Chapter 1 – Introduction - PUREpure.au.dk/portal/files/4987/speciale_eva_leth_laursen.doc · Web...

Corporate Social Responsibility – a way of being unique?

Table of contents1. Introduction1.1 Problem statement................................................................................... 41.2 Method..................................................................................................... 5 1.3 Analysis.................................................................................................... 61.4 Delimitation of empirical data and theory................................................ 8

1.4.1 Empirical data................................................................................... 81.4.2 Theory...............................................................................................10

1.5 The structure of this thesis......................................................................12

2. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)2.1 The concept of Critical Discourse Analysis............................................... 142.2 Norman Fairclough’s approach to CDA.................................................... 15

2.2.1The social dimension.......................................................................... 182.2.2 The discursive dimension.................................................................. 192.2.3 The textual dimension....................................................................... 20

2.3 Criticism of Fairclough............................................................................. 20

3. Genre Analysis 3.1 A historical review of genre analysis........................................................ 223.2 Definition of genre................................................................................... 233.3 Bhatia’s approach to genre analysis........................................................ 243.4 The steps covered in the genre analysis of this thesis............................. 28

4. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)4.1 CSR a confusing concept.......................................................................... 32

4.1.1 Different schools of CSR.................................................................... 324.1.2 Relating concepts.............................................................................. 34

4.2 International influencers on the CSR agenda........................................... 354.2.1 Global Compact................................................................................. 354.2.2 World Business Council for Sustainable Development...................... 37

4.3 Carroll’s CSR pyramid.............................................................................. 384.3.1 Criticism of the CSR Pyramid............................................................. 40

4.4 This thesis’ CSR framework...................................................................... 414.4.1 A modified CSR model....................................................................... 42

Aarhus School of Business, Aarhus University, 2009 1

THEORY

THE SOCIAL PRACTICE


5. The case companies 5.1 BMW......................................................................................................... 445.2 Toyota...................................................................................................... 455.3 Volvo........................................................................................................ 45

6. Genre analysis 6.1 Step 3 - Refining the situational/contextual analysis............................... 48

6.1.1 The senders....................................................................................... 486.1.2 The communicative purpose............................................................. 496.1.3 The receivers..................................................................................... 49

6.2 Step 5 – Studying the institutional context.............................................. 506.3 Step 6 – Levels of linguistic analysis/Structural interpretation of the text genre 536.4 Conventions for the CSR genre................................................................ 55

6.4.1 Global Compact as a convention....................................................... 566.4.2 Other conventions............................................................................. 58

6.5 Conclusion................................................................................................ 58

7. Discourse analysis 7.1 Intertextuality.......................................................................................... 60

7.1.1 Interdiscursivity and the established discourses............................... 627.1.2 The non-established discourses ....................................................... 637.1.3 Manifest intertextuality..................................................................... 67

7.2 The company specific CSR orders of discourse........................................ 677.3 Conclusion................................................................................................ 68

8. Discussion 8.1 The reason for the existence of the conventions..................................... 718.2 A lifeblood discourse to challenge the conventions................................. 74 9. Conclusion 9.1 The social dimension................................................................................ 769.2 The discursive dimension......................................................................... 779.3 How to challenge the conventions........................................................... 78 Bibliography Model list Appendix list


DISCURSIVE PRACTICE

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION


1. Introduction“Eradicating extreme poverty continues to be one of the main challenges of our time, and is a major concern of the international community. Ending this scourge will require the combined efforts of all, governments, civil society organizations and the private sector, in the context of a stronger and more effective global partnership for development.”

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon1

The world today is facing a number of urgent challenges such as global warming and climate change, a rapidly growing population, increased pressure on scarce resources, extreme poverty and the AIDS epidemic. No global organisation or local government can solve these problems alone and therefore businesses are by their stakeholders expected to share part of the burden. Additionally, stakeholders are becoming more aware of companies’ impact on the surrounding society, and the companies are expected to take responsibility for issues they had not previously thought were part of their businesses’ responsibilities, e.g. how their suppliers conduct business, what their products are used for and the environmental impact (Porter et al. 2006:80) . This pressure to do well and conduct responsible and ethical business comes from a large and diverse number of stakeholders, e.g. governments and the United Nations (UN). On a global level, the UN promotes the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by encouraging companies to sign Global Compact.2 In addition, several governments and the UN are demanding a well-documented CSR profile as a condition for the possibility to bid on public tenders (Mortensen 2009, appendix 1: 1). On a national level, the Danish government has presented a plan of action for CSR; partly encouraging Danish companies to focus on CSR and partly forcing them by law.3 The media also put pressure on companies to do well, as companies who are conducting unethical

1 http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/bkgd.shtml 2 Introduced in section 4.2.1 3 From 2009, Danish companies of a certain size are, by law, required to report on their CSR activities, even if they do not have anything to report (appendix 2).


http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/bkgd.shtml


business and their business partners are getting more and more attention in the news.4 Political consumerism and information technology are aspects that have had an influence on consumers, and their demands are changing, as they increasingly prefer products and brands from responsible companies. As a result, more and more companies now focus on CSR, and it has quickly become a global competitive parameter used by many companies to capture the attention of consumers and customers (Kjar 2008). Furthermore, by focusing on CSR, companies can communicate their values and express a softer side which stakeholders can relate to, as CSR is a strong contrast to the hardcore business and profit focus of a corporation.

1.1 Problem statementAs CSR has become a competitive parameter, the question is if companies’ approaches to CSR differ?

The assumption of this thesis is that multinationals differ in their approaches to Corporate Social Responsibility, to gain a differential advantage over their competitors, by adopting individual communicative strategies.

To confirm or disprove the problem statement, this thesis will, by the means of a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), study corporate websites to determine the discursive and non-discursive similarities and differences found in presentations of approaches to CSR, and how these approaches manifest themselves on corporate websites. On that basis, three research questions have been drawn up:

1. Which conventions are there within the genre of CSR on corporate websites? (chapter 6)

2. Which similar and different discourses are drawn upon by the orders of discourse used by the selected case companies? (chapter 7)

4 E.g. the media storm Nike experienced in the 90s when it was revealed that their suppliers used sweatshop labour, or the documentary “Et tårn af løfter” from May 15 2008 on the Danish channel DR1, showing how Telenor’s suppliers use child labour.



3. What is the explanation for the result of the analysis? (chapter 8)a. if they differ, why?b. if they do not differ, why not?



1.2 Method Scientifically, this thesis takes a socio-constructive approach. This approach claims that society is a product created by humans, and humans are a product created by society, i.e. humans and society are in a dialectical relationship and influence and constitute each other (Berger 2004: 7-8). According to this approach, language is a central part of understanding and decoding reality, as it is a way of articulating reality (Berger 2004: 72-84). Therefore, it is possible to draw a conclusion about society by analysing texts, and to draw a conclusion about texts by analysing society. This thesis draws a conclusion about society (the CSR context) by analysing texts (articulation of the CSR context) found on corporate websites. Furthermore, this thesis takes an inductive approach, as it uses empirical analysis to draw a general conclusion (Andersen 2003: 39-41).

To answer the problem statement, it is important to establish what makes a CSR approach unique. ‘Uniqueness’ is by Macmillan (2005: 1569) defined as:

Unique /juː ่niːk/ adj

1 very special, unusual, or good2 not the same as anything or anyone else3 [+to] only existing or happening in one place or situation - uniqueness noun [U]

Uniquely /juː ่niːkli/ adv

in a way that is different from any similar thing or person.

Consequently, to establish how approaches to CSR are unique it is first important to determine what they have in common, as what they do not have in common must be how they differ. In other words, knowing the common characteristics will make it possible to uncover how approaches to CSR differ and how they are unique.

The similarities and differences in the use of discourses can be uncovered with an analysis of a text’ discursive practice, which is the “processes of text production and consumption” (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 61), i.e. how a text is



created by the sender and understood by the receiver. This can uncover how texts differ, as an analysis of the discursive practice can determine the order of discourse, i.e. “sets of conventions associated with social institutions” (Fairclough 2001: 14) that the texts follow. This thesis assumes that CSR texts have their own company specific orders of discourse, i.e. that there are conventions that are specific to each company. However, it is also assumed that CSR texts belong to a more general order of discourse, and that they are influenced by more general conventions. It is the general conventions that are interesting for this thesis, as they are the common characteristics.

An order of discourse draws upon different discourses, which are “particular ways of representing part of the world” (Fairclough 2003: 26). Therefore, it is possible to uncover the conventions and standards found in the general order of discourse by determining which discourses CSR texts have in common. Accordingly, the discourses that CSR texts have in common are conventional for the communication of CSR on corporate websites (the general order of discourse), whereas the discourses that are only drawn upon by company specific orders of discourse are unique. This is expressed visually in model 1.1 below:

GENERAL ORDER OF DISCOURSE

COMPANY SPECIFIC ORDER OF DISCOURSE

DISCOURSEDrawn upon by all company specific

orders of discourse

DISCOURSEDrawn upon by all company specific

orders of discourse

DISCOURSEOnly drawn upon by

one company specific order of discourse

DISCOURSEOnly drawn upon by

one company specific order of discourse

Conventional discourses for the general order of discourse

Unconventional and unique discourses for this specific order of discourse

Model 1.1: General order of discourse



Consequently, an analysis and discussion of the discourses used in CSR texts will help answer the problem statement and determine if and how multinationals’ approaches to CSR differ.

1.3 Analysis This thesis uses the concept of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as the main method of analysis. According to Jørgensen et al. (2002: 63), CDA is “‘critical’ in the sense that it aims to reveal the role of discursive practice in the maintenance of the social world, including those social relations that involve unequal relations of power.” This critical aspect is interesting, as CSR can be used to minimise the distance between a large corporation and stakeholders, and is a way for companies to communicate softer values. The critical view will not be a part of the analysis of the social and discursive dimension in this thesis, as these analyses are only used to identify the discourses and conventions within CSR. However, the critical aspect will be a part of the analysis and discussion of the relationship between the two dimensions (chapter 8).

Furthermore, CDA is relevant, as it includes a social dimension and Jørgensen et al. (2002: 61) claim that “discourse is a form of social practice which both constitutes the social world and is constituted by other social practices,” i.e. the context is influenced by, and has influence on, the discursive practice. Fairclough (2003:25) defines social practice as “articulations of different types of social element which are associated with particular areas of social life,” and the function of social practice is to “articulate discourse (hence language) together with other non-discoursal social elements.” Consequently, an understanding of the context will give an extra perspective to the analysis of the discursive practice, and help to identify the discourses used.5

Furthermore, an analysis of the social practice will emphasise the different social non-linguistic6 conventions within the context that have an influence on how the text is consumed and produced (discursive practice). 5 Fairclough is criticised for not clearly explaining how discourses are identified (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 89-92, section 2.3) 6 According to Fairclough, the social dimension consists of linguistic and non-linguistic elements (Fairclough 2001: 20) (section 2.2.1)



This thesis uses Norman Fairclough’s approach to CDA (Fairclough 2001),7 as he, like this thesis, takes a socio-constructive approach (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 4-5). Fairclough (2001: 18-23) introduces a three-dimensional model (section 2.2) which indicates that a text8 only can be fully understood if both the receiver and the sender understand the context in which the text is created and consumed. Therefore, Fairclough does not only focus on a textual analysis, but also on the influences from the discursive and social practices. Fairclough encourages the integration of other theoretical approaches to determine the non-discursive aspects of the social dimension (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 86), and this is how his approach differs from other approaches within CDA (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 7). To determine the non-discursive aspects of the social dimension, this thesis includes an introduction and discussion of the concept of CSR in the presentation of the context. In addition, the analysis of the discursive practice is supplemented by Vijay K. Bhatia’s (1993) approach to genre analysis, as knowing the conventions in the CSR genre will help identify some of the discourse used, and give an explanation to why these discourses are used.

1.4 Delimitation of empirical data and theoryThis thesis has several delimitations. The empirical data are limited to CSR texts found on car manufactures’ corporate websites (section 1.4.1), and the theoretical approach is limited to predominantly focusing on Fairclough’s approach to CDA (section 1.4.2) and Bhatia’s approach to genre analysis. 1.4.1 Empirical data The empirical data used in this thesis are texts found on corporate websites, as a corporate website is a useful tool when companies communicate their approach to CSR. Furthermore, three case companies from the car industry

7 Fairclough has published several books about CDA, of which several are mentioned in the bibliography of this thesis. However, his book Language and Power (Fairclough 2001) is the main source of inspiration in this thesis, partly because it is the newest edition which presents his three-dimensional model, and because it offers tools useful when conducting an analysis of the discursive and social practice. 8 Note that this thesis adopts Halliday’s perception of a text, i.e ‘text’ is understood as any message type, and not only as written text (Fairclough 2001: 19-20).



have been selected for this study. The reason for selecting the car industry is the fact that companies within this industry have a dual responsibility towards society, i.e. they have a responsibility in that they influence society as a company, but also due to the products they produce. Companies in the car industry have a responsibility as they create job opportunities, cash flow and economic growth; and they can have a positive influence on labour standards, improve living standards and have an impact on the environment, as any other company. At the same time, the products they produce and sell have a negative impact on the environment, as cars running on gas and diesel pollute. Consequently, car manufacturers can show responsibility in several ways, e.g. by focusing on more environmental friendly solutions and by treating their employees well and by making demands of their suppliers in terms of e.g. Human Rights. By conducting an empirical, qualitative analysis of multiple case studies (Andersen 2003: 150-156), this thesis gives new understanding of communication of CSR within the car industry. For a case company to be relevant for this study, it is important that the given company focuses on CSR on the corporate website. In addition, it is important that the case company includes all aspects of CSR, as the focus of this thesis is on all aspects, and not just on the environment/climate, which is high on the agenda in today’s society.9 The case companies, which will be further introduced in chapter 5, are:

Company name Country of origin

Global corporate website

BMW AG Germany www.bmwgroup.comToyota Motor Co., Ltd

Japan www.toyota.co.jp/en/index.html10

AB Volvo Group Sweden www.volvo.com/group/global/en-gb/

9 E.g. the French car manufacturer Peugeot has not been selected for this study, as there, on their corporate website, is no general CSR section, only a section on Environment http://www.peugeot.com/en.aspx. 10 Note that Toyota’s corporate website is not a .com website, as www.toyota.com leads to Toyota in American


http://www.volvo.com/group/global/en-gb/group_home.htm

http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/index.html

http://www.toyota.com/

http://www.bmwgroup.com/

http://www.peugeot.com/en.aspx


group_home.htmModel 1.2: The case companies

Most companies produce a vast amount of external communication, and even though this thesis only focuses on CSR texts, there is much communication to choose from and to analyse, e.g. sustainability/CSR reports, press releases, corporate websites and movie clips. However, this thesis only focuses on relevant CSR texts found on the case companies’ corporate websites, as it is general information and it focuses on all aspects of CSR important for the given company. Moreover, corporate websites are used by companies to communicate about the company and their CSR initiatives (Coupland 2005: 355). The CSR sections on the case companies’ websites all contain a vast amount of text, and it is in this study not possible to analyse the CSR sections completely (see appendix 3: 1-3, appendix 4: 1-2 and appendix 5: 1 for sitemaps of the case companies’ CSR sections). Furthermore, it is difficult to compare the CSR sections, as they include many different levels and elements. Therefore, this thesis further limits the amount of empirical data by only focusing on the three case companies’ sub-subsections which presents their approach to CSR; such a presentation is fundamental for the whole CSR section. In addition, each of the case companies’ CSR sections have such an introduction, and they are partly comparable in size11 and levels. Consequently, this study only analyses specific subsections of the case companies’ websites, and they are as follows:

Company name

Sections on CSR Subsections used in this study

Appendix

BMW Responsibility Principle Sustainability 3Toyota Corporate

ResponsibilityCSR Initiatives 4

Volvo Sustainability Social Responsibility 511 Toyota’s subsection is twice the size than BMW and Volvo’s subsections. However, the analyst will keep this in mind, and it will not affect the results of this study.


http://www.volvo.com/group/global/en-gb/group_home.htm


Model 1.3: The CSR subsections used in this study

1.4.2 TheoryEven though there are several different approaches to CDA, this thesis limits its focus to Fairclough’s approach, which among other things is the most developed theory and method within the discipline (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 60, 89). Furthermore, Fairclough’s belief that the non-discursive elements in the context influence the production and consumption of a text is relevant for the answering of this thesis’ problem statement, in that it can give an explanation as to why some conventions exist. Furthermore, this thesis limits itself from conducting a full textual analysis, as it only requires an analysis of the social and discursive dimension to answer the problem statement. In addition, the analysis of the discursive dimension predominantly focuses on the sender and the production of text, and only briefly discusses the receivers (section 6.1.3), as the receivers’ perspective is not the primary focus in this thesis.

To present the analysis of the social dimension, this thesis introduces the concept of CSR, as it is the context. This is done with a general introduction to different schools of CSR, and a specific introduction to Archie B. Carroll’s (1979) approach. This thesis limits its focus to Carroll’s approach, as his CSR pyramid is a simple model, which gives an outline of relevant aspects of CSR, and an understanding of what CSR is. Additionally, the approach is the inspiration to this thesis’ understanding and definition of CSR, as it covers four important aspects and includes a stakeholder dimension (section 4.4). Furthermore, it is one of the most accepted approaches within CSR (Matten et al. 2005: 337, Geva 2008: 10).

To supplement the analysis of the discursive practice, and to identify the conventions within communication of CSR on corporate websites, Bhatia’s (1993) approach to genre analysis is included. Fairclough’s and Bhatia’s views on discourses are very similar. Central to Fairclough’s approach is the fact that the discursive practice and social practice are in a dialectical relationship (Fairclough 2001: 19). Bhatia shares this view, even though he does not define



it as a dialectical relationship, but an “essentially complementary” relationship (Bhatia 2004: 21). Their models of how to analyse this relationship – Fairclough’s three-dimensional model (Fairclough 2001: 21, section 2.2) and Bhatia’s perspectives on written discourse analysis (Bhatia 2004: 19, appendix 6) – are also very similar. They both operate with three dimensions, and both include a textual aspect and a social aspect. However, the models differ in the last dimension, which Fairclough defines as the ‘discursive practice’ and Bhatia defines it as the ‘socio-cognitive space’. Whereas Fairclough’s dimension focuses on how writers and receivers draw on existing discourses and genres to create and understand a text, respectively (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 69), Bhatia’s dimension focuses on discourse as genre, and the conventions that creates the genre (Bhatia 2004: 10). Because of this difference, the two approaches supplement each other well, and a genre analysis will emphasise the discourses used.

This thesis limits it focus to Bhatia’s book Analysing genre: Language used in professional settings (Bhatia 1993), which focuses on discourse as genre and introduces a guideline on how to conduct a genre analysis, i.e. Bhatia’s model from 2004 is not further introduced.



1.5 The structure of this thesis To create an outline and to maintain focus, this thesis is divided into four main sections, where each section consists of the chapters that belong together. The structure is inspired by Fairclough’s three-dimensional model, which will be presented in the first section. Next, the context of this thesis will be presented, and it is followed by an analysis of the discursive practice. The last section will analyse and discuss the relationship between the social, and the discursive dimension and concludes this thesis.

Aarhus School of Business, Aarhus University, 2009

CHAPTER 6-7: THE DISCURSIVE DIMENSION This part presents the analysis of the discursive dimension, which is supplemented with a genre analysis. Chapter 6 conducts the genre analysis and chapter 7 the analysis of the discursive practice.

CHAPTER 4-5: THE SOCIAL DIMENSION This part introduces the social dimension, i.e. the context. Chapter 4 presents the concept of CSR and chapter 5 the case companies used in this study.

CHAPTER 8-9: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION This part is the concluding part of this thesis. Chapter 8 discusses and analyses the relationship between the two dimensions mentioned above, and chapter 9 will, based on the results from the analysis, answer the problem statement and conclude this thesis. Model 1.4: The structure of the thesis

CHAPTER 2-3: THEORYThis part introduces the theories used in this thesis. Chapter 2 introduces the method of analysis – Norman Fairclough’s approach to CDA, and chapter 3 introduces Bhatia’s approach to genre analysis, which will supplement the CDA.

14


THEORY




CHAPTER 8-9: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION This part is the concluding part of this thesis. Chapter 8 discusses and analyses the relationship between the two dimensions mentioned above, and chapter 9 will, based on the results from the analysis, answer the problem statement and conclude this thesis.


15


2. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)This chapter will introduce the concept of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). First, the chapter gives a short presentation of five common features of CDA, thereafter an introduction to and a critical view of Fairclough’s approach.

2.1 The concept of CDA The concept of CDA refers to “the study of relations between discourse and social and cultural developments in different social domains,” and is part of a movement within Discourse Analysis (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 60). According to Jørgensen and Phillips (2002: 60-64), there are several different approaches to CDA, however, it is possible to classify five common features among the different approaches:

1: The character of social and cultural processes and structures is partly linguistic-discursive

2: Discourse is both constitutive and constituted 3: Language use should be empirically analysed within its social context 4: Discourse functions ideologically 5: Critical research

1) Discursive practice is the production and consumption of text, and is, according to several CDA theorists, important in relation to the social practices, as it contributes to the constitution of social practices. In other words, a sender’s creation of a text and the considerations behind the creation of this text and the receiver’s interpretation of this text, has an influence on the reproduction and change of social practices (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 61). Therefore, the goal of CDA is to describe and clarify the linguistic-discursive dimension in a given social context.

2) However, discourses are not only constitutive in the fact that they contribute to the constitution of social practices, they themselves are also constituted by social practices, i.e. discourses do not only contribute to the creation and recreation of social practice, but also reflect them. Consequently,



discursive practice and social practice influence each other and are in a dialectical relationship (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 61).3) Because of discourses’ influence on social practices, CDA theorists believe that a part of the critical analysis is a “concrete, linguistic textual analysis of language use,” and that it should always be analysed empirically within its social context (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 62).4) Furthermore, the theorists claim that discourses have an ideological function, and that discursive practices are used to create and reproduce unequal power relations. 5) Therefore, CDA takes the side of oppressed social groups (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 64), and is critical in the sense that it aims to uncover the role of the discursive practice in the maintenance of the social world and unequal power relations (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 63).

According to Jørgensen and Phillips (2002: 60, 89), Fairclough’s approach represents the most developed theory and method within the CDA movement. The following section will give an introduction to Fairclough’s CDA approach; including his three-dimensional model and a number of key concepts.

2.2 Norman Fairclough’s approach to CDAAccording to Fairclough (2001: 19), there is a dialectical relationship between language and society: “My view is that there is not an external relationship ‘between’ language and society, but an internal and dialectical relationship.” Macmillan (2005: 318) defines ‘dialectic’ as:

dialectic /daIƏ’lektIk/ or dialectics / daIƏ’lektIks/noun [U] technical 1 the way in which two different forces or ideas exist together or affect each other

Therefore, Fairclough believes that language and society exist together and affect each other, and it is central to his approach that “discourse is an important form of social practice […]” (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 65). Fairclough defines the term discourse in more than one way. On an abstract level he defines it as “language and other semiosis as elements of social life,” and on a



more concrete level: “particular ways of representing part of the world” (Fairclough 2003: 26, 124, 214-215, Fairclough 2001: 16, Jørgensen et al. 2002: 66-67). In other words, a discourse is the creator’s decision of using language in one way, over another, to describe something or someone. An example is a newspaper article, e.g. a journalist who is critical towards the new American president Barack Obama. This journalist can decide to put a critical angle on his story as oppose to a positive angle, and use discourses with negative connotations to emphasise his view.

Fairclough (2003: 25) defines social practice as “articulations of different types of social element which are associated with particular areas of social life,” i.e. the context. Staying with the same example as above - the newspaper article - the social practice is the world of the newspaper and the conventions within this world. However, discourse not only influences social practice; social practice also influences discursive practice, which is the “processes of text production and consumption” (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 61). Fairclough (2001: 19) explains this influence as follows:

“linguistic phenomena are social in the sense that whenever people speak or listen or write or read, they do so in ways which are determined socially and have social effects,” and “social phenomena are linguistic, on the other hand, in the sense that the language activity which goes on in social contexts (as all language activity does) is not merely a reflection or expression of social processes and practices, it is a part of those processes and practices.”

This is one of the common features within CDA; discourse is both constitutive and constituted (section 2.1). Again, using the newspaper as an example; the context of the newspaper’s world influences a journalist’s way of creating an article, e.g. the structure of the article, the political angle and the tone. However, articles and their focus can also influence the context and conventions of a newspaper. As an example, the Danish newspaper Børsen has changed its context by adding a ‘Climate’ section to its Wednesday edition, as



the climate and a climate discourse is high on the global agenda at the moment. When conducting a discourse analysis there are two important areas of focus: ‘the communicative event’ and ‘order of discourse’ (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 67). The communicative event is “an instance of language use” (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 67), i.e. in this thesis the communicative event is CSR texts. The order of discourse is “sets of conventions associated with social institutions” (Fairclough 2001: 14), e.g. the conventions for CSR communication on corporate websites. According to Fairclough, a communicative event and an order of discourse are - as language and society - in a dialectical relationship, i.e. they influence each other (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 71). Discourses and genres are resources that the creator of a text can use, when producing a text, and these resources are controlled by the order of discourse, which constitutes the resources that are available, and this creates limitations for what the communicative event can say (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 72). However, Fairclough (2001: 32) believes that “being constrained is a precondition for being enabled” and that “social agents are active and creative,” i.e. the only way of breaking the conventions and rules is by fully knowing and understanding them. Therefore, a communicative event can either reproduce the order of discourse by following the conventions, or change it by drawing on the resources (discourses and genres) in a new and creative way (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 71).

According to Fairclough, a communicative event has three dimensions: a social dimension, a discursive dimension and a textual dimension (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 69). These dimensions are in a dialectical relationship, and therefore, it is not enough just to analyse a text; for a full analysis it is important to analyse “the relationship between texts, interactions, and contexts” (Fairclough 2001: 21). Fairclough expresses this visually with a three-dimensional model:



This thesis will begin with an analysis and discussion of the social practice (the outer dimension) (chapter 4), and then move inwards in the model to the discursive practice (chapter 6 and 7). Knowing the context of the communicative event – CSR texts – will help determine the different influences on the discursive practice, and thereby help answer the problem statement.

In this chapter, the next sections will give a short introduction to the three dimensions in Fairclough’s model, and a presentation of some of the main concepts within each dimension.

2.2.1 The Social dimension12

The outer part of Fairclough’s model is the social dimension, which in short is the context. Using this thesis as an example, the social practice is in this case the context of CSR. According to Fairclough (2001: 21), the social dimension consists of social conditions of interpretation and production, i.e. socially accepted rules for how a text is produced and interpreted.

12 Note that the concepts presented in this section will not be analysed in the introduction of social dimension (chapter 4), but in the analysis of the relationship between the dimensions (chapter 8).


SOCIAL CONDITIONS OF PRODUCTION

SOCIAL CONDITIONS OF INTERPRETATION

CONTEXT SOCIAL PRACTICE

PROCESS OF PRODUCTION

PROCESS OF INTERPRETATION

INTERACTION DISCURSIVE PRACTICE

TEXT

Model 2.1: Fairclough’s three-dimensional model (Fairclough 2001: 21)

20


Furthermore, the social dimension consists of discursive and non-discursive elements (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 69), and Fairclough offers no explanation to how to analyse the non-discursive elements. However, he encourages the use of other theories to supplement the analysis of the social practice (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 69). To describe the context, this thesis introduces different schools of CSR and Carroll’s approach to CSR (chapter 4).

Fairclough (1992: 86) only introduces the concept of ‘ideology’ and ‘hegemoni’ in relation to the social practice. He defines ideology as “meaning in the service of power” (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 75), and claims that a discourse can be more or less ideological, and can help produce, reproduce and transform power relations (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 27). Furthermore, according to Fairclough (2001: 2), it is relevant to focus on ideologies in a text analysis, as they are “closely linked to language, because using language is the commonest form of social behaviour.” Additionally, “an ideology is most effective when its workings are least visible” (Fairclough 2001: 71), i.e. when people do not think of or are aware of the ideologies. This occurs when a discourse, which contains the ideology, is neutralised and becomes common sense (Fairclough 2001: 76), which is “conception of ideology as an ’implicit philosophy’ in the practical activities of social life, backgrounded and taken for granted” (Fairclough 2001: 70).

Ideologies and power are closely linked (Fairclough 2001: 2), and therefore the concept of hegemony is closely linked to ideology. Hegemony is defined as “a particular way of conceptualizing power which amongst other things emphasizing how power depends upon achieving consent or at least acquiescence rather than just having the resources to use force” (Fairclough 2003: 45). Fairclough emphasises that there are two ways of exercising and keeping power; through coercion (force/violence) or consent (permission) (Fairclough 2001: 27-28).

2.2.2 The discursive dimension



The middle part of Fairclough’s model is the discursive dimension, and it consists of process of production and process of interpretation (Fairclough 2001: 21). According to Jørgensen et al. (2002: 69), the “analysis of discursive practice focuses on how authors of texts draw on already existing discourses and genres to create text, and on how receivers of texts also apply available discourses and genres in the consumption and interpretation of the texts.”

Even though Fairclough claims that elements such as an order of discourse and discourses are influenced by the social practice, this thesis places the analysis of these concepts and the concepts of intertextuality and interdiscursivity under the analysis of discursive practice (chapter 7). Interdiscursivity occurs “when different discourses and genres are articulated together in a communicative event” (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 73), and it is a part of intertextuality. Intertextuality refers to the fact that all communicative events draw on earlier events, e.g. using words and phrases that have been used before by others. A pronounced form of intertextuality is manifest intertextuality, which occurs when texts explicitly draw on other texts, e.g. by quoting them (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 73). According to Fairclough, intertextuality is a sign of stability and continuity, as discourses that are mixed in a conventional way reproduces the dominant order of discourse and the dominant social order. However, it can also be a sign of instability and change, as a creative mix of discourses and genres can challenge the conventions and go beyond the limitations of the genre (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 74).



2.2.3 The textual dimension The inner part of Fairclough’s model is the ‘text’, and Fairclough (2001: 20) believes that “a text is a product rather than a process – a product of the process of text production.” Furthermore, in this process a text is both a product and a resource. It is a product of the process of production, and a resource to the process of interpretation (Fairclough 2001: 20).

This dimension is inspired by Halliday’s approach to Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) (Fairclough 2003: 5), and an analysis on the textual dimension focuses on e.g. grammar, metaphors, wording and ethos. Furthermore, it emphasises how discourses are activated textually (Jørgensen et al. 2001: 83). According to Jørgensen et al. (2001: 83), two of the main concepts within this dimension are ‘transitivity’ and ‘modality’. Transitivity is “how events and processes are connected (or not connected) with subjects and object” (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 83), with this focus it is possible to determine the agent of the action, or if there is an agent at all. Omitting an agent can remove responsibility for an action, presenting the action as something socially accepted (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 83). Modality is “focus on the speaker’s degree of affinity with or affiliation to her or his statement” (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 83), i.e. the degree to which the speaker commits to a statement. On type of modality is truth, i.e. the speaker commits him or herself completely to the statement. Opposite the truth is hedges, which is when the speaker expresses low affinity to the statement, e.g. by using words such as ‘a bit’ (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 84). How transitivity and modality is used can have an influence on the receivers’ interpretation of the text, and it has an influence on how the discourses are activated (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 83).

2.3 Criticism of FaircloughFairclough’s approach is criticised for being weak and unclear on several points. First of all, in an actual analysis it is difficult to keep the social dimensions and the discursive dimension apart, as they are in a dialectical relationship with each other (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 89). It can be difficult to determine where the analysis of the social practice ends, and where the



analysis of the discursive practices begins. This thesis separates the social practice and the discursive practice by dividing them into separate parts of the analysis and giving them separate chapters (see the structure of the thesis, model 1.4). This is done, as Fairclough (1992: 86) only introduces two relevant concepts within the social practice - ideology and hegemoni (section 2.2.1), and encourages the use of other theories to supplement the analysis of the social practice (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 69). Another point of criticism is that Fairclough offers no clear instructions on how the social practice should be analysed, and how the different discourses are identified in the discursive practice (Jørgensen et al. 2002: 89-92). Consequently, the researcher can become subjective doing the analysis and only focus on the wanted result. In Fairclough’s own terms, the researcher’s interpretations are influenced by his or her Members Recourse (MR): “you arrive at an interpretation through an active process of matching features of the utterance at various levels which representations you have stored in your long-term memory” (Fairclough 2001: 8-9).

However, this criticism can be turned into a positive aspect of the analysis, as it provides the researcher with much independence, i.e. the researcher can interpret the model as he or she finds best, and in the analysis of the social practice he or she can select theories which make the most sense in relation to the overall analysis, e.g. this thesis includes theories on CSR (Chapter 4).



3. Genre Analysis This chapter presents the concept of genre analysis. First, a short historical review of description of language use is introduced, which is followed by a definition of genre. Hereafter, Bhatia’s approach and seven steps to genre analysis are introduced. Finally, a discussion of which of Bhatia’s seven steps are used in this study. 3.1 A historical review of genre analysisAccording to Bhatia (2004: 3-4), written discourses, genre analysis and the focus on the discipline of description of language use have moved through different stages in time, with occasional overlaps – the textualisation stage, the organisation stage and the contextualisation stage.

The textualisation stage was in the 60s, 70s and until the mid-80s, and this stage focuses on surface-level of linguistic description, e.g. lexico-grammatical features (Bhatia 2004: 4-7). The organisation stage, which overlapped the textualisation stage in the 70s and up until the mid-90s, focuses more on the organisation and structure of a text, e.g. rhetorical structures, rhetorical patterns and move structures conventional for specific genres (Bhatia 2004: 8-11). This quest for more detailed and grounded description of language use, resulted in a focus on context: “both the context immediate in the form of what surrounds a particular text, and also context in a much broader sense in the form of ‘what makes particular text possible’ and ‘why most of the professionals from the same disciplinary culture construct, interpret and use language more or less in the same way in specific rhetorical situations” (Bhatia 2004: 9). Bhatia (2004. 10) mentions his own approach from 1993 as one of the studies that extended the role of context. According to Bhatia (2004: 10), one of the most significant developments in this stage was the use of genre analysis in discursive analysis, of which Bhatia represents the British English for a Specific Purpose (ESP) school of thought. This became a framework for analysing conventions within genres, and a way to find out “how members of specific discourse communities construct, interpret and use these genres to



achieve their community goals and why they write them the way they do” (Bhatia 2004: 10).

