The corporate reputation and corporate social responsibility from a stakeholder point-of-view - a qualitative research in a shopping community

Abstract

AIM OF THE PAPER

Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility in corporate reputation is growing; therefore companies have an increasing business interest in positive perception of their CSR-activities among stakeholders. In this article I examine CSR-based reputation of an organisation, according to a theoretical model analysing the relationship between corporate reputation and Corporate Social Responsibility from a stakeholder point-of-view. A qualitative research method will be described, with which companies can get feedback regarding knowledge and evaluation of their CSR-activities among stakeholders. With help of the reflection created by stakeholders, processes of both Corporate Social Responsibility and its communication can be fine-tuned.

METHODOLOGY

Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted among stakeholders of an organisation, as part of a qualitative research with mixed methodology.

MOST IMPORTANT RESULTS

The theoretical significance of the research is what connects the concepts of stakeholders, Corporate Social Responsibility, identity and reputation and examines them together. Specialty of the qualitative research is that it describes Corporate Social Responsibility of an organisation through the mirror of its stakeholders. The analysed organisation “Szatyor Egyesület” (Szatyor Association) and “Szatyorbolt” (Szatyor Shop) are special for they make an organisation comprising of a non-profit association and a business that function in symbiosis. The research method applied in this article enables companies to get more familiar with stakeholder expectations and perceptions in connection with their Corporate Social Responsibility. Analysis of corporate reputation with focus on CSR can contribute to identification of stakeholder issues, establishment of stakeholder engagement, as well as to higher level of correspondence with stakeholder expectations.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The stakeholders of the organisation know a lot about Corporate Social Responsibility of Szatyor Shop and Szatyor Association, the reputation was very positive among them. Despite high level of engagement, stakeholders do not see through variety of CSR-programmes due to incomplete communication. A potential solution for this problem could be a brand ambassador programme, based on engaged stakeholders. This could support the coverage of communicationa! messages of the organisation among its stakeholders. This article highlighted how Corporate Social Responsibility and corporate reputation of an organisation can be analysed with help of the introduced empirical model.