CSR & Social Media: Challenges & Lessons

1. Barriers to Dialogue
Organisational challenges for CSR
communication in social media
Michael Etter, Mette Morsing, Itziar Castello
Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen, Denmark
me.ikl@cbs.dk
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2. Theoretical Background
& State of the Art
• Principles of relationship building online (Taylor & Kent,
1998; Kelleher & Miller, 2006; Searl & Weinberger,
2000)
• Low degree of interaction in social media (Stieglitz &
Latteman, 2007; Bortree & Seltzer, 2009; Briones et al.,
2011; Fieseler et al., 2010)
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3. Research Questions
• RQ1: What are the barriers preventing a dialogic
exchange in social media?
• RQ2: Do the identified barriers have a negative effect
on the implementation of the dialogical principles of
online communication?
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4. Case & Methodology
• Internationally operating, european pharmaceutical
company, leading in CSR
• Launch of a CSR-Twitter account
• 4 semi-structured interviews
• Communications/CSR managers involved in strategy
formulation and implementation
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5. “That is a fact we don’t know yet exactly
how to handle with twitter.”
“Long time effects are hard to predict. To forecast the
return on investment is nearly impossible and thereby
poses an internal risk.”
“The company traditionally has very conservative
communication.”
“Of course we are prepared for the first
case - it will come.”
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6. Barriers to Dialogue in Social Media
• Unfamiliarity with social media
– Tone of voice, perceived high risks
• Managerial scepticism
– Uncertainty of outcomes, no strategic weight of SM
• Internal guidelines
– Established ways of ”doing it the old way”, policies
• External regulations
– Laws and regulations
• Lack of resources
– Time constraints, human resources 6

7. Negative effects
Principles of relationship building
easy use conversatio
useful frequent and keep communicate nal human
Barriers information updates navigation publics commitment voice
Unfamiliarity x x x X x
Managerial
x x x X x x
scepticism
Lack of resources x x x X x
Internal guidelines x X x x
External
x X x
regulations 7

8. Conclusion
• ”Look inside the organisation!”
• Emphasise organisational aspects
• Development of organisational capabilities
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