At the contextualisation stage, the focus is on the social context, and according to Bhatia (2004: 11), there are three ways of handling social context. The first is a continuation of the organisation stage’s way of handling the context, i.e. focusing on the genres in more detail and on what makes these conventional genres possible (Bhatia 2004: 11). The second is viewing the broader aspects of context: “While specialist in genre studies were extending their involvement with professional and disciplinary contexts, other discourse analysts were widening the role of context in a much broader sense, to include social context, in an attempt to investigate how discourse is used as a powerful instrument of social control […]” (Bhatia 2004: 11), i.e. the CDA view of social context. The third view of context is known as analysis of (mediated) discourse as social interaction (Bhatia 2004: 11), i.e. “language in and as social interaction” (Bhatia 2004: 12).

3.2 Definition of genre To define genre, Bhatia (1993: 11) refers to Swales’ definition:

“It is a recognizable communicative event characterized by a set of communicative purpose(s) identified and mutually understood by the members of the professional or academic community in which it regularly occurs. Most often it is highly structured and conventionalized with constraints on allowable contributions in terms of their intent, positioning, form and functional value. These constraints, however, are often exploited by the expert members of the discourse community to achieve private intentions within the framework of socially recognized purpose(s).”

Bhatia breaks Swales’ definition down into four parts, and explains them individually:



1) A genre is, according to Swales definition, characterised by “a set of communicative purpose(s),” i.e. the goal of the communication. Therefore, Bhatia (1993: 12) claims that any major changes in the communicative purpose, changes the genre, whereas minor changes are indications of sub-genres. 2) Furthermore, a genre is a “conventionalized communicative event” (Bhatia 1993: 14). This statement Bhatia explains with the fact that members of a specialist area, e.g. a professional or academic community, work within a specific genre, which gives them knowledge of the communicative purpose and the structure of the genre. Consequently, they draw on this knowledge and experience when they shape the genre, which in turn create conventions (Bhatia 1993: 14).

3) According to Swales, these conventions limit “allowable contributions in terms of their intent, positioning, form and functional value.” This, according to Bhatia, means that the writer of any given genre has to follow certain conventional rules and standards for the specific genre. An example of such limitations could be a newspaper article, where the journalist can use whatever words he wants, however, the article is e.g. always printed in columns, as it is the standard and the convention. According to Bhatia (1993: 14), it is possible for creative specialists to use the rules and conventions to emphasise private opinions, however, breaking away form the conventions would be to extreme and “noticeably odd.” Furthermore, conventions are on of the main reasons that most people are able to recognise a genre, and tell apart similar genres such as a personal letter and a business letter (Bhatia 1993: 14).

4) The last part of Swales definition states that the limitation a genre creates “are often exploited by the expert members of the discourse community to achieve private intentions within the framework of socially recognized purpose(s)” (Bhatia 1993: 11). This is, as mentioned above, because the specialist members have a greater knowledge and experience with a genre, and therefore are able to be more creative. Therefore, one has to be familiar



with a genre and its conventions to exploit it for special effects (Bhatia 1993: 15). Consequently, for a non-specialist it can be difficult to interpret the content of a genre correctly and validate the findings of a genre analysis. As a result, it has, according to Bhatia (1993: 15), almost become a standard procedure to involve a specialist to confirm the findings of an analysis.

Bhatia (1993: 16) ends this explanation of Swales’ definition with the statement: “each genre is an instance of a successful achievement of a specific communication purpose using conventionalized knowledge of linguistic and discoursal resources,” and this, consequently, becomes Bhatia’s own definition of genre.

3.3 Bhatia’s approach to genre analysisBhatia (1993: 22-41) introduces a guideline for how to conduct a genre analysis, this guideline consists of seven steps. This approach is, according to Bhatia (2004: 12), placed in the organisation stage, and therefore focuses on cognitive structures in genres (section 3.1). The model below is a slight modification of Bhatia’s seven steps13 (model 3.1), and an introduction to each step of the model is outlined in the following.

Step

Action

1) Placing the given genre-text in a situational context

2) Surveying existing literature3) Refining the situational/contextual analysis4) Selecting corpus5) Studying the institutional context6) Levels of linguistic analysis

Level 1: Analysis of lexico-grammatical features

13 It is only a modification in the sense that the seven steps are placed in a table, and consequently made more clear



Level 2: Analysis of text-patterning or textualizationLevel 3: Structural interpretation of the text genre

7) Specialist information in genre analysis Step 1: Placing the given genre-text in a situational context According to Bhatia (1993: 22), the first step is to place a genre text, which is “a typical representative example of the genre,” in a situational context. This is done intuitively, with the help of prior experiences, clues found in the text and the knowledge a person has. Furthermore, placing the text will include the researcher’s knowledge of the specific discipline and the communicative conventions typical for this discipline (Bhatia 1993: 22). Placing the text is of course easier for a specialist member of the same community, who works with the discipline every day, than for a person outside the community (Bhatia 1993: 22). People from the outside can acquire this knowledge by researching available literature.

Step 2: Surveying existing literatureThe next step is to survey already existing literature. According to Bhatia (1993: 23), this could e.g. be: linguistic analyses of the genre, practitioner advice, guide books relevant for the speech community, or discussions of social structure and history.


Model 3.1: Bhatia’s 7 steps to genre analysis


Step 3: Refining the situational/contextual analysisThe third step is to refine the situational/contextual analysis, as it is not enough to intuitively place the text. This is done by defining different elements relevant for the text, e.g. the speaker/writer and the receiver/audience, the historical and socio-cultural placement, the network of surrounding texts, and the topic the text is trying to represent (Bhatia 1993: 23).

Step 4: Selecting corpusThe fourth step is selecting corpus, i.e. the quantity of genre texts necessary to conduct the analysis (Bhatia 1993: 23-24). There are three things a researcher has to do to select the right kind and right amount of corpus:

1) Defining the genre/sub genre to such an extent that it is possible to distinguish it from other genres. The definition can be based on communicative purpose, the situational context and textual characteristics.

2) Make sure that the criteria for deciding whether a text belongs to a specific genre are clearly stated.

3) Decide on criteria for an adequate selection of the corpus for the specific purpose, e.g. one long text typical for the genre, which will give a detailed analysis, or a few randomly chosen texts, which will give a general picture.

Step 5: Studying the institutional contextThe fifth step in Bhatia’s model is to study the institutional context, which among other things includes the system in which the genre is used, and the rules and conventions that apply to the use of language within the genre (Bhatia 1993: 24). When analysing the conventions, it is important to remember that they are “often implicitly understood and unconsciously followed by the participants” (Bhatia 1993: 24). However, some conventions are explicit and enforced, e.g. a cross-examination in a court of law, and it is possible to find literature on such conventions (Bhatia 1993: 24).

Step 6: Levels of linguistic analysis



The next step for the analyst is to decide at which level do most significant features of language occur, and then conduct a relevant analysis. This analysis can focus on one or more of the three levels introduced below:



Level 1: Analysis of lexico-grammatical featuresThis level focuses on the grammatical features of the text, and it is a quantitative analysis that can determine specific features of language common to the genre. This is usually a statistical analysis done on a large-scale corpus (Bhatia 1993: 25). This form of analysis has many of the same characteristics as a content analysis, which is a “systematic, objective, quantitative analysis of message characteristic” Neuendorf 2002: 1), and it is a technique used for counting and analysing units in a communication system (Neuendorf 2002: 14). According to Bhatia (1993: 25), the result of such an analysis is interesting, as it provides empirical evidence to confirm or disprove an analyst’s intuitive statements about what kind of words are predominantly used in the specific genre. However, this form of analysis cannot explain why certain words are used, and how it supports the goal of the communication (Bhatia 1993: 25).

Level 2: Analysis of text-patterning or textualizationThe second level in step six focuses on “the tactical aspect of conventional language use, specifying the way members of a particular speech community assign restricted values to various aspects of language use (they may be features of lexis, syntax or even discourse) when operating in a particular genre” (Bhatia 1993: 26), i.e. this level analyses the writer’s choices of language use, and tries to explain the specific choice. Bhatia explains it with an example of advertisement, which uses many noun phrases (NP). According to Bhatia (1993: 28), the reason for this extensive use of NPs is that advertisements use positive adjectives to describe a product, and a NP is the best option for including as many adjectives as possible. Level 3: Structural interpretation of the text genreThe third level analyses the structure and the organisation of the text, e.g. the order of how certain topics are presented, and which topic receives most focus. Analysing on this level determines preferred move structures in a text and preferred ways of communicating specific intentions (Bhatia 1993: 29-30). E.g. the move structure for academic research papers, which according to Swales, most often looks as follows (Bhatia 1993: 30):



Move 1: Establishing the research fieldMove 2: Summarizing previous researchMove 3: Preparing for present research Move 4: Introducing the present research

According to Bhatia (1993: 31), each move structure emphasises a typical communicative intention, which is subordinate to the overall communicative purpose of the genre. The writer can use different rhetorical strategies, i.e. tactical choices, to make sure that a specific move lives up to the communicative intention. Referring to the example above – academic research papers – a writer has several strategies to choose from, e.g. when trying to summarise previous research (move 2), the writer can choose to:

1) use a strong author-orientation and/or 2) use a weak author-orientation and/or 3) use a subject orientation

Furthermore, these strategies are most often non-discriminative, as they do not change the essential communicative purpose of the genre (Bhatia 1993: 19).

Step 7: Specialist information in genre analysisThe last step that Bhatia encourages an analyst to consider is to double check the findings with a specialist, i.e. a specialist member of the speech community (Bhatia 1993: 34). According to Bhatia (1993: 34), this is important if the analyst “wishes to bring in relevant explanation rather than mere description in one’s analysis.” Furthermore, he mentions guidelines for what the right specialist member is:

1) A competent and trained specialist member of the disciplinary culture in which the genre under study is routinely used.

2) Have a feel for the specialist language and also be prepared to talk about openly, when asked searching questions about various aspects of the genre under study.



3) Be in a position to explain clearly what he believes expert members of the disciplinary culture do when they exploit language in order to accomplish their generic goals (Bhatia 1993: 36).

3.4 The steps covered in the genre analysis of this thesisAccording to Bhatia (1993: 40), not all the steps are relevant in every genre analysis, and the analyst can decide on only using the steps relevant for the specific analysis. In this thesis not all steps will be conducted in the genre analysis, as they are covered by other analyses. Step 1 and 2, placing the given genre-text in a situational context and surveying existing literature, are relevant for this study. However, a description of the social practice will cover these steps (chapter 4), as the situational context and aspects from existing literature, e.g. Global Compact (section 4.2.1) and different schools of CSR (section 4.1.2) are introduced. In addition, step 4, selecting corpus, has already been covered, as chapter 1 presents the case companies and the argumentation for and limitation of the texts selected for this study (section 1.4.1). In this thesis, the selection of corpus is done intuitively, and the only criteria for choosing a company has been that there is a focus on CSR and a presentation of the given company’s approach to CSR on the corporate website.

Step 3, refining the situational/contextual analysis, will be part of the genre analysis in this thesis, as all aspects of this step are not covered by the analysis of the social or discursive dimension. Step 3 will define the senders and receivers of the CSR texts and their goals. Furthermore, Step 5, studying the institutional context, is also highly relevant and this part of the analysis will determine the conventions and rules for communicating CSR on corporate websites.

Step 6, levels of linguistic analysis, will also be a part of the analysis. Bhatia mentions three levels; however, level 1 and 2, analysis of lexico-grammatical features14 and analysis of text-pattering or textualization, are omitted. Level 1 14 This level is similar to Fairclough’s text dimension, which this thesis has limited itself from conducting (section 1.4.2).



is omitted, as such an analysis can only show which certain words are used, but not answer why these words are used, and how it supports the goal of the communication (section 3.3). Level 2 is omitted, as this will be covered in the analysis of the discursive practice (chapter 7). Therefore, it is only the third level, structural interpretation of the text genre, which will be used in the genre analysis of this thesis. Such an analysis will determine which topics receive most focus, and which strategies and move structures are conventional for this genre. Furthermore, when analysing move structures, it is possible to analyse on different levels: macro-, meta- and micro-level. On the macro-level, the focus is on the move structures of the different topics found on the websites, e.g. which topics are usually found under the subsections that introduces companies’ approach to CSR. The meta-level focuses on paragraphs’ move structures, whereas the micro-level focuses on words’ move structures. This analysis will only focus on the macro- and meta-level, i.e. the move structures of topics and paragraphs (section 6.2 and 6.3). The last step, specialist information, is also relevant, and will be conducted to increase the validity of the results of this study. Therefore, this thesis confirms the findings in the discursive dimension15 with Grundfos’16 CSR Manager Irene Quist Mortensen, who fully meets Bhatia’s guidelines for what a qualified specialist member is (appendix 7).

To summarise, the genre analysis of this thesis covers the following steps:

Step

Action Comment

3 Refining the situational/contextual analysis5 Studying the institutional context This part focuses on

move structures on the macro-level

6 Levels of linguistic analysisLevel 3: Structural interpretation of the text genre

Level 1 and 2 are not included. This part focuses on move structures on the meta-

15 It is relevant to have the specialist member confirm the findings in both the genre analysis and the analysis of the discursive practice 16A Danish pump company with a strong CSR profile www.grundfos.com.


http://www.grundfos.com/


level 7 Specialist information in genre analysis Interview with CSR

managerModel 3.2: steps covered in the genre analysis of this study



THE SOCIAL DIMENSION






37


4. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)This chapter describes and presents the concept of CSR, which is the context of the thesis, i.e. the focus is on the outer part of Fairclough’s model – the social dimension.

To give a broad understanding of what CSR is, this thesis shortly presents different schools of CSR (section 4.1.1) and relating concepts (section 4.1.2). Furthermore, different organisations and actors that influence the global CSR agenda are introduced (section 4.2). For a more specific understanding of CSR, Carroll’s approach and model is introduced (section 4.3). In addition, this approach is the inspiration to this thesis’ understanding and definition of CSR (section 4.4). 4.1 CSR a confusing concept The concept of CSR refers to the general belief that “modern businesses have responsibilities to society that extend beyond their obligations to the stockholders or investors in the firm” (Visser et al. 2007:122). However, there is not a universal accepted definition of CSR (Kakabadse 2005: 280, Neergaard 2006: 19). Furthermore, there is a vast amount of literature about the concept, as both the business world and the world of academics are focusing on CSR (Kakabadse 2005: 286). Consequently, there are many different understandings of what CSR is, which makes it a confusing concept.17

4.1.1 Different schools of CSRNeergaard (2006: 21-24) presents different schools of CSR; the Dogmatic, the Philanthropic, the International, the Dialog-oriented and the Ethical school of CSR.18

The Dogmatic school is represented by Friedman’s definition of CSR, where he states that the only responsibility a company has is to create a profit

17 This thesis will only introduce few definitions of CSR, for more see Kakabadse 2005: 281-282, Neergaard 2006: 20.18 Neergaard also defines the Danish school of CSR. However, this is not presented as it is a country specific definition and this thesis has a global perspective.



(Neergaard 2006: 21): “there is one and only one social responsibility of business – to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud” (Friedman 1962). The Philanthropic school is represented by Carroll (section 4.3), and he claims that “Social responsibility of business encompasses the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary (philanthropy) expectations that society has of organisations at a given point in time” (Carroll 1979: 500). Carroll emphasises that a company has several responsibilities, where the most fundamental is the economical responsibility, however, it is also important that the company gives back to society in the shape of philanthropy (Neergaard 2006: 21). Within this school of thought, Neergaard furthermore mentions Porter and Kramer’s (2002 and 2006) notion of Strategic Philanthropy, which argues for a strategic use of philanthropy for a company to “improve their competitive context […] and a company’s business prospects” (Porter et al. 2002: 6), and that CSR should create Shared Value, i.e. value for society and the company (Porter et al. 2006: 84).

According to Neergaard (2006: 22), the International school is the most widespread understanding of CSR. Follows of this school believe that CSR is voluntary and focuses on social, environmental and economical aspects, also known as the Triple Bottom Line (3BL) (section 4.1.2). Furthermore, CSR is within this school conducted in cooperation with a company’s stakeholders. Neergaard (2006: 20) refers to Marrewijk and Were’s definition of CSR as a representative for this school: “Corporate Sustainability, and also CSR, refers to a company’s activities – voluntary by definition – demonstrating the inclusion of social and environmental concerns in business operations and in interactions with stakeholders.”

The Dialog-oriented school also focuses on a company’s stakeholders, and is based on Freeman’s stakeholder management theory (Freeman 1984), which states that a stakeholder is “any group or individuals who can affect or is affected by the achievements of an organization’s purpose” (Freeman 2007:



122). According to this school, CSR is about living up to stakeholders’ expectations, and dialog is a central element in this approach to CSR (Neergaard 2006: 22). Neergaard (2006: 20) refers to Vos’ definition of CSR as a representative for this school: “CSR is defined as the obligations or duties of an organization to a specific system of stakeholders.”

According to the Ethical school, CSR is a matter of ethics and doing what is ethical correct. It has to do with a company’s behaviour, and how it lives up to the norms and common practices in society, and what is considered right and wrong or fair and unfair (Neergaard 2006: 23). According to Neergaard (2006: 20), Schermerhorn’s definition represents the Ethical School of CSR: “The organisation voluntarily moves beyond basic economic, legal and ethical responsibilities to provide leadership in advancing the well-being of individuals, communities and society as a whole.”

