CSR Reporting seen from an Ethical Perspective: An Empirical Investigation

Claus Strue Frederiksen; Morten Ebbe Juul Nielsen

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-10909-1_10

CSR Reporting seen from an Ethical Perspective: An Empirical Investigation

Claus Strue Frederiksen, Morten Ebbe Juul Nielsen

Department of Communication

Abstract

The objective of this chapter is to determine whether the current practice within CSR reporting provides relevant information that enables stakeholders to evaluate the CSR commitment of companies. In order to address this issue, we have conducted an empirical investigation examining the CSR reports of some of the world’s largest companies. Based on the data, we argue that CSR reporting does not enable stakeholders to evaluate the CSR commitment of companies. The main problem is that companies do not present or defend sufficiently clear baselines, i.e. stakeholders are mostly kept in the dark when it comes to the level of a company’s social and environmental obligations. In addition, the variety of different values, e.g., marginal groups in the workforce, and reducing CO₂ emissions, makes CSR reports very hard to evaluate. The lack of a common CSR currency means that we need guidelines on how to compare the different values.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Corporate Social Responsibility and Governance : Theory and Practice
Editors	Samuel Idowu, Claus Strue Frederiksen, Asli Yüksel Mermod, Morten Ebbe Juul Nielsen
Number of pages	15
Place of Publication	Cham
Publisher	Springer
Publication date	Jan 2015
Pages	211-225
Chapter	10
ISBN (Print)	978-3-319-10908-4
ISBN (Electronic)	978-3-319-10909-1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10909-1_10
Publication status	Published - Jan 2015

Series	CSR, sustainability, ethics & governance

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10.1007/978-3-319-10909-1_10

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Frederiksen, C. S., & Nielsen, M. E. J. (2015). CSR Reporting seen from an Ethical Perspective: An Empirical Investigation . In S. Idowu, C. S. Frederiksen, A. Y. Mermod, & M. E. J. Nielsen (Eds.), Corporate Social Responsibility and Governance: Theory and Practice (pp. 211-225). Springer. CSR, sustainability, ethics & governance https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10909-1_10

CSR Reporting seen from an Ethical Perspective : An Empirical Investigation . / Frederiksen, Claus Strue; Nielsen, Morten Ebbe Juul.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Governance: Theory and Practice . ed. / Samuel Idowu; Claus Strue Frederiksen; Asli Yüksel Mermod; Morten Ebbe Juul Nielsen. Cham : Springer, 2015. p. 211-225 (CSR, sustainability, ethics & governance).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Research › peer-review

Frederiksen, Claus Strue ; Nielsen, Morten Ebbe Juul. / CSR Reporting seen from an Ethical Perