IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/corsem/v30y2023i2p661-676.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Institutionalizing corporate social responsibility disclosure: Historical webpages of the Fortune global 500 companies, 1997–2009

Author

Listed:
  • Enying Zheng
  • Wenjie Liao
  • Yan Xing
  • Jiajia Zheng

Abstract

Management and organization scholarships have paid increasing attention to corporate social responsibility (CSR). Less is known about the historical processes leading to the institutionalization of CSR reporting. We bridge the gap by coding and analyzing a digital archive of multinational enterprises' historical websites between 1997 and 2009. Combining in‐depth case studies of detailed environmental disclosure histories of three companies with quantitative summaries of 263 such companies, we find that these companies learned to define the CSR term and adjust their disclosing behaviors gradually, from ad hoc mentioning of idiosyncratic themes to disclosing proliferating themes, often in the dedicated separate website section. Accompanying this change was the growth of global initiatives such as Global Compact and Global Reporting Initiatives and their disclosure guidelines. These findings not only illuminate a historical perspective but also epitomize the dialectical relationship between business and institutional pressures.

Suggested Citation

  • Enying Zheng & Wenjie Liao & Yan Xing & Jiajia Zheng, 2023. "Institutionalizing corporate social responsibility disclosure: Historical webpages of the Fortune global 500 companies, 1997–2009," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 661-676, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:30:y:2023:i:2:p:661-676
    DOI: 10.1002/csr.2380
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.2380
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/csr.2380?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nancy E. Landrum & Brian Ohsowski, 2018. "Identifying Worldviews on Corporate Sustainability: A Content Analysis of Corporate Sustainability Reports," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 128-151, January.
    2. Isabelle Maignan & David A Ralston, 2002. "Corporate Social Responsibility in Europe and the U.S.: Insights from Businesses' Self-presentations," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 33(3), pages 497-514, September.
    3. Sébastien Mena & Daniel Waeger, 2014. "Activism for Corporate Responsibility: Conceptualizing Private Regulation Opportunity Structures," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(7), pages 1091-1117, November.
    4. Abend, Gabriel, 2013. "The Origins of Business Ethics in American Universities, 1902–1936," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(2), pages 171-205, April.
    5. Daniel Tschopp & Michael Nastanski, 2014. "The Harmonization and Convergence of Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting Standards," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(1), pages 147-162, November.
    6. Nancy DiTomaso, 2021. "Why Difference Makes a Difference: Diversity, Inequality, and Institutionalization," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(8), pages 2024-2051, December.
    7. Robert Phillips & Judith Schrempf-Stirling & Christian Stutz, 2020. "The Past, History, and Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 166(2), pages 203-213, October.
    8. Carlos Noronha & Si Tou & M. I. Cynthia & Jenny J. Guan, 2013. "Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting in China: An Overview and Comparison with Major Trends," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(1), pages 29-42, January.
    9. Paul Capriotti, 2017. "The World Wide Web and the Social Media as Tools of CSR Communication," CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance, in: Sandra Diehl & Matthias Karmasin & Barbara Mueller & Ralf Terlutter & Franzisca Weder (ed.), Handbook of Integrated CSR Communication, pages 193-210, Springer.
    10. Michael J. Fern & Laura B. Cardinal & Hugh M. O'Neill, 2012. "The genesis of strategy in new ventures: escaping the constraints of founder and team knowledge," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(4), pages 427-447, April.
    11. Sanjay K. Arora & Yin Li & Jan Youtie & Philip Shapira, 2016. "Using the wayback machine to mine websites in the social sciences: A methodological resource," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 67(8), pages 1904-1915, August.
    12. Jacqueline Cramer, 2005. "Company learning about corporate social responsibility," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(4), pages 255-266, July.
    13. Daniel Kinderman, 2020. "The challenges of upward regulatory harmonization: The case of sustainability reporting in the European Union," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(4), pages 674-697, October.