4.1.2 Relating concepts In addition to the different definitions, understandings and schools of CSR, there are also many relating and overlapping concepts connected to CSR. Some of the most common concepts are: Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Business Ethics, Corporate Citizenship, Corporate Social Responsiveness, Corporate Social Performance (Kakabadse 2005: 280, Matten et al. 2005: 335, Matten et al. 2008: 405, Neergaard 2006: 20), just to mention a few.

According to Kakabadse (2005: 280), there is a difference in academics and the business world’s definition of CSR and use of relating concepts. Academics often relate CSR to concepts such as Corporate Social Responsiveness or Corporate Social Performance, focusing on a company’s behaviour, response on demand and performance (Visser et al. 2007: 120-132). On the other hand, the business world and different organisations tend to use the concept of Sustainability, and focus on the value of partnerships and stakeholder involvement (Kakabadse 2005: 280-281).19 World Business Council for 19 For more on the academic world and the business world’s understanding of CSR and use of relating concepts see Kakabadse (2005) page 281-282



Sustainable Development (WBCSD) (section 4.2.2) defines Sustainable Development “as forms of progress that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs” (www.wbcsd.org 2008), i.e. sustainability is progresses, but what is CSR then? According to the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM),20 CSR is a level under Sustainability, as the organisation “views CSR as the contribution of organisations to Sustainable Development” (The EFQM Framework for Corporate Social Responsibility, 2004).

Also the concept of the Triple bottom line (3BL) has become popular in the recent years (Norman et al. 2004: 243). The idea behind the 3BL is that a company has three bottom lines: a financial, an environmental and a social bottom line. An argument for including the economical aspect and the traditional financial bottom line in a CSR context is that only a profitable company can live up to the social and environmental responsibilities. The environmental bottom line refers to a company’s environmental impact, and the social bottom line to a company’s social impact. According to Neergaard (2006: 20), the social bottom line is divided into an internal and an external focus. Internally, the social bottom line focuses on the company’s physical and mental work environment, and externally, the social bottom line focuses on the work conditions of a company’s partners, e.g. suppliers. Furthermore, supporters of this concept believe that a company’s fulfilment of these obligations to stakeholders should be measured, audited and reported (Norman et al. 2004: 243). An example is the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI),21 which has adopted this approach (Norman et al. 2004: 244), and offers guidelines for how a company should measure and report their economic, environmental and social performance (www.globalreporting.org).

4.2 International influence on the CSR agenda

20 EFQM is a non-for-profit membership foundation which offers its experience and know-how to members and helps them implement their strategies (www.efqm.org). 21 GRI is an institution which offers global standards in sustainability reporting (www.globalreporting.org).


http://www.globalreporting.org/

http://www.globalreporting.org/

http://www.wbcsd.org/

http://www.efqm.org/


There are many actors and organisations that influence the CSR agenda. This thesis introduces two of the main influencers: The UN’s Global Compact, as it is the single largest initiative within CSR (section 4.2.1), and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (section 4.2.2).

4.2.1 The Global Compact The United Nations’ Global Compact is, with its more than 4.700 participants and stakeholders in over 130 countries (appendix 8: 1), one of the main influencers on the CSR agenda. The Global Compact is “a strategic policy initiative for businesses that are committed to aligning their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption” (appendix 8: 1). Former UN Secretary General Koffi Annan launched the Global Compact in 1999 (appendix 9). However, the official launch was not before 26 of July, 2000 (appendix 10).

The Global Compact asks companies to embrace, support and enact ten principles that cover four areas: Human Rights, Labour Standards, Environment and Anti-Corruption (appendix 11), and it has two objectives:

1. Mainstream the ten principles in business activities around the world 2. Catalyse actions in support of broader UN goals, including the Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs) (appendix 8: 2).

On the website www.unglobalcompact.org, users can find a quick overview of the four areas and the ten principles. Furthermore, the user can press any link to receive more and detailed information on the specific areas or principles (appendix 11).

According to the website, one of the benefits of engagement for a company is the adoption of “an established and globally recognized policy framework for the development, implementation, and disclosure of environmental, social and governance policies and practices” (appendix 8: 1). Members are e.g. offered guidelines and tools to how to approach CSR (appendix 12), sparring partners


http://www.unglobalcompact.org/


in the shape of other companies in local networks (appendix 13), and updates on CSR (appendix 14). Furthermore, “the Global Compact is a purely voluntary initiative” (appendix 15: 1). However, members are asked to communicate on progress (COP). According to the website, “The Global Compact’s policy on communication progress asks participants to communicate annually to all stakeholders their progress in implementing the ten principles” (appendix 16: 1), as it “is an important demonstration of participant’s commitment to the Global Compact and its principles” (appendix 15: 1), i.e. companies have to report on their progresses and commit to the initiative on an yearly basis. Guidelines on how to conduct a COP is found on the website under the section ‘Communicating progress’ (appendix 17), which contains templates, a reference to GRI and other relevant publications.

Many companies have chosen to sign and support Global Compact. However, many have also raised critical voices towards Global Compact. One point of criticism is the fact that committing to Global Compact is only a declaration of intent, and Global Compact cannot monitor all its members and make sure that they live up to the standard (Bendell 2004: 8). Consequently, a company can state that they support Global Compact, but not live up to this statement. Furthermore, Global Compact does not offer an overall definition of CSR or sustainability, or the difference between the two. Therefore, it is up to the individual company to define CSR, and this does not help make the concept of CSR less confusing.

Out of the three case companies presented in this thesis (chapter 5), two are members of Global Compact – BMW and Volvo. Toyota Group is not a member; however, Toyota Greece is registered as a member of Global Compact (appendix 18).

4.2.2 World Business Council for Sustainable Development



The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is also an influencer on the CSR agenda. It is a “CEO-led, global association of some 200 companies dealing exclusively with business and sustainable development” (appendix 19), which focuses on the areas of energy and climate, development, the businesses’ role and ecosystems (appendix 20).

The WBCSD was founded at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, a UN conference on environment and development. The founder is Swiss Stephan Schmidheiny, ”who believed that business could act as a catalyst for change toward the achievement of sustainable development; at the same time, business needs sustainable development in order to fulfil its potential” (appendix 21).

Becoming a member of the WBCSD is different from becoming a member of Global Compact. Members of the WBCSD are invited by an Executive Committee, i.e. the members have to show that they are committed to sustainable development and to promoting CSR, before they can become members (appendix 22).

Members of WBCSD have to pledge their support, as members of the Global Compact. Furthermore, the demand from the organisation is that the members contribute to the WBCSD “by making available their knowledge and experience, and appropriate human resources” (appendix 22). In addition, they are asked to report on their contribution to sustainable development, which according to WBCSD is inspired by the 3BL, and consists of an economic, social and environmental aspect.

In the following Carroll’s CSR pyramid is introduced to give a more specific understanding of CSR.



4.3 Carroll’s CSR pyramidCarroll believes that for CSR to be legitimate it has to address all obligations that a business has to society, therefore, he defines CSR as follows:

“Social responsibility of business encompasses the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary (philanthropy) expectations that society has of organisations at a given point in time” (Carroll 1979: 500).

Carroll (1991: 40) mentions four different kinds of social responsibilities which constitute CSR: an economic, a legal, an ethical and a philanthropic responsibility. Furthermore, he combines them in a pyramid with what he believes to be the most fundamental responsibility at the bottom.

According to Carroll (1991: 41), a company’s economic responsibility is the most fundamental social responsibility, as he claims that “a business’ principal role is to produce goods and services that consumers need and want and to make an acceptable profit.” With this view, Carroll agrees with Friedman that a company’s economic responsibility is important. However, Carroll does not agree that the economic responsibility is the only responsibility companies have. He believes that profitability is a precondition for a company to be able to live up to the other three responsibilities (Carroll 1991: 41), which is the same argument used for including the economical aspect in the 3BL (section 4.1.2).


PHILANTHROPICResponsibility

Be a good corporate citizen

ECONOMICResponsibility

Be profitable

ETHICALResponsibility

Be Ethical

LEGALResponsibility

Obey the law

Model 4.1: Carroll’s CSR pyramid (Carroll 1991: 42).

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According to Carroll (1991: 41), the legal responsibility follows the economic responsibility, as a company has to obey the law and comply with laws and regulations presented by the local or national government. Next is the ethical responsibility, which includes the standards, norms and expectations from a company’s different stakeholders and what they regard as fair and just (Carroll 1991: 41). Even though they are closely connected, Carroll separates the legal and ethical responsibility, as he claims it is not enough to obey the law, a company also needs to have ethical standards that preceded the law. Carroll’s argument for this point of view is that the ethical standards are important in the creation of new laws and regulations, as they become driving forces for the shaping of the laws, e.g. the environmental movement, civil rights movement and consumer movement (Carroll 1991: 41).22 Another reason for this separation is the fact that living up to the legal responsibilities is a requirement for conducting business, whereas not living up to the ethical responsibility does not prevent a company from doing business (Carroll 1991: 41). However, it can have a negative influence on a company’s reputation.

The top part of Carroll’s CSR pyramid is a company’s philanthropic responsibility. According to Carroll (1991: 42), “philanthropy encompasses those corporate actions that are in response to society’s expectation that business be good corporate citizens. This includes actively engaging in acts or programs to promote human welfare or goodwill.” Philanthropy is voluntary, and it differs from the three other responsibilities in the pyramid, as it will not have a negative influence on the company, if they do not live up to the philanthropic responsibility. However, it is important to remember that it is highly desired and expected by society, though not in an ethical or moral sense (Carroll 1991: 42).

According to Carroll (1991: 47-48), his CSR pyramid is a framework for understanding and evolving the nature of a company’s economical, legal,

22 A current example is the fact that Danish companies of a certain size from 2009 are required by law to report on their CSR initiatives. CSR reporting is being regulated, whereas it before has been voluntary (appendix 2).



ethical, and philanthropic performance, and it provides managers with an outline and an method to how to approach CSR. To further help managers, Carroll has separated the different types of responsibilities, as it emphasises the different types of obligations, and that they are in “a constant but dynamic tension with one another” (Carroll 1991: 42). The most critical tension is between the economic responsibility and the three other responsibilities, as the economic responsibility is fundamental (Carroll 1991: 40) and therefore creates a tension between the company’s concern for profit and its concern for society (Carroll 1991: 42).

Even though Carroll separates the different responsibilities and indicates that the bottom of his pyramid is more important than the top, he urges managers to have a holistic view on CSR, and let it influence “how the company engage in decisions, actions and programs that simultaneously fulfil all its components parts” (Carroll 1991: 42-43). This is important, as the total of CSR requires the fulfilment of a company’s economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic responsibilities (Carroll 1991: 43).

4.3.1 Criticism of the CSR PyramidSeveral people have raised critical voices in regards to Carroll’s approach to CSR. Geva argues that Carroll’s definitions of the different responsibilities are to narrow, and that the separation of them creates a problem with integration, i.e. that the model does not explain how the different responsibilities interact and influence one another (Geva 2008: 8, Visser 2006: 47). In addition, Carroll is criticised for focusing to much on the economical perspective of CSR, as a company is defined as social responsible, primarily if it is profitable (Geva 2008: 12). This, in short, allows companies to put the three top responsibilities - legal, ethic and philanthropy - on hold in times of need, e.g. during a financial crisis (Geva 2008: 14). Furthermore, Carroll’s pyramid is created in an American context, which is criticised by several (Matten et al. 2005: 338, Visser 2006: 36). In his article “Revisiting Carroll’s CSR Pyramid, An African perspective” Visser uses Carroll’s



CSR model to explore the nature of CSR in Africa. The conclusion of the article is that the hierarchy of economic, legal, ethics and philanthropy has no relevance in an African context (Visser 2006: 47), and that Carroll’s CSR pyramid may not be the best model for understanding CSR in general (Visser 2006: 48-49).

According to Visser (2006: 45), the CSR pyramid has serious limitations, e.g. Carroll’s inconsistency in his explanation of why CSR is seen as a hierarchy, which makes it difficult to determine what the model is trying to say (Visser 2006: 46). Additionally, Visser (2006: 47) does not believe in the reliability of the model, which Carroll claims is universal, as it is not tested outside America. Consequently, it does not give a true picture of the world. This argument is emphasised by the fact that several studies suggest that different cultures give different nuances to the meaning of each component (Visser 2006: 47).

In addition, Visser (2006: 46) criticises Carroll’s model for not including the environmental aspect of CSR, which is an important part, especially in today’s world, where climate is high on the agenda. However, in Carroll’s defence, it is only a few definitions of CSR that includes the environmental aspect, this thesis only mentions two: the definition of CSR representing the International school of CSR (section 4.1.1) and the relating concept of the 3BL (section 4.1.2). In the same way, the 3BL can be criticised for not including the ethical aspect of CSR. Furthermore, the environmental aspect of CSR does not necessarily have to appear in a CSR model. The pyramid is to be understood as a framework that includes all aspects of CSR, and the environmental aspect can therefore be placed under each of Carroll’s four responsibilities. E.g. spending recourses on changing/influencing laws and regulations, and demanding that certain products are energy labelled and have to live up to a certain level, can both be based on the desire to live up to an ethical decision to help the environment, as much as living up to a economical responsibility, in the form of creating a competitive edge and thereby a profit for the company.

4.4 This thesis’ CSR framework



Using Carroll’s model to present CSR indicates that this thesis adopts the Philanthropic school’s view of CSR. However, this it not correct, as this thesis predominantly adopts the stakeholder approach to CSR, i.e. the Dialog-oriented or the International school of CSR (section 4.1.1). This thesis believes that a company that focuses on its stakeholders, tries to create value for them, and defines them as the beneficiaries of the company’s CSR initiatives, is truly engaged in its CSR profile. Furthermore, most of the theory on CSR is based on stakeholder management theories (Kakabadse 2005: 288, Neergaard 2006: 26). Nonetheless, Carroll’s theory is still relevant, as this thesis argues that he also adopts the stakeholder approach to CSR. Furthermore, the four responsibilities are highly relevant aspects within CSR.

Even though Neergaard (2006: 26) places Carroll in the Philanthropic school, and states that the International and Dialog-oriented schools are the CSR schools that are based on stakeholder theory, he also points out that the different schools are not mutually exclusive (Neergaard 2006: 24). Therefore, Carroll’s approach best illustrates and represents the Philanthropic school of CSR, however, he also has much focus on the stakeholder’s role in doing CSR. Carroll (1991: 43) states that “there is a natural fit between the idea of CSR and an organization’s stakeholders,” and that a stakeholder analysis can answer the question who are included in society, and to whom is a company responsible? He is supported by Kakabadse (2005: 289), who explains that “if CSR aims to define what responsibilities business ought to fulfil, the stakeholder concept addresses the issue of whom business is or should be accountable to, and both concepts are clearly interrelated.” Furthermore, Carroll (1991: 44) introduces a stakeholder/responsibility matrix, which can help clarify what the company ought to be doing, to live up to the stakeholders’ expectations, and the company’s economical, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities.

4.4.1 A modified CSR model Despite his criticism, Visser (2006: 45) understands Carroll’s model as “a durable and useful model for defining and exploring CSR.” The different



criticisms of Carroll’s CSR pyramid have been taken into account, and the result is a modification of his model (model 4.2).

The largest modification of Carroll’s model is the shape of the new model. This model is not shaped as a pyramid, as this thesis agrees with Geva; the pyramid shape indicates that a company can put one or more responsibilities on hold in bad times. However, Carroll’s separation and definition of the four responsibilities are still the same, as it emphasises which different responsibilities companies have, even though Geva believes it creates a problem with integration. This modified CSR model is not too far from Carroll’s first draft of his model (Carroll 1979: 499, appendix 23), which did not have the shape of a pyramid. However, his first draft is still not practical, as it places the four responsibilities on different levels, and it is not clear that they interact and influence each other. Furthermore, the early draft of the model still indicates that the economical and legal responsibilities are most important, as their boxes are larger than the ethical and philanthropic responsibilities. This modified model clearly shows that the responsibilities are equally important, and that the economical responsibility is not a precondition for the others. Furthermore, it is clear that the different responsibilities interact, as the arrows connect the boxes.


PHILANTHROPICResponsibility

Be a good corporate citizen

ETHICALResponsibility

Be Ethical

ECONOMICResponsibility

Be profitable

LEGALResponsibility

Obey the law

Model 4.2: Modified CSR model

50


Visser’s criticism of the fact that Carroll’s model is only tested in an American context is as much a criticism of the model’s pyramid shape, as Visser’s (2006) analysis shows that the four different responsibilities are relevant in an African context; however, it is the weight and the importance of the responsibilities that differ from Carroll’s model. Therefore, the modified model is relevant in both an American and European context.23

In addition to and to supplement the modified CSR model, this thesis defines CSR as follows:

The concept Corporate Social Responsibility is a company’s impact on society and contribution to Sustainable Development. Furthermore, it refers to the economical, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities that a company has towards its stakeholders and society.

This definition is a combination of EFQM’s and Carroll’s definition of CSR, i.e. it is inspired by both the business world (EFQM) and academic research (Carroll). The definition is inspired by EFQM’s definition (section 4.1.2), as companies have an impact on society, and stakeholders are the receivers of the company’s CSR initiatives. Furthermore, the definition is inspired by Carroll’s approach, as it defines four responsibilities which create a holistic approach to CSR (section 4.3). This definition does not mention the aspect of voluntarism, as more and more companies indirectly are forced by stakeholders to focus on CSR. Furthermore, the environment is not mentioned in the definition, as it is an aspect of CSR that can be influenced by all four responsibilities.

