{"id":129249,"date":"2024-09-20T14:36:56","date_gmt":"2024-09-20T12:36:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bbs.unibo.it\/?post_type=ricerca&p=129249"},"modified":"2024-11-26T16:34:46","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T15:34:46","slug":"time-in-csr-communications-how-companies-talk-in-the-past-tense-to-promise-a-better-future","status":"publish","type":"ricerca","link":"https:\/\/www.bbs.unibo.it\/en\/research\/time-in-csr-communications-how-companies-talk-in-the-past-tense-to-promise-a-better-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Time in CSR communications: how companies talk in the past tense to promise a better future"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an era when corporate transparency is crucial, corporate social responsibility (CSR) plays a key role in shaping the reputation of companies globally. But is there a time frame within which companies consciously shape the communication of their commitment? And how much do the cultural characteristics of each country matter in shaping this model?<\/span><\/p>\n

To answer this question, the recent study, \u201cBeing Reassuring About the Past While Promising a Better Future: How Companies Frame Temporal Focus in Social Responsibility Reporting,\u201d published in <\/span>Business and Society<\/span><\/i>, took an in-depth look at how companies temporally frame their CSR activities in reports to stakeholders.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Based on an analysis of over 2,700 CSR reports from 245 companies in eight developing countries, including Brazil, China and India, for the period 2000-2018, the research shows a well-defined trend: companies predominantly use past and present tenses of verbs to describe philanthropic and community support activities, where they can exercise direct control. Conversely, they typically use the future tense when dealing with more complex and global issues, such as human rights and child labor, which require international collaboration and joint efforts.<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, the study distinguishes between two types of issues:<\/span><\/p>\n