    14. Peter Dobers & Delyse Springett, 2010. "Corporate social responsibility: discourse, narratives and communication," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(2), pages 63-69, March.
    15. Abdelnour, Samer & Hasselbladh, Hans & Kallinikos, Jannis, 2017. "Agency and institutions in organization studies," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 86361, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. Marta Cominetti & Peter Seele, 2016. "Hard soft law or soft hard law? A content analysis of CSR guidelines typologized along hybrid legal status," Sustainability Nexus Forum, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 127-140, November.
    17. Dilek Cetindamar, 2007. "Corporate Social Responsibility Practices and Environmentally Responsible Behavior: The Case of The United Nations Global Compact," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 76(2), pages 163-176, December.
    18. Stephen Chen & Petra Bouvain, 2009. "Is Corporate Responsibility Converging? A Comparison of Corporate Responsibility Reporting in the USA, UK, Australia, and Germany," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(1), pages 299-317, April.
    19. J. Emil Morhardt, 2010. "Corporate social responsibility and sustainability reporting on the Internet," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(7), pages 436-452, November.
    20. S. Beets, 2011. "Critical Events in the Ethics of U.S. Corporation History," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 102(2), pages 193-219, August.
    21. S. Prakash Sethi & Terrence F. Martell & Mert Demir, 2017. "Erratum to: Enhancing the Role and Effectiveness of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Reports: The Missing Element of Content Verification and Integrity Assurance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 144(1), pages 83-84, August.
    22. Lucia Gatti & Babitha Vishwanath & Peter Seele & Bertil Cottier, 2019. "Are We Moving Beyond Voluntary CSR? Exploring Theoretical and Managerial Implications of Mandatory CSR Resulting from the New Indian Companies Act," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(4), pages 961-972, December.
    23. Jean Tsitaire Arrive & Mei Feng, 2018. "Corporate social responsibility disclosure: Evidence from BRICS nations," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(5), pages 920-927, September.
    24. Ariane Berthoin Antal & André Sobczak, 2004. "Beyond CSR: Organizational learning for global responsibility," Post-Print hal-00765241, HAL.
    25. Fabienne Fortanier & Ans Kolk & Jonatan Pinkse, 2011. "Harmonization in CSR Reporting," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 51(5), pages 665-696, October.
    26. Moriah Meyskens & Karen Paul, 2010. "The Evolution of Corporate Social Reporting Practices in Mexico," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 91(2), pages 211-227, February.
    27. S. Prakash Sethi & Terrence F. Martell & Mert Demir, 2017. "Enhancing the Role and Effectiveness of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Reports: The Missing Element of Content Verification and Integrity Assurance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 144(1), pages 59-82, August.
    28. Christian Stutz, 2021. "History in corporate social responsibility: Reviewing and setting an agenda," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 63(2), pages 175-204, February.
    29. David Eberle & Guido Berens & Ting Li, 2013. "The Impact of Interactive Corporate Social Responsibility Communication on Corporate Reputation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(4), pages 731-746, December.
    30. Chen, Yi-Chun & Hung, Mingyi & Wang, Yongxiang, 2018. "The effect of mandatory CSR disclosure on firm profitability and social externalities: Evidence from China," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 169-190.
    31. Hannah Oh & John Bae & Sang-Joon Kim, 2017. "Can Sinful Firms Benefit from Advertising Their CSR Efforts? Adverse Effect of Advertising Sinful Firms’ CSR Engagements on Firm Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(4), pages 643-663, July.
    32. Gregory D. Saxton & Lina Gomez & Zed Ngoh & Yi-Pin Lin & Sarah Dietrich, 2019. "Do CSR Messages Resonate? Examining Public Reactions to Firms’ CSR Efforts on Social Media," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(2), pages 359-377, March.
    33. Michelle Amazeen, 2011. "Gap (RED): Social Responsibility Campaign or Window Dressing?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 99(2), pages 167-182, March.
    34. Valentina Marano & Tatiana Kostova, 2016. "Unpacking the Institutional Complexity in Adoption of CSR Practices in Multinational Enterprises," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(1), pages 28-54, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Irina Ervits, 2021. "CSR reporting by Chinese and Western MNEs: patterns combining formal homogenization and substantive differences," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-24, December.