23 CSR is often divided into an American context and an European context (Matten et al. 2008).



5. The case companies To answer the problem statement, this thesis has selected three companies from the car industry as cases. In this chapter there will be a short presentation of the companies, which are BMW, Toyota and Volvo (model 1.2).

5.1 BMWBayerische Flugzeug-Werke (BFW) was founded and in 1917, and in 1922 Bayerische Motoren Werk (BMW) acquired the BFW site. However, the German company BMW continues to regard BFW’s establishment as the date of founding. During the 1st World War, the company enjoyed rapid growth and was situated in Munich in Germany, where it built engines for military aircrafts until 1918. In the 20s the company focused its production on rail vehicle breaks and built-in engines, as there was a production ban on aircraft engines. After the 2nd

World War, BMW was granted permission to carry out repairs of US army vehicles, and allowed to manufacture spare parts, agricultural equipment and bicycles. Furthermore, the company was authorised to build motorcycles, but was not able to do so before 1947. In the 1970s, Herbert Quandt became Chairman of the Board of Management, and under his leadership, BMW developed from a national company of European significance, into an international brand of global standing (www.bmwgroup.com). Today, BMW’s head quarter is still in Munich, but the organisation covers more than 150 countries, with 17 production facilities in 6 countries. The company’s brands are BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce, and it had revenues for more than €56,000 million in 2007 (BMW’s Annual report 2007: 4).

The company strategy is:

“Identifying potential and encouraging growth. Knowing what we represent. Recognising where our strengths lie and making the best use of every opportunity. Following a clear strategy. Goals we have attained are in essence the point of departure for new challenges [...]”


http://www.bmwgroup.com/


“The result? Outstanding brands with an unmistakable profile. Automobiles and motorcycles which fascinate people all over the world and which win legions of new admirers every day. And a degree of success which sees the BMW Group go from strength to strength.”

5.2 ToyotaThe Japanese company Toyota was founded by Kiichrio Toyoda in 1935, and became Toyota Motor Co., Ltd in 1937. In 1947 the company had produced more than 100,000 cars domestically. The first car Toyota produced was a passenger car; however, the first car to be exported was the G1 truck. In the 1950s the first passenger cars were exported to the US, and in 1957 Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc was established, since then the company has had a rapid growth. The company has a long history, e.g. the logo of the company is more than 70 years old, and the slogan “Good Thinking, Good Products” is from 1953. Today Toyota has manufacturing companies in 25 countries. The company’s brands are Toyota, Lexus, Hino and Daihatsu, and it had revenues for $202,864 in 2007 (Toyota’s Annual report 2007: 3).

The message from Toyota’s top management is:

“Since its founding, our company has been aiming to enrich society through car making. Our goal is to be a ‘good corporate citizen’, constantly winning the trust and respect of the international community. Continuing in the 21st century, we aim for stable long-term growth, while striving for harmony with people, society and the environment.

5.3 VolvoThe Swedish company Volvo was officially founded in 1927 by Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson, when the first car left the factory in Hisingen, Göteborg. In 1928, the sales of the first series-manufactured trucks turned out



to be a success, unlike the sales of passenger cars. In 1932, the company started exporting trucks all over the world, however, it was not before after the 2nd World War in 1948 that Volvo produced more passenger cars that other vehicles. In 1964, Volvo opened a truck production plant in Belgium, and was now ready to enter the European market, and in 1972 a new plant was opened in Australia, and in 1973 another one in the US. Today Volvo employees more than 100,00 people, has production facilities in 19 countries and operations in more than 180 countries. Furthermore, the company had revenues for 285,405 SEK millions in 2007 (Volvo’s Annual report 2007: 40).

Volvo’s mission is:

“By creating value for our customers, we create value for our shareholders. We use our expertise to create transport-related products and services of superior quality, safety and environmental care for demanding customers in selected segments. We work with energy, passion and respect for the individual.”

Volvo’s vision is:

“The Volvo Group’s vision is to be valued as the world’s leading supplier of commercial transport solutions.”

This concludes the theoretical and descriptive part of the thesis, and is the basis for the analytical part – the discursive dimension and the discussion.



THE DISCURSIVE DIMENSION






55


6. Genre analysis Using Bhatia’s approach, this chapter conducts a genre analysis of the genre of CSR on corporate websites.24 The genre analysis is a supplement to the discursive analysis, as the conventions found within this genre influences the discourses used. Therefore, the genre analysis is conducted before the analysis of discourses. Furthermore, analysing the genre first gives an overview of the case companies’ websites and the structures found on each website. This analysis answers research question one – which conventions are there within the genre of CSR on corporate websites (section 1.1)?

As mentioned in section 1.4.2, this part of the analysis only focuses on four of Bhatia’s seven steps:

Step

Action Comment

3 Refining the situational/contextual analysis5 Studying the institutional context This part focuses on

move structures on the macro-level

6 Levels of linguistic analysisLevel 3: Structural interpretation of the text genre

Level 1 and 2 are not included. This part focuses on move structures on the meta-level

7 Specialist information in genre analysis Interview with CSR manager

Model 3.2: Steps covered in the genre analysis of this study

6.1 Step 3 – Refining the situational/contextual analysisIn this subsection the senders of the CSR texts will be identified (section 6.1.1). Furthermore, the communicative purpose of the texts (section 6.1.2) and the receivers will be discussed (section 6.1.3).

6.1.1 The senders

24 Any reference to ‘the CSR genre’ in this thesis is a reference to the genre of CSR on corporate websites, i.e. not the genre of CSR found in e.g. sustainability or CSR reports



The case companies are the senders of their respective CSR texts, as the texts are found on the companies’ corporate websites. Furthermore, the companies are mentioned by name in the texts (appendix 3: 6, l. 16, appendix 4: 7, l. 3, appendix 5: 3, l. 3) and with personal pronouns (appendix 3: 6, l. 26, appendix 4: 7, l. 32, appendix 5: 3, l. 2), which indicate that they are the senders of the texts (Albrecht 2005: 71). However, there is a difference in the way the texts present and refer to the senders. The BMW text predominantly uses third person singular when referring to the sender, i.e. BMW, and there is little use of personal pronouns. This is also the case for the Toyota text, which predominantly uses the third person singular, except from the sub-subsection ‘Toyota’s CSR concept’ (appendix 4: 7-11). Here, the reference to the company is predominantly via the pronoun ‘we’, which Toyota defines as “Toyota MOTOR CORPORATION and our subsidiaries” (appendix 4: 9, l. 1). The Volvo text, on the other hand, has an extensive use of pronouns such as ‘we’, ‘us’ and ‘our’ (appendix 5: 3, l. 2, 8, 12, 17, 19, 21), and only uses the third person singular a few times.

6.1.2 The communicative purpose The communicative purposes of the texts are quite similar, i.e. the companies have the same goal for the texts. The common goal for the case companies is to introduce and explain the given company’s approach to CSR and the different CSR initiatives.

This communicative goal is clear on the three case companies’ websites, as they all have a subsection introducing CSR (model 6.1), which main function is to explain CSR and the given company’s approach to the concept. Furthermore, the text types in the subsections are predominantly conceptual exposition, which is “writing that explains” (Albrecht 2005: 103). According to Albrecht (2005: 103), “in conceptual exposition the scene is set in the beginning of a text, in the sense that its topic is outlined” (Albrecht 2005: 103), and in the CSR texts there are several examples of this feature. The subsection ‘Social Responsibility’ in the Volvo text first explains what the company believes to be a good citizen (appendix 5: 4, l. 1-6), and why they are committed and



responsible, i.e. setting the scene, and the rest of the subsections introduce guidelines for and examples of how Volvo is responsible. The same feature is found in the BMW text, where the sub-subsection ‘Our philosophy’ first gives a general introduction to responsible commitment, and thereafter an explanation of how BMW are responsible (appendix 3: 6). In the Toyota text, a short general introduction is also found in the sub-subsection ‘Toyota’s CSR concept’, which describes the environment surrounding the automotive industry (appendix 4: 7, l. 12-16).

6.1.3 The receivers The receivers of the texts are anyone who is interested in the given company’s CSR profile, i.e. stakeholders. The receiver’s goal is to find information on the company’s approach to CSR, initiatives and profile. Consequently, it is a large and diverse group, which includes both internal and external stakeholders, e.g. employees and customers. This diversity in the receivers affects the CSR texts, which have to be understood by both specialist members of the speech community and non-members. Consequently, different concepts are explained and new organisations are introduced. The BMW text gives a definition of the concept of sustainability (appendix 3: 6) and the Global Compact is introduced (appendix 3: 17). The Toyota text takes it a step further, as the definition of e.g. Mobil Society and explanation of Global Production Centres are placed in boxes, which visually highlights them (appendix 4: 31 and 23), and the logo WELCAB is explained (appendix 4: 16). Considering the knowledge the non-members of the speech community have is important when producing a text, and explanations and definitions are useful for this group. However, it is equally important that the sender does not seem condescending and oversimplify different concepts. The Volvo text gives an example of how to balance this: the concept of Sustainable Society is defined (appendix 5: 3), and the Global Compact is introduced (appendix 5: 6), however it is a very short introduction. Furthermore, different certifications such as ISO 14001 are mentioned but not explained further (appendix 5: 12).



Using the personal pronoun ‘you’ is a way for the sender to acknowledge and refer to the receiver, and a way to reduce the distance to the receiver (Jørgensen et al 2002: 85). Predominantly, the texts do not use the personal pronoun ‘you’ much. In the BMW text, it is most often used when the receiver is encouraged to do something active, e.g. find further information on a topic (appendix 3: 7, l. 20, p. 13, l. 33, p. 14, l. 25 and p. 16, l. 6), or contact the company (appendix 3: 21). The Volvo text uses ‘you’ in a rhetorical question: “What would you say is typical for a good citizen?” (appendix 5: 4, l. 1), which acknowledge the receiver, however, it does not give the receiver any possibility to answer the question. Therefore, it is only the sender who influences the agenda and what this specific text is about. The Toyota text has no direct reference to the receiver at all (appendix 4).

6.2 Step 5 – Studying the institutional contextThis section focuses on the move structures found on the websites on a macro-level, i.e. the move structure of topics.

On the macro-level, the companies have different topics and many different subsections. However, there are some general moves, which are similar under the subsections that introduce the companies’ approach to CSR, and they are as follows:

No. Move Comment 1 Introducing the company’s CSR

approach 2 Presenting corporate guidelines

Official organisations Own guidelines

This move includes two important aspects: official organisations and the company’s own guidelines

3 Focusing on stakeholders Within this move the companies differ, however they can all agree on the next move has to do with stakeholders

Model 6.1: Move structure on the macro-level



1) The first move, which is the same on the three websites, is to introduce the company’s approach to CSR on a very abstract level. BMW gives this introduction on the sub-subsection ‘Our Philosophy’ (appendix 3: 6), Toyota on the sub-subsection ‘Toyota’s CSR concept’ (appendix 4: 8), and Volvo on the subsection ‘Social Responsibility’ (appendix 5: 4). The sections have different names and are on different levels, e.g. Volvo’s presentation is on a subsection, whereas the others’ presentations are on sub-subsections. Furthermore, they use different tools to communicate the message, e.g. Toyota uses models and text, whereas the others only use text. However, the moves have the same function – to introduce the companies’ approaches to CSR.

2) The next move, to present corporate guidelines, is also general for the three websites: BMW has a sub-subsection with guidelines (appendix 3: 7), Toyota has a sub-sub-subsection with a CSR policy (appendix 4: 9-10), and Volvo has a sub-subsection introducing their Code of Conduct, which includes the sub-sub-subsections: ‘Business principles’, ‘Environmental principles’ and ‘Human Rights and workplace principles’ (appendix 5: 6-9). The sections on the three case companies’ websites have different names, however, they still have the same function – presenting the company rules that all employees must follow.

Within this move – presenting corporate guidelines – there are two important aspects that all three case companies distinguish between; official organisations/declarations and the company’s own guidelines. BMW mentions no less than five different official organisations and declarations: the Global Compact, the Clean Production Declaration of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), the International Labour Organisation (ILO), OECD guidelines for multinational companies and the Business Charter for Sustainable Development of the International Chamber of Commerce (appendix 3: 7, l. 4-9). Furthermore, it is possible to download BMW’s own Human Resources Policy, Environmental guidelines, Joint declaration on human rights and labour conditions and Corporate Governance Codex. In the same way, Toyota mentions one specific charter, the Charter of Corporate Behavior of the



Nippon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) (appendix 4: 9, l. 10-15), and that the company follows local, national and international laws and regulations (appendix 4: 9, l. 4). Furthermore, it is possible to download the document ‘Guiding principles at Toyota’, which is further introduced and referred to on the same site (appendix 4: 10). Volvo also includes the two aspects in this move, as the company refers to the Global Compact, the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Labour Organization (ILO) (appendix 5: 6). Furthermore, it is also possible to download Volvo’s Code of Conduct (appendix 5: 6, l.17-37). In addition, the principles that the Code of Conduct includes are introduced on the sub-sub-subsections that follows (appendix 5: 7-9). 3) The third move is to focus on stakeholders. Within this move, the companies differ more than within the two first moves, e.g. the move is not as easy to distinguish as the others. Toyota’s move is the easiest to identify, as the move consists of one sub-subsection named ‘Relations with stakeholders’. Furthermore, it is clear which stakeholders that are referred to as the sub-subsection includes the sub-sub-subsections: ‘Customers’, ‘Employees’, ‘Shareholders’, ‘Business partners’ and ‘Global society/ Local Communities’ (appendix 4: 12-36). On the other hand, BMW and Volvo have stretched the focusing on stakeholders move over several sub-subsections and sub-sub-subsections, and it is not as clear which stakeholders they refer to. On the BMW website, this move covers the sub-sections: ‘Responsibility in the supply chain’, ‘Stakeholder dialogue’ and ‘Partnerships and memberships’ (appendix3: 9-20), i.e. the focus is on stakeholders in general and on suppliers and partners in specific. On the Volvo website, the focus is on employees, suppliers and partners, as the move covers the sub-subsections: ‘Promoting diversity’, ‘A fair workplace’, ‘Requirements on suppliers’ and ‘Cases and partnerships’. Consequently, within this move the companies differ in focus and section levels, however, the function of the move is the same – focusing on stakeholders.



According to CSR manager Irene Quist Mortensen, this move structure is common and makes sense, as it is a traditional top/down way of thinking, from the corporate strategy to the actions, and with stakeholders as an example of how CSR creates value (appendix 7: 5).

6.3 Step 6 – Levels of linguistic analysis/Structural interpretation of the text genre This section focuses on the move structures found in the texts on a meta-level, i.e. the move structure of paragraphs.

Models 6.2, 6.3 and 6.4 show the move structures found on the meta-level in move 1 – introducing the company’s CSR approach (model 6.1). The move structures differ from each other, however, some common aspects are found in the texts: the use of a general perspective vs. a specific company perspective and establishing credibility.

BMW – Our Philosophy (appendix 3: 6) No.

Move Comment

GENRAL

1 Defining what CSR includes2 Defining the role of the company3 Defining Sustainable Development

SPECIFIC

4 Establishing credibility via history On all three websites

5 Introducing CSR initiatives6 Introducing partners 7 Establishing credibility via external

acknowledgments On all three websites

8 Introducing BMW’s goals Model 6.2: Move structure on the meta-level (BMW)



Toyota - Toyota’s CSR concept (appendix 4: 8)No. Move Comment 1 Establishing credibility via history On all three websites2 Introducing CSR policy3 Introducing the general context of the car

industry 4 Introducing Toyota’s vision for 20205 Introducing Toyota in the future 6 Guiding principles Model 6.3: Move structure on the meta-level (Toyota)

Volvo - Social Responsibility (appendix 5: 4) No.

Move Comment

1 Defining a good citizen 2 Establishing credibility On all three

websites3 The company’s impact

PARTNERS

4 Presenting company’s role5 Presenting suppliers’ role6 Being an attractive partner

Model 6.4: Move structure on the meta-level (Volvo)

In the first move, on the macro-level – introducing the company’s CSR approach – all three case companies use a general perspective vs. a specific perspective. The clearest example is the BMW website; the first three moves are general and give an introduction to the concept of CSR, whereas the last five moves are specific for BMW (model 6.2). In the same way, Toyota’s third move is a very short introduction to the context of the car industry, and the other five moves are specific to Toyota (model 6.3). Volvo uses the same method; the first move on the meta-level defines a good citizen in a general perspective, whereas the last five moves again are company specific (model 6.4). This use of a general and specific perspective is due to the fact that the



communicative purposes of the texts are to present and explain the companies’ approach to CSR, and because the predominant text type on the websites is conceptual exposition (section 6.1.2).

Establishing credibility is also a move that is found on a meta-level on all the websites, and this can be done via history or via external acknowledgement. BMW uses both ways; in move four the company uses history to establish credibility, by claiming to have used sustainable business management in many years (appendix 3: 6, l. 16-17), and in move seven they use external acknowledgements, by referring to their place on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (appendix 3: 6, l. 26-29). Toyota also uses history to establish credibility, by claiming to have a long tradition for doing good in the first move: “Since its foundation Toyota has continuously strived to contribute to the sustainable development of society […]” (appendix 4: 7, l. 3-4). In the same way, Volvo tries to establish credibility by emphasising its size and impact (appendix 5: 4, l. 7-12).

