is in this blog conceptualized as a subdiscipline of CSR.

The state-of-the-art

This state of the art is based on a recent special issue of Corporate Communications: An international journal. The most important perspectives and findings outlined in the issue, will be discussed here. The first insight is that communication of CSR actions has different effects on different stakeholders. This most likely means for the PR-profession that PR needs to differently highlight certain CSR efforts dependent on the stakeholder one’s dealing with.

The second insight is CSR in PR shifts from focusses that are instrumentalism-based, to those that address issues as sense-making in a macro context. Meaning that CSR in scholarship has shifted from something that might better reputation or other objectives, to something which has intrinsic value and relevance for the PR-profession. In other words, CSR more than ever requires sincerity in dealing with issues raised as a organization exist within a society.

  

And…. now you’re up to date with classics and the state-of-the-art
of CSR in PR!

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This blog was written by Jason. He feels a great need for organizations to be responsive to social demands, be they explicit or implicit. Jason writes blogs from various perspectives within the social and behavioral sciences. This blog was written in the context of a university course, the views expressed are not necessarily those of the author.