    2. Patrycja Hąbek & Radosław Wolniak, 2016. "Assessing the quality of corporate social responsibility reports: the case of reporting practices in selected European Union member states," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 399-420, January.
    3. José María Agudo-Valiente & Concepción Garcés-Ayerbe & Manuel Salvador-Figueras, 2017. "Corporate Social Responsibility Drivers and Barriers According to Managers’ Perception; Evidence from Spanish Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-24, October.
    4. Gregory Jackson & Julia Bartosch & Emma Avetisyan & Daniel Kinderman & Jette Steen Knudsen, 2020. "Mandatory Non-financial Disclosure and Its Influence on CSR: An International Comparison," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 162(2), pages 323-342, March.
    5. Roy, Partha P. & Rao, Sandeep & Zhu, Min, 2022. "Mandatory CSR expenditure and stock market liquidity," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    6. Matthias S. Fifka, 2013. "Corporate Responsibility Reporting and its Determinants in Comparative Perspective – a Review of the Empirical Literature and a Meta‐analysis," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 1-35, January.
    7. Nicole Darnall & Hyunjung Ji & Kazuyuki Iwata & Toshi H. Arimura, 2022. "Do ESG reporting guidelines and verifications enhance firms' information disclosure?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(5), pages 1214-1230, September.
    8. Pisani, Niccolò & Kourula, Arno & Kolk, Ans & Meijer, Renske, 2017. "How global is international CSR research? Insights and recommendations from a systematic review," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(5), pages 591-614.
    9. Alla Mostepaniuk & Elsie Nasr & Razan Ibrahim Awwad & Sameer Hamdan & Hasan Yousef Aljuhmani, 2022. "Managing a Relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability: A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-23, September.
    10. Francesco Gangi & Jérôme Méric & Rémi Jardat & Lucia Michela Daniele, 2019. "Business for society," Post-Print hal-02382307, HAL.
    11. Martin Ritter & Heiner Schanz, 2021. "Carsharing Business Models’ Strategizing Mindsets Regarding Environmental Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-18, November.
    12. Pei‐Chi Kelly Hsiao & Charl de Villiers & Claire Horner & Hein Oosthuizen, 2022. "A review and synthesis of contemporary sustainability accounting research and the development of a research agenda," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(4), pages 4453-4483, December.
    13. Souad Moufty & Basil Al‐Najjar & Abdulhadi Ibrahim, 2024. "Communications of sustainability practices in the banking sector: Evidence from cross‐country analysis," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(1), pages 135-161, January.
    14. Davide Galli & Federica Bassanini, 2020. "Reporting Sustainability in China: Evidence from the Global Powers of Luxury Goods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-18, May.
    15. Thaís Vieira Nunhes & Enzo Viviani Garcia & Maximilian Espuny & Vitor Homem de Mello Santos & Raine Isaksson & Otávio José de Oliveira, 2021. "Where to Go with Corporate Sustainability? Opening Paths for Sustainable Businesses through the Collaboration between Universities, Governments, and Organizations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-31, January.
    16. Colin Higgins & Wendy Stubbs & Markus Milne, 2018. "Is Sustainability Reporting Becoming Institutionalised? The Role of an Issues-Based Field," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(2), pages 309-326, January.
    17. Heather Markham Kim & Kyuha Cho & Younggin Choi & Junghoon (Jay) Lee & Jinsoo Hwang, 2021. "Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting in the Casino Industry: A Content Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-16, October.
    18. Mazboudi, Mohamad & Sidani, Yusuf M. & Al Ariss, Akram, 2020. "Harmonization of firm CSR policies across national contexts: Evidence from Brazil & Sweden," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(5).
    19. Gaurav Dawar & Seema Singh, 2022. "How Can Small and Medium Enterprises Effectively Implement Corporate Social Responsibility?: An Indian Perspective," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 23(3), pages 756-784, June.
    20. Nataša Verk & Urša Golob & Klement Podnar, 2021. "A Dynamic Review of the Emergence of Corporate Social Responsibility Communication," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 168(3), pages 491-515, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:30:y:2023:i:2:p:661-676. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)1535-3966 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.