However, it is not only on the meta-level that the companies try to establish credibility, there are several examples of this move on the macro-level as well. BMW’s sub-sub-subsection ‘Top marks’ presents Dow Jones Sustainability Index, and emphasises that BMW has been on the index every year since 1999. Furthermore, the section lists several awards BMW has received for corporate sustainability (appendix 3: 8). Toyota’s sub-subsection ‘Evaluation from society to Toyota’s CSR initiatives,’ and Volvo’s subsection ‘Prizes and awards’ have the same function as BMW’s ‘Top marks’. Consequently, on the meta-level establishing credibility is predominantly done by referring to history and the company’s tradition, whereas it on the macro-level predominantly is done via external acknowledgment.

Even though CSR manager Irene Quist Mortensen works in another industry than the car industry, she recognises the move structures found on the case companies’ meta-level, and does not find any of them abnormal or surprising. On the contrary, she sees it as a classical and some what academic way of



thinking, as the move structures establish a context and give definitions. Furthermore, the move structures explain how the given company relate to this context, both within the company with a focus on corporate policies, strategies and visions, and outside the company in relation to e.g. Global Compact or Dow Jones and other agendas (appendix 7: 5-6). 6.4 Conventions for the CSR genreIt is not possible for this study to conclude that it is conventional for companies in the car industry to have a section which focuses on CSR, as this thesis has limited its focus to companies with a CSR profile (section 1.4.1). However, the case companies’ placement of the section indicates that CSR has become more and more relevant in the car industry. Each case company has, on the front page, a subsection presenting the company called either ‘Company’ (appendix 3: 4, appendix 4: 3) or ‘About us’ (appendix 5: 2), and CSR could easily have been a sub-subsection under such a subsection, as it is a part of the corporate culture. Nevertheless, every case company places the CSR section as a subsection on the front page, i.e. it is as important as the ‘About us’ section. Additionally, it is worth noticing that there are no clear conventions for what this section should be called. On the BMW website it is called ‘Responsibility’ (appendix 3: 1), Toyota calls it ‘Corporate Responsibility’ (appendix 4: 1) and Volvo ‘Sustainability’ (appendix 5: 1).

There are clear conventions for which topics to focus on in a CSR section, e.g. it is conventional to have a subsection that introduces the given company’s approach to CSR. Also in this section, there are found clear conventions, and this is both on a macro- and meta-level. On the macro-level, there are three conventional moves: Introducing the company’s approach to CSR, presenting corporate guidelines and focus on stakeholders (model 6.1). Furthermore, establishing credibility is also found on the macro-level, where it is created via acknowledgement. This is, on the meta-level, also a conventional move, however, here it is established by referring to the company’s tradition and history. In addition, on the meta-level there is a tendency to use writing that explains and to use both a general and company specific perspective.



6.4.1 Global Compact as a convention It is possible with this study to argue that Global Compact is a convention within CSR in the car industry, even though one of the case companies is not a member of Global Compact. The reason is that it is possible to directly and indirectly support and follow Global Compact. BMW and Volvo have committed themselves to Global Compact, and both companies verbally state their support on their corporate websites (appendix 3: 16-17, appendix 5: 1). However, this support is also found on an indirect level in their approaches to CSR. This is also the case with Toyota, as many of Global Compact’s focus areas are found in the Toyota’s approach to CSR. The Global Compact focuses on four areas; Human Rights, Labour Standards, Environment and Anti-Corruption (section 4.2.1), all areas that BMW, Toyota and Volvo focus on. The area that is most clear is the Environment, as all three case companies have a subsection that focuses on this (appendix 3: 1, appendix 4: 1, appendix 5: 1). The focus on labour standards is also relatively easy to find on all three websites; BMW has a subsection that focuses on employees, and their health and safety at work, and refers to International Labour Organisation, which Global Compact is based on (appendix 3: 7, l. 4-9). Under the sub-sub-subsection ‘Employees’, Toyota introduces many of the areas they focuses on as an employer, e.g. diversity, non-discrimination and health and safety (appendix 4: 19-24). On Volvo’s website, the sub-subsections ‘Promoting diversity’ and ‘A fair workplace’ focus on the employees’ rights and their health and safety (appendix 5: 10-11).

The areas of human rights and anti-corruption are not clear on the websites, as the websites do not have a separate section for these focus areas. However, in terms of human rights, both BMW and Volvo have references to the focus area. BMW has created a joint declaration on human rights and labour conditions, which can be downloaded (appendix 3: 7), and Volvo combines it with labour standards on the sub-sub-subsection ‘Human Rights and workplace principles’



(appendix 5: 9), and there is a link to UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights; still, the human rights part is only ¼ of the site. Toyota also mentions human rights, however, only briefly in relation to the UN’s Millennium Development Goals,25 i.e. this is not an important focus area for Toyota (appendix 4: 50).

In terms of the area of anti-corruption, BMW only refers to this area in relation to Global Compact (appendix 3: 17), i.e. there is no elaboration on what BMW is doing to fight corruption. On the other hand, Volvo clearly states that “bribes or other rewards that could affect business decision objectivity must not be accepted” (appendix 5: 7). Nevertheless, there is no elaboration on how Volvo works against corruption. Even though none of the companies offer any explanation of how they intend to fight corruption, both companies have created a Corporate Governance Code or Code of Conduct, which includes the area of anti-corruption (appendix 24: 9 and appendix 25: 1). In the same way, Toyota has created a Code of Conduct (appendix 26). Furthermore, Toyota offers the employees the service of a Compliance Hotline, which they can use if they have any questions or doubts (appendix 4: 49). One of the explanations of Toyota’s indirect support of Global Compact is that the Toyota Group is member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), which focuses on Energy and Climate, Development, Business Role and Ecosystems (section 4.2.2), and these areas, to some extent, covers the areas found in Global Compact. Furthermore, CSR manager Irene Quist Mortensen agrees that Global Compact has a conventional function, as GRI and Global Compact, according to her, determine what a company should report on in e.g. sustainability/CSR reports (appendix 7: 5). Therefore, one of the conclusions of this genre analysis is that within the genre of CSR it is conventional to focus on the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment and anti-corruption.

25 The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight goals, which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education - the deadline is 2015 http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/bkgd.shtml


http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/bkgd.shtml


6.4.2 Other conventions Another convention is the focus on traffic safety, which must be said to be industry specific. It is a clear convention, as all three case companies focus on this area (appendix 3: 2, appendix 4: 2, appendix 5: 13). However, the level of the focus differs, in terms of where on the given website the section on traffic safety is placed. Toyota gives it most focus, as it is a subsection on the website (appendix 4: 2). On the other hand, BMW places it as a sub-subsection under the subsection ‘Society’ (appendix 3: 2), and Volvo gives it less focus, as it is a mere reference on a sub-sub-subsection (appendix 5: 13).

On the websites, there is also a tendency to use cases to emphasise the results of the companies’ CSR initiatives. It can be said to be a convention, as all three case companies use case stories. However, the number of case stories differ, e.g. Toyota and Volvo use many cases stories (appendix 4: 28-30 and 39-42, appendix 5: 13), whereas BMW only uses one case story (appendix 3: 11).

6.5 Conclusion All three websites follow a conventional move structure on both the macro- and the meta-level. On the macro-level, BMW and Volvo only include the conventional moves; introducing the company’ CSR approach, presenting corporate guidelines and focusing on stakeholders. Toyota is the only company that goes beyond the conventional move structures on a macro-level, e.g. the section ‘Toyota’s CSR Organization and Structures,’ ‘Corporate Governance’ and ‘Compliance’, which are, in terms of content and function, a part of move two – introducing corporate guidelines. However, on the Toyota website, these three sections are placed after move three – focusing on stakeholders. On the meta-level, all three case companies also follow the conventional move structures of ‘establishing credibility’ and having a ‘general focus vs. a specific focus’. Here, the orders of the moves differ, and the companies include elements that cannot be said to be conventional. However, none of the elements are surprising to CSR manager Irene Quist Mortensen.



Furthermore, this analysis of the CSR genre has made it clear that Global Compact is a convention within CSR, as all three companies either directly or indirectly support Global Compact. Moreover, this is confirmed by CSR manager Irene Quist Mortensen, who views Global Compact as a convention, and GRI as an elaboration of this convention. The companies all focus on the same main areas as Global Compact, and even on the same level, e.g. all three case companies have much focus on the environment and very little focus on anti-corruption. The only focus area that goes beyond Global Compact is the area of traffic safety, however, this is also a conventional focus area for companies within the car industry, as all three companies mention it. Consequently, none of the companies challenge the conventions within CSR, and even though the Toyota website shows a bit of creativity, it is not nearly enough to stand out from the competition.



7. Discourse analysis This chapter focuses on the middle part of Fairclough’s model – the discursive dimension, and conducts an analysis of the discourses used in the CSR texts. Furthermore, this chapter answers research question two – Which similar and different discourses are drawn upon by the orders of discourse used by the selected case companies (section 1.1)?

First, an introduction of the general CSR order of discourse (section 7.1), which are the conventional discourses. Then, an introduction of the discourses only drawn upon by the company specific CSR orders of discourse (section 7.2).

According to Fairclough (2003: 129), identifying and characterising discourses is done by “(1) Identify the main parts of the world (including areas of social life) which are represented – the main ‘themes’. (2) Identify the particular perspective or angle or point of view from which they are represented.” What represents a discourse are “the features of vocabulary – discourses ‘word’ or ‘lexicalize’ the world in a particular ways,” i.e. the words used to articulate a discourse. Identifying the angle of the discourse is, according to Fairclough (2003: 131), done by “looking at collocations, patterns of co-occurrence of words in texts, simply looking at which words most frequently precede and follow any word which is in focus, either immediately or two, three and so on words away.”

This thesis identifies the discourses used by the case companies by focusing on the main themes, and do not focus on the angle of the discourse. In addition, the presentation of the social dimension (chapter 4) and the genre analysis (chapter 6) have emphasised aspects of the context and the CSR genre, respectively, which help identify the discourses. Furthermore, several of the discourses used are characterised as dominating, and this is by this thesis done intuitively, i.e. there is no objective or quantitative analysis such as a content analysis to prove that a discourse is dominating, as this thesis has limited itself from conducting an analysis of the textual dimension (section 4.2.1). See



appendix 27, 28 and 29 for an overview of the different discourses and which words that typically articulate each discourse on the websites.

7.1 Intertextuality On all three case companies’ websites, there is a high level of intertextuality, as the case companies draw on earlier events and established discourses. On the BMW website, there are 19 distinguished discourses, and seven of them are strong and dominating discourses, which are drawn upon several times (appendix 27). The remaining 13 discourses are weaker, as they are only drawn upon a few times, e.g. the war discourse, which is drawn on three times with the words: ‘risk’ (appendix 3: 13, l. 2), ‘fight against’ (appendix 3: 19, l. 2, 7, 10) and ‘combat’ (appendix 3: 19, l. 8). On the Toyota website, there are 26 distinguished discourses,26 and eight of them are dominating discourses (appendix 28). Furthermore, the Toyota website draws on 18 weaker discourses, e.g. a Japanese culture discourse using Japanese words: ‘monzukuri’ (appendix 4: 7, l. 27, 29), ‘kaizen’, ‘genchi’ and ‘genbutsu’ (appendix 4: 19, l. 8). The Volvo website draws on 18 different discourses, and 10 of them are dominating (appendix 29). The remaining eight are weaker discourses, e.g. the sports discourse, referred to by the words: ‘players’ (appendix 5: 13, l. 1), ‘goals’ (appendix 5: 10, l. 4) and ‘major actor’ (appendix 5: 3, l. 17). The three companies have 16 discourses in common, i.e. there are 16 conventional discourses in the general CSR order of discourse, which all will be introduced in the following sections:

GENERAL CSR ORDER OF DISCOURSEDiscourse Comments Automobile discourse Industry specific Business discourse Well-established Commitment discourse Dominating discourse Communication discourse Dominating discourse Economical discourse Well-establishedEducational discourse Well-established26 The reason Toyota has a higher number of discourses is the fact that Toyota’s subsection covers more pages than BMW and Volvo’s, i.e. there is more text and therefore more discourse



Environmental discourse Dominating discourse Ethical discourse Expert discourse Dominating discourse Human Rights discourse Labour discourse Legal discourse Well-establishedStakeholder discourse Dominating and well-established

discourse Sustainability discourse Dominating discourse Triple bottom line discourse Past time/traditional discourse Focus the company’s tradition for

doing CSRModel 7.1: The general CSR order of discourse 7.1.1 Interdiscursivity and the established discourses The websites all have a high degree of interdiscursivity, which is a part of intertextuality, as the company specific CSR orders of discourse all draw on several well-established discourses. An established discourse is a well-know, traditional and easy to identify discourse, e.g. the advertising discourse, which according to Fairclough (2001: 30), is a key discourse and easy to recognise for most people.

One of the well-established discourses that the three company specific orders of discourse draw on is the business discourse (appendix 27: 1, appendix 28: 1, appendix 29: 1), which consequently is one of the conventional discourses found in the general CSR order of discourse (model 7.1). The business discourse is, on the websites, articulated by words such as: ‘emerging markets’ (appendix 3: 11, l. 1), ‘competitiveness’ (appendix 3: 13, l. 22, appendix 4: 6, l. 26-27) and ‘management’ (appendix 5: 12, l. 17, appendix 4: 5, l. 7). Furthermore, it is a dominating discourse on both Toyota’s and Volvo’s website (appendix 28, appendix 29). The economical discourse is also a well-established discourse, and it relates to the business discourse, as the two discourses complement each other – economic is relevant for any business and vice versa. On the websites, this discourse is articulated by words such as: ‘financial condition’ (appendix 4: 10, l. 55, appendix 5: 12, l. 16), ‘investment decisions’ (appendix 5: 25, l. 17), ‘turnover’ (appendix 3: 10, l. 4 and 10), ‘economically benefit’ (appendix 3: 11, l. 11) and ‘transaction’ (appendix 5: 7, l. 23). Furthermore, the economical discourse is also a conventional discourse



found in the general CSR order of discourse (model 7.1). However, it is not a dominating discourse on any of the websites (appendix 27, appendix 28 and appendix 29). The use of the economical discourse indicates that all three case companies focus on their economical responsibility (section 4.3). The educational discourse is also drawn upon by all three company specific CSR orders of discourse (appendix 27, appendix 28 and appendix 29), i.e. it is a conventional discourse on the general CSR order of discourse (model 7.1). This discourse is articulated by words such as: ‘trained’ (appendix 3: 11, l. 18), ‘coaching’ (appendix 3: 11, l. 9), ‘education and training’ (appendix 4: 6, l. 7) and ‘in-house training organisation’ (appendix 5: 11, l. 5-6). However, it is not a dominating discourse on any of the websites. Another well-established discourse that the company specific orders of discourse draw on is the legal discourse, which also is a conventional discourse (model 7.1). This discourse is a dominating discourse on Volvo’s and BMW’s website, and is articulated with words such as: ‘compliance’ (appendix 4: 6, l. 32, appendix 3: 11, l. 20, appendix 5: 11, l. 16), ‘policy’ (appendix 4: 7, l. 3,9), ‘adherence’ (appendix 3: 7, l. 2), ‘regulations’ (appendix 3: 7, l. 10), ‘disclosure’ (appendix 4: 10, l. 56), ‘restriction’ (appendix 5: 12, l. 30), ‘the law shall prevail’ (appendix 5: 7, l. 13-14 and l. 36). The use of the legal discourse indicates that all three case companies focus on their legal responsibility (section 4.3). With Freeman’s stakeholder management theory (Freeman 1984), and companies’ extensive focus on stakeholders in general, the stakeholder discourse has become well-established. The case companies focus much on stakeholders, e.g. the genre analysis found that the third move on the macro-level of the three websites is ‘Focusing on stakeholders’ (section 6.2). As a result, this discourse is one of the most dominating discourses on all three websites, and it is a conventional discourse for the general CSR order of discourse (model 7.1). Furthermore, this discourse is on the websites articulated by using some of the same words, such as ‘dialogue’ (appendix 3: 12, l. 1, appendix 4: 10, l. 26), and mentioning several of the main stakeholders, e.g. employees, customers, suppliers, NGOs, investors,



shareholders, dealers and business partners (appendix 3: 13, l. 14, 14, l. 3-4, appendix 4: 5, l. 9-12, 10, l. 37, appendix 5: 3, l. 22, 4, l. 24). In addition, the stakeholder discourse is supplemented by and relates to the communication discourse, as some words can articulate both discuses, e.g. ‘dialogue’, as mentioned above. Accordingly, the communication discourse is also a dominating and conventional discourse found on all three websites (appendix 27, appendix 28 and appendix 29). However, it is not as well-established as the stakeholder discourse. Besides ‘dialogue’, this discourse is articulated by words such as: ‘open, truthful, relevant, comprehensible and timely disclosure’ (appendix 5: 7, l. 24-25), ‘information’ (appendix 4: 37, l. 23) and ‘communication on progress’ (appendix 3: 17).

7.1.2 The non-established discourses The general CSR order of discourse also draws on other discourses, besides the well-established ones: automobile discourse, commitment discourse, environmental discourse, ethical discourse, expert discourse, human rights discourse, labour discourse, sustainability discourse, triple bottom line discourse and past time/tradition discourse (model 7.1).

The environmental discourse is not yet a well-established discourse; however, with the world’s extensive focus on the environment and climate, it is well on its way to becoming a well-established discourse. The case companies also give the environment much focus, as it is conventional for a company to focus on the environment in their approach to CSR (section 6.4.1). Therefore, it is a dominating discourse on all three websites (appendix 27, appendix 28 and appendix 29). This discourses is articulated by words such as: ‘energy and raw materials’ (appendix 3: 9, l. 4-5, appendix 5: 8, l. 7- 9), ‘emissions’ (appendix 3: 9, l. 4-5), ‘climate protection’ (appendix 3: 13, l. 22), ‘energy-related’ (appendix 4: 7, l. 13), ‘nature’ (appendix 4: 7, l. 25, appendix 5: 6, l. 30), ‘climate change and biodiversity’ (appendix 4: 10, l. 61-62) and ‘environmental performance’ (appendix 5: 6, l. 24).



That the general CSR order of discourse draws on the automobile discourse is predictable, as the companies are in the automobile industry. However, what is interesting is that it is a weak discourse on all three websites, i.e. it is only drawn upon a few times. Words that articulate this discourse are: ‘traffic’, (appendix 3: 6, l. 18), ‘automobile manufactures’ (appendix 3: 18, l. 1) ‘mobility’ (appendix 5: 3, l. 20) and ‘vehicle models’ (appendix 4: 13, l. 4).

One of the more interesting discourses used is the commitment discourse, which is not a well-established discourse. However, it is a dominating discourse on all three websites, and a conventional discourse in the general CSR order of discourse (model 7.1). This discourse is used to emphasise that the given company is responsible and committed to doing good. Furthermore, it is predominantly used in connection with initiatives such as Global Compact. The companies use several of the same words to articulate this discourse, e.g. ‘commitment’ (appendix 3: 15, l. 10, appendix 4: 7, l. 3, appendix 5: 6, l. headline), ‘support’ (appendix 3: 7, l. 17, appendix 5: 5, l. 16) and ‘promoting’ (appendix 3: 16, l. 1, appendix 5: 4, l. 13). Furthermore, this discourse is articulated by verbs such as: ‘strive’ (appendix 4: 10, l. 50), ‘expect’ (appendix 4: 9, l. 9), ‘aims to be’ (appendix 5: 4, l. 6), ‘seeks’ (appendix 3: 6, l.36), and they all have the common feature that they are vague and hesitant words. In addition, they are a type of modality, which is an expression of the sender’s affinity with or affiliation to a statement (section 2.2.3), and they are somewhere in between the type of modality called truth and hedges, as they express a median commitment, not a total commitment (truth), or low commitment (hedges).

The ethical discourse is also a conventional discourse (model 7.1), as it is a dominating discourse on Volvo’s and Toyota’s website, and a weaker discourse on BMW’s website. The ethical discourse is used when describing the companies’ behaviour and in connection with their codes of conduct. Consequently, words that articulate this discourse are: ‘corporate governance’ (appendix 3: 7, l. 18, appendix 4: 6, l. 24-25, 28-29), ‘respect' (appendix 5: 5, l. 22, 24, appendix 4: 6, l. 33), ‘fair/fairness' (appendix 4: 10, l. 46, appendix 5: 7,



l. 17), ‘just’ (appendix 5: 11, l. 1). Furthermore, all three companies refer to codes of conduct: ‘Code of behaviour’ (appendix 3: 17, l. 9), ‘Code of conduct’ (appendix 4: 6, l. 40, appendix 5: 8, l. 1). The use of the ethical discourse indicates that the companies focus on their ethical responsibility (section 4.3).

One of the rhetorical moves on the meta-level, found in the genre analysis, is ‘Establishing credibility’ (section 6.3). Consequently, all the company specific CSR orders of discourse draw on an expert discourse, which helps create this credibility. Moreover, it is a dominating discourse on all three websites. This expert discourse is activated in different ways, e.g. by using words that emphasis the companies’ abilities such as positive adjectives: ‘outstanding’ (appendix 4: 40, l. 12), ‘leading’ (appendix 3: 8, l. 11), ‘best and brightest’ (appendix 5: 10, l. 20). Furthermore, the companies use references to initiatives they participate in, awards they received, or rankings on different list: ‘participated in the formulation of Charter of corporate behaviour’ (appendix 4: 9, l. 10-11), ‘highly positioned in other ratings’ (appendix 3: 8, l. 15), ‘best ranked’ (appendix 3: 8, l. 16).

Global Compact is a convention within the genre of CSR, which was determined in the genre analysis (section 6.4.1), and this is also evident in the discourses which the general CSR order of discourse draws upon, e.g. the human rights discourse and labour discourse. The labour discourse is the stronger of the two, as it is a dominating discourse on Volvo’s website, whereas the human rights discourse is weak on all the websites. However, they are both found on all three websites, i.e. they are conventional (model 7.1). The labour discourse is articulated with words such as: ‘health and safety’ (appendix 3: 11, l. 7, appendix 4: 10, l. 20, appendix 5: 9, l. 27-28), ‘basic labour standards’ (appendix 3: 17, l. 4), ‘equal employment opportunities, diversity and inclusion’ (appendix 4: 10, l. 16), ‘diversity’ (appendix 5: 9, l. 16), ‘employment age’ (appendix 5: 9, l. 21). The human rights discourse is articulated by words such as: ‘discrimination’ (appendix 3: 9, l. 6, appendix 4: 10, l. 17), ‘forced or child labor’ (appendix 3: 9, l. 6, appendix 4: 10, l. 24, appendix 5: 9, l. 19) and ‘non-discrimination’ (appendix 5: 9, l. 11).



Another conventional and dominating discourse found on the websites is the sustainability discourse. Sustainability is by WBCSD defined as “forms of progress that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs” (section 4.2.2). Therefore, this discourse is used to emphasise the impact the company has, and how much it affects society and the stakeholders. The discourse is articulated by words such as: ‘needs of society’ (appendix 3: 6, l. 8), ‘benefits’ (appendix 3: 6, l. 20), ‘efficiency’ (appendix 3: 6, l. 23), ‘maximise the impact’ (appendix 3: 13, l. 11), ‘successive generations’ (appendix 3: 6, l. 12), ‘sustainable business operations’ (appendix 3: 14, l. 2), ‘strengthen communities and the enrichment of society’ (appendix 4: 37, l. 8-9), ‘social contribution’ (appendix 4: 37, l. 15), ‘impact on a global scale’ (appendix 4: 7, l. 14), ‘enrich the lives of people around the world’ (appendix 4: 10, l. 5-6), sustainable growth (appendix 4: 25, l. 6), ‘contribute to positive development in society’ (appendix 5: 3, l. 4), ‘sustainable society’ (appendix 5: 3, l. 13), ‘desire to improve‘ (appendix 5: 5, l. 13), ‘impact’ (appendix 5: 3, l. 17), ‘enhancement‘ (appendix 5: 12, l. 42), ‘social project‘ (appendix 5: 4, l. 31). In relation to the sustainability discourse is the triple bottom line discourse, which also is a conventional discourse (model 7.1). This discourse is weak on all three websites, and only referred to a few times; ‘social, economic and environmental terms’ (appendix 5: 3, l. 5), ‘environmental, social and economic aspects’ (appendix 5: 6, l. 43-45) and ‘economic, ecological and social concerns’ Environmental, social and economic aspects (appendix 3: 6, l. 15).

The last conventional discourse that the general order of discourse draws upon is the past time/traditional discourse (model 7.1), i.e. a focus on the past and what the company has done already in terms of CSR. This discourse is predominantly articulated by references to certain years, e.g. ‘in 2000’ (appendix 3: 11, l. 15), ‘in January 2005’ (appendix 4: 7, l. 7), ‘already in 1982’ (appendix 5: 6, l. 14), and by the word ‘since’ (appendix 3: 8, l. 4, appendix 4: 13, l. 6, appendix 5: 6, l. 12). Furthermore, all three companies emphasise that they have a long tradition for doing CSR: “since the Dow Jones Sustainability



Index was created in 1999, the BMW Group has been the only automotive company to be included every time” (appendix 3: 8, l. 4-5), “since the foundation, Toyota has continuously strived to contribute to the sustainable development of society” (appendix 4: 7, l. 3), and “sustainable development is part of the Volvo Group’s daily operations since many years” (appendix 5: 3, l. 7-8).



7.1.3 Manifest intertextuality The high level of intertextuality found on the websites is also expressed via manifest intertextuality (section 2.2.2). Each website explicitly refers to other texts by quoting them. Both BMW and Volvo’s websites quote internal texts, i.e. text that is created by someone inside the company. The BMW website quotes a member of the Board of BMW AG (appendix 3: 15, l. 3) and the Volvo website quotes Volvo Group’s Code of Conduct (appendix 5: 10, l. 25-30). Toyota does the same, as there is a reference to their purchasing policy (appendix 4: 26, l. 12-13). However, the Toyota website also quotes external people, e.g. a doctor, who is the team leader of a health team in Shout Africa (appendix 4: 23, l. 51-52).

7.2 The company specific CSR orders of discourse Individually, the companies also draw on unconventional discourses. However, none of the unconventional discourses are dominating on any of the websites (appendix 27, appendix 28 and appendix 29).

Besides the 16 conventional discourses, the BMW specific CSR order of discourse draws on a future discourse, a HIV/AIDS discourse and a war discourse (appendix 27). However, the use of these discourses does not differentiate the BMW websites, as they are not new and creative, which both Fairclough and Bhatia claim they have to be to stand out (section 2.2.2 and 3.2). Toyota, e.g. also draws on the future discourse and the HIV/AIDS discourse (appendix 28). Furthermore, Volvo also draws on the war discourse (appendix 29), and as a result, BMW uses only generic discourses that do not differentiate the company. This is also the case for the Volvo website, as the Volvo specific CSR order of discourse only draws on two unconventional discourses (appendix 29); the war discourse as mentioned above, and a sports discourse, which Toyota also draws upon (appendix 28).

The Toyota specific CSR order of discourse does draw on unconventional discourses, i.e. they are only found on Toyota’s website; Japanese culture discourses, death discourse, global discourse, harmonic discourse, product



discourse, manufacturing discourse and vulnerable groups discourse (appendix 28). Of these seven discourses, the most unconventional ones are the Japanese culture discourse, the death discourse and the harmonic discourse. The others are rather generic and predictable in terms of the industry and the genre, e.g. the global discourse, product discourse and manufacturing discourse are common within the automotive industry- Furthermore, the vulnerable groups discourse is yet another stakeholder group, which are focused upon within the genre of CSR (section 6.2). Consequently, the Japanese culture discourse, the death discourse and the harmonic discourse are the discourses that have the potential to differentiate Toyota from the other companies.

The Japanese culture discourse is activated by the use of the Japanese words: ‘monzukuri’ (appendix 4: 7, l. 27, 29), ‘kaizen’, ‘genchi’ and ‘genbutsu’ (appendix 4: 19, l. 8 Toyota), and is relevant as Toyota is a Japanese company. However, the discourse is not dominating on the website, i.e. it is not strong enough to differentiate Toyota from the other companies. The death discourse is on Toyota’s website activated by the words: ‘elimination’, ‘injuries’, ‘deaths’ (appendix 4: 31, l. 6), ‘accident’ (appendix 4: 31, l. 11) and ‘crash’ (appendix 4: 34, l. 1), and it is a strong contrast to the harmonic discourse, which is activated by the words: ‘harmonious balance’ (appendix 4: 7, l. 31), ‘spirit’ (appendix 4: 9, l. 4) and ‘harmony’ (appendix 4: 7, l. 1). Using this contrast between death and harmony is unconventional, and it could be a way for Toyota to differentiate from the competitors. However, both discourses are weak, and are only drawn upon a few times. Furthermore, the discourses are only used in relation to specific topics, e.g. the death discourse is only used in relation to traffic safety, and is not used on the entire website.

7.3 Conclusion The genre of CSR is highly conventionalised, and there is found no less than 16 conventional discourses within the general CSR order of discourse. CSR manager Irene Quist Mortensen do recognise almost all the discourses, it is only the automobile discourse she finds unfamiliar. However, this is to be



expected, as it is an industry specific discourse, and she works within a different industry. Furthermore, on the websites there is found a high level of intertextuality, both expressed by manifest intertextuality and interdiscursivity. According to Fairclough, intertextuality is either a sign of stability and continuity, or instability and change (section 2.2.2). The high level of intertextuality found on the three case companies’ websites are a clear sign of stability and continuity, as the discourses used by the companies are mixed in a conventional way. The websites predominantly draw on well-established discourse and conventional discourses. The Volvo specific CSR order of discourse e.g. draws only on two other discourses than the conventional ones found in the general CSR order of discourse. Furthermore, the two unconventional discourses that Volvo draws on are not unique, as BMW draws on one of them and Toyota on the other. In addition, manifest intertextuality is predominantly used to quote internal texts, which are already a part of and influenced by the conventions within CSR.

The only website that shows a tendency to be creative is the Toyota website, which draws on two highly contrasting discourses, the harmonic discourse and the death discourse. However, the discourses are, even though they are combined, not dominating or strong enough to break or even bend the conventional rules. Consequently, BMW, Toyota and Volvo’s websites all reproduce the general CSR order of discourse and the social order.



DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION






82


8. Discussion This chapter focuses on the relationship between the social dimension and the discursive dimension, and how the context influences and creates conventions within the genre CSR and how the conventions influence the context. This chapter answers research question three – what is the explanation for the result of the analysis? Furthermore, because the conclusion of both the genre analysis (chapter 6) and the discursive practice (chapter 7) is that the case companies do not differ in their approach to and communication of CSR, this chapter more specifically answers research question 3b - if they do not differ, why not?

8.1 The reason for the existence of the conventions Confronted with the fact that the CSR genre is highly conventional and it is difficult for a company, in terms of CSR, to differentiate from the competition, Grundfos’ CSR manger Irene Quist Mortensen asked the question – how do we change this? In other words, how can a company challenge and break the conventional rules in the CSR genre? To answer this question, it is important to understand the reason for the existence of conventions.

CSR is a confusing concept with many different definitions, approaches and relating concepts, and there is no universal understanding of what CSR is (section 4.1). Therefore, it is a challenge for companies to create an approach to CSR. As the UN is the only organisation which tries to create a common understanding with the Global Compact, it becomes a convention within CSR, as it offers an established framework and guidelines for which areas to focus on. This convention of supporting the Global Compact creates a commitment discourse, which is dominating on all three websites. Furthermore, the fact that Global Compact is a declaration of intent, and not a regulation with fierce consequences influences the way the commitment discourse is articulated, e.g. the case companies predominantly show a median affiliation to the statements that use the commitment discourse.



The use of the conventional business discourse can be explained by a general mistrust in corporations by society. Marxism is a tradition that at its core holds a critical view of capitalism, and believes in social change by enlightenment (Månson 2000: 16-33). Furthermore, it is a view shared by Fairclough (Fairclough 2001: 4). Consequently, a Marxist has a natural scepticism towards corporations, and will dismiss companies’ desire to be good as a cover for the true desire of creating a profit.

Even though the results of this study show that the conventional business discourse is not a dominating discourse in the general CSR order of discourse, a Marxist would argue that the business aspect of CSR, i.e. creating a profit, is the most important goal for the company. Furthermore, a Marxist would argue that the function of the other discourses, dominating or not, is only to support and strengthen the business aspect, as the true desire of a company is to create a profit. Take for example the commitment discourse, which is a dominating discourse drawn upon by the general CSR order of discourse. A Marxist would argue that this discourse is only there to support the desire to do profitable business, and that for a company, the importance of business is much higher than the importance of commitment. Another example is the labour discourse and the focus the companies have on treating their employees well. A Marxist would again argue that this discourse only has a supporting function to the business, and that the only reason a company chooses to treat the employees well, is to force the last working hours out of them and thereby increase the company’s profit. In other words, a Marxist would argue that a company only focuses on CSR, as it is a useful tool to improve the profit, and not a true expression of a company’s desire to be good. In relation to this, Carroll mentions the fact that a company’s responsibilities are in a constant dynamic tension with each other, and he claims that the most critical tension in fact is between a company’s concern for profit and its concern for society (section 4.3).

This disbelief and criticism force companies to come up with justifiable arguments for focusing on CSR, and increase in profit has become one of the



main arguments (Lawrence et al. 2005: 51), as it is believable for a capitalistic company. Furthermore, there is a focus on integrating CSR with business and thereby creating a competitive edge, i.e. CSR is becoming a part of business’ strategies. According to Irene Quist Mortensen, this can explain the conventional business discourse and economical discourse. Furthermore, the fact that CSR is a business strategy has inspired a more academic way of thinking about CSR, where a framework is established and definitions created (appendix 7: 5). In addition, this can explain the conventional general perspective vs. the specific perspective and the conventional move structures on the macro-level. Furthermore, the disbelief and criticism can explain the move structure of establishing credibility and the use of the expert discourse.

The consequence of this disbelief and criticism from society is that the companies are in a defensive position and communicating CSR becomes an argumentation and documentation. This argumentation influences the relations of power between the sender and the receiver, the question is who has the most power and who sets the agenda – the company (sender) or the stakeholders (receiver)? For CSR to create a competitive edge for a company, it is important to know what the receivers of the CSR initiatives need and want. Consequently, the stakeholders, who are the receivers of the CSR initiatives, have a power, as they can influence the companies’ CSR focus. However, this is only an influence, it is still the company that has the final word and decides which discourses to use, and the agenda for the text. An example of this agenda setting power in the text is a rhetorical question, e.g. “What would you say is typical for a good citizen?” (appendix 5: 4, l. 1), and the expert discourse, which emphasises that the company is an expert. This is called hidden power, which is power relations that are not often clear and expressed indirectly (Fairclough 2001: 41), e.g. the sender shows a form of authority, which is the case with all three case companies; using third person singular about the sender and creating a distance between the sender and receiver gives the sender a form of authority.



The overall ideology in the CSR texts from the three case companies is that the given company is responsible, and that CSR is profitable. However, it is not taken for granted that the receivers believe that the company is responsible or that CSR is profitable, i.e. it has not yet become common sense, as the communicative purpose of the texts is to explain CSR, and to show that the given company is responsible. Furthermore, the companies emphasise the fact that being responsible is valuable for the given company: BMW explains that “The above-average rise in this index [Dow Jones Sustainability Index] shows that companies can also reap financial benefits through active involvement in social and environmental concerns” (appendix 3: 6, l. 28-29). In the same way, Volvo claims that “Acting responsibly towards our employees, suppliers, customers and society at large are crucial to our ability to create value for current customers and shareholders” (appendix 5: 4, l. 40-43). Toyota does not directly claim that CSR is valuable, however, the company does emphasise that “Toyota is helping promote efforts toward finding a harmonious balance between the cycles of nature and the cycles of industry” (appendix 4: 7, l. 30-32). In terms of keeping the power that the senders of the texts have, the case companies use consent (permission) in stead of coercion (force/violence), as the companies all try to convince the receivers that their ideology is true.

8.2 A lifeblood discourse to challenge the conventions In terms of the CSR genre, it is difficult to break the conventional rules for which move structure to use and areas to focus on, as the conventions are strong. However, it is possible to bend the rules and expand the genre by using unconventional discourses. Because CSR communication has become an ongoing argument, the conventional discourses used have become generic, boring and vague, therefore, to stand out, it is important that an unconventional discourse is the opposite of the conventional discourses, i.e. strong, surprising and lively. Irene Quist Mortensen’s suggestion is to speak from the heart by say, “we really believe in this” and use a lifeblood discourse (appendix 7: 6). According to Macmillan (2005: 824) ‘lifeblood’ is defined as:



lifeblood /’la Ifˌ bl∧d/ noun [U] 1 the most important part of something that makes it continue to exist and be successful

A lifeblood discourse is a qualified suggestion in this case, as it emphasises that being responsible is highly important for the company to exist and to be successful. Furthermore, it is appropriate in the context of CSR, as it emphasises the value aspect of CSR. Fairclough would argue that a discourse needs to be completely unconventional, i.e. not relate to the context at all, to change the social order (section 2.2), whereas Bhatia believes breaking away form the conventions would be to extreme and such a result would be odd (section 3.2). In this case, this thesis agrees with Bhatia, as the conventions in the CSR genre are to strong. Furthermore, the reason for the companies to use unconventional discourses is not to change the social order, but to stand out from the competitors. Because of the strong conventions within the CSR genre, it is difficult to completely dismiss the conventional discourses found in this study, e.g. the commitment discourse which is related to Global Compact. However, a suggestion would be to minimise the use of this discourse and not use it as a dominating discourse, and in stead emphasise the focus of e.g. a lifeblood discourse. Furthermore, if a company decides to use the lifeblood discourse it would be necessary to tone down the business discourse, as it acts as an argument for doing CSR, and therefore would undermined the effect of the lifeblood discourse. The next question would be which words articulate this lifeblood discourse, and that is the challenge for CSR managers to figure out. Most important is that the words are not vague and hesitant, but strong and lively.

No matter which discourse a company uses, and how the company relates to the conventional rules, there will always be criticism and scepticism towards corporations, and it is difficult to convince everybody that a company is truly committed. However, how a company handles the current financial crisis can



be a way of convincing the critics. History shows that when there is a decrease in the economy most companies try to reduce cost, and the results of the present financial crisis are no different. Consequently, in these crisis times companies will, according to Franklin (2008), “tone down their loud green initiatives and instead quietly emphasise value for money.” However, companies should not stop focusing on CSR, as the different stakeholders’ expectations are not disappearing (Franklin 2008). Therefore, truly committed companies with strong CSR profiles now have the opportunity to show their commitment and that they have a real desire to act responsibly.



9. Conclusion The world is facing many urgent challenges, and there is a high degree of focus on CSR. Businesses are expected to share part of the burden, and consumers’ demands are changing, as they wish to act more responsible. As a result, CSR has become a global competitive parameter.

The assumption of this thesis was that multinationals differ in their approaches to CSR, to gain differential advantage over their competition, by adopting individual communicative strategies.

The conclusion of this thesis is that companies’ approaches to CSR do not differ, as the genre of CSR on corporate websites is highly conventional, and it is difficult for the companies to challenge the rules of the genre, i.e. the assumption of this thesis is not correct.

This conclusion is based on the answers of three research questions: 1. Which conventions are there within the genre of CSR on corporate

websites?2. Which similar and different discourses are drawn upon by the order of

discourses used by the selected case companies? 3. What is the explanation for the result of the analysis?

c. if they differ, why?d. if they do not differ, why not?

9.1 The social dimension This thesis determined the common discourses used by the case companies, and thereby identified the conventional discourses within the genre of CSR on corporate websites. This was done by conducting a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of CSR sections found on three case companies’ corporate websites (BMW, Toyota and Volvo). The thesis used Fairclough’s approach to CDA, as it claims that the social practice and the discursive practice constitute each other. Therefore, the analysis in this thesis included a presentation of the social



dimension, i.e. the context of CSR, an analysis of the discursive dimension, and a discussion and analysis of the relationship between the two dimensions.

To give a broad understanding of the concept of CSR, the presentation of the social dimension included an outline of different schools of CSR and relating concepts. In addition, two of the most influential organisations within CSR, Global Compact and World Business Council for Sustainable Development, were introduced in the presentation of the social dimension. Furthermore, the social dimension introduced Carroll’s approach and CSR pyramid, to give a more specific understanding, and because this approach is the inspiration to this thesis’ understanding and definition of CSR.

The presentation of the social dimension emphasised that the concept of CSR is confusing, as there is no universal understanding of the concept, but many different schools of CSR, definitions and relating concepts. To add to the confusion, the business world and the academic world’s focus on CSR differ. The business world focuses on a company’s impact on society and stakeholders, and predominately uses the relating concept of sustainability. On the other hand, the academic world focuses more on a company’s behaviour, response on demand and performance, and predominantly relates CSR to concepts such as Corporate Social Responsiveness or Corporate Social Performance.

The presentation of Carroll’s model emphasised four different responsibilities a company has to focus on to create a holistic approach to CSR – the economical, the legal, the ethical and the philanthropic responsibility. In addition, Carroll’s approach was criticised for claiming that the economical responsibility is a precondition for, and more important than, the other three responsibilities, i.e. it is possible for a company to put the three top responsibilities on hold in times of need. This criticism inspired a modification of Carroll’s CSR pyramid, which was transformed into a square that includes all four responsibilities and emphasises that they are equally important, and influence each other. Furthermore, this thesis’ understanding of CSR was expressed by defining CSR



as: “a company’s impact on society and contribution to sustainable development. Furthermore, it refers to the economical, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities that a company has towards its stakeholders and society.”

9.2 The discursive dimension The analysis of the discursive dimension started with a genre analysis, using Bhatia’s approach. The genre analysis helped to identify the discourses used by the case companies, and answered research question one, by emphasising the conventions within the genre of CSR. The genre analysis found that the genre of CSR is highly conventional, and that the Global Compact and its 10 principles is a strong convention, as all three companies either directly or indirectly support Global Compact.

Furthermore, the genre analysis found conventions in terms of move structures. These conventions include; topics to focus on (macro-level) and the move structure of paragraphs (meta-level). On the macro-level, the move structure is; introducing the company’ CSR approach, presenting corporate guidelines and focusing on stakeholders, and all three case companies followed this structure. Only one of the case companies went beyond this move structure, but not in a degree that sets the company apart from the competitors. The analysis of the meta-level also found conventional move structures; establishing credibility and having a general focus vs. a specific focus. However, the order of the moves is not conventional, and other elements that cannot be said to be conventional are included. Nevertheless, none of the unconventional elements were surprising to CSR manager Irene Quist Mortensen, who was asked to confirm or disprove the findings in the genre analysis and the analysis of the discursive practice. Therefore the conclusion of the genre analysis was that the three case companies follow the conventions within the genre, and do not go beyond the conventions. Therefore, they do not differentiate from the competitors.



The analysis of the discursive practice, which answered research question two, also found that the genre of CSR is highly conventionalised, with no less than 16 discourses that are common for all three websites. Furthermore, the dominating discourses drawn upon by the websites are predominantly well-established and well-known discourses. Therefore, the three case companies show a high level of intertextuality, which is a clear sign of stability and continuity, as the discourses used by the companies are mixed in a highly conventional way. Consequently, the case companies all reproduce the social order, and do not differentiate from each other.

9.3 How to challenge the conventions Because of the conclusion of the analysis of the discursive dimension, research question three was: why do the case companies not differ in their approach? The reason is that the CSR genre is highly conventionalised, and all the three case companies follow these conventions closely.

The analysis of the relationships between the social dimension and the discursive dimension found that Global Compact is a convention, as it is the only global established framework for CSR, and because it offers guidelines for how to approach CSR. This convention has created a commitment discourse, which, according to this study, also is conventional, as all three case companies draw on it. Furthermore, there is a general scepticism towards corporations, and this has forced companies to come up with justifiable arguments for focusing on CSR. Increase in profit has become one of the main arguments, as it is believable for a capitalistic company. This has influenced the discursive practice, where the well-established business discourse and the supplementing economic discourse are conventional. Furthermore, the disbelief and criticism can explain the conventional move structure of establishing credibility and the use of the expert discourse.

The conventions of the CSR genre are strong and it is difficult to break them, however, it is possible to bend the rules and expand the genre by using unconventional discourses. CSR manager Irene Quist Mortensen suggested the



use of a lifeblood discourse that emphasises that being responsible is highly important for the company and its existence. Another suggestion was to minimise the conventional discourses such as the commitment discourse and the business discourse. The last suggestion of this thesis was for companies to prove that they are truly committed, by not toning down their CSR initiatives because of the financial crisis.



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Model list:Chapter 1Model 1.1: General order of discourse p. 6 Model 1.2: The case companies p. 9Model 1.3: The CSR subsections used in this study p. 10Model 1.4: The structure of the thesis p. 12

Chapter 2Model 2.1: Fairclough’s three-dimensional model p. 17

Chapter 3Model 3.1: Bhatia’s 7 steps to genre analysis p. 25Model 3.2: Steps covered in the genre analysis of this study p. 30 and 48

Chapter 4Model 4.1: Carroll’s CSR pyramid p. 38 Model 4.2: Modified CSR model p. 42

Chapter 6Model 6.1: Move structures on the macro-level p. 51Model 6.2: Move structures on the meta-level (BMW) p. 53Model 6.3: Move structures on the meta-level (Toyota) p. 54Model 6.4: Move structures on the meta-level (Volvo) p. 54

Chapter 7Model 7.1 The general CSR order of discourse p. 61



Appendix listAppendix 1: Into Africa (Mortensen 2009)Appendix 2: The Danish Government’s CSR plan of action (press release)Appendix 3: BMW - Principle Sustainability Appendix 4: Toyota - CSR Initiatives Appendix 5: Volvo - Social Responsibility Appendix 6: Bhatia’s perspectives on written discourse analysisAppendix 7: Interview with CSR manager Irene Quist Mortensen + CD-ROM Appendix 8: About the Global Compact (overview of the UN Global Compact) Appendix 9: Kofi Annan launches Global Compact at Davos 1999 (Press release)Appendix 10: Participants and stakeholders (UN Global Compact Participants)Appendix 11: About the Global Compact (The Ten principles)Appendix 12: About the Global Compact (Tools of Resources) Appendix 13: Networks around the world (Global Compact)Appendix 14: News and Events (The Compact Quarterly)Appendix 15: About the Global Compact (Frequently Asked Questions) Appendix 16: About the Global Compact (Integrity Measures)Appendix 17: Communicating Progress (Global Compact)Appendix 18: Registered members of Global Compact Appendix 19: About the WBSCDAppendix 20: Focus Areas (WBCSD)Appendix 21: History of the WBCSDAppendix 22: Membership & governance (WBCSD)Appendix 23: Social Responsibility Categories (Carroll, 1979) Appendix 24: BMW’s Code of BehaviourAppendix 25: Volvo’s Code of Conduct Appendix 26: Toyota’s Code of ConductAppendix 27: BMW’s company specific CSR order of discourse Appendix 28: Toyota’s company specific CSR order of discourse Appendix 29: Volvo’s company specific CSR order of discourse



The appendixes are in a separate appendix-folder



Abstract Corporate Social Responsibility – a way of being unique? The world is facing many urgent challenges, and there is a high degree of focus on CSR. Businesses are expected to share part of the burden, and consumers’ demands are changing, as they wish to act more responsible. As a result, CSR has become a global competitive parameter.

The assumption of this thesis is that multinationals differ in their approaches to CSR, to gain a differential advantage over their competitors, by adopting individual communicative strategies.

This thesis conducts a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of CSR sections found on case companies’ corporate websites. By determining the common discourses used by the case companies, it is possible to conclude which discourses are conventional within the genre of CSR on corporate websites, and thereby determine if and how the companies differ from each other. This thesis uses Fairclough’s27 approach to CDA, as he claims that the social practice and the discursive practice constitute each other. Therefore, the analysis in this thesis includes a presentation of the social dimension, an analysis of the discursive dimension and a discussion and analysis of the relationship between the two dimensions.

To give a broad understating of CSR, the presentation of the social dimension includes an outline of different schools of CSR and relating concepts. This presentation emphasises that the concept of CSR is confusing, as there is no universal understanding of the concept, but many different schools of CSR, definitions and relating concepts. To give a more specific understanding of CSR, the social dimension introduces Carroll’s28 approach and CSR pyramid. Carroll’s pyramid presents four different responsibilities a company has to focus on to create a holistic approach to CSR – the economical, the legal, the 27 Fairclough, Norman: Language and power, second edition, England: Pearson Education Limited, 200128 Carroll, Archie B.: The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility: Toward the Moral Management of Organizational Stakeholders in Business Horizons, Vol. 34, No. 4, pages 39-48, July-August, Elsevier, 1991



ethical and the philanthropic responsibility. Carroll’s approach is criticised for among other things claiming that the economical responsibility is a precondition for and more important than the other three. This criticism is in the thesis used as an inspiration to a modification of Carroll’s CSR pyramid. The analysis of the discursive dimension begins with a genre analysis, using Bhatia’s29 approach. The genre analysis emphasises the conventions within the genre of CSR, and helps to identify the discourses used by the case companies. The conclusion of the genre analysis is that the CSR genre is highly conventional. Furthermore, the genre analysis finds that there are conventional move structures within the CSR genre. The conventional move structure for the order of topics is; introducing the company’ CSR approach, presenting corporate guidelines and focusing on stakeholders. Furthermore, there are found conventions within the focus areas of paragraphs, and they are; establishing credibility and having a general focus vs. a specific focus. In addition, other elements that cannot be said to be conventional are included. However, none of these unconventional elements are surprising to CSR manager Irene Quist Mortensen, who is asked to confirm or disprove the findings in the analysis of the discursive dimension.

The analysis of the discursive practice also concludes that the genre of CSR is highly conventionalised, with no less than 16 discourses that are common for all the case companies’ websites. Furthermore, the dominating discourses, drawn upon by the websites, are predominantly well-established and well-known discourses. Therefore, the three case companies show a high level of intertextuality, which is a clear sign of stability and continuity, as the discourses used by the companies are mixed in a highly conventional way.

There are different reasons for the existence of the conventions found in the CSR genre. Global Compact has become a convention, as it is the only global established framework for understanding CSR. This creates a commitment discourse, which is a conventional discourse for the genre. Furthermore, a general scepticism towards corporations and their desire to be good has forced 29 Bhatia, Vijay K.: Analysing genre: Language use in professional settings, England: Longman Group UK Limited, 1993



companies to come up with justifiable arguments for focusing on CSR. Increase in profit has become one of the main arguments, as it is believable for a capitalistic company. This has created a business discourse with a supporting economical discourse; both are conventional discourses within the CSR genre.

The conclusion of this thesis is that the case companies’ approaches to CSR do not differ, as the genre of CSR on corporate websites is highly conventional, and it is difficult for the companies to challenge the rules of the genre, i.e. the assumption of this thesis is not correct.

The suggestions of this thesis are to minimise the conventional discourses and in stead focus on a lifeblood discourse; emphasising that it is highly important for the company and its existence to be responsible. Furthermore, responsible companies can prove that they are truly committed, by not toning down their CSR initiatives and only focusing on creating profit during the financial crisis.

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Key words: CSR, Critical Discourse Analysis, genre analysisAuthor: Eva Leth LaursenPublished: Aarhus School of Business, Aarhus University, 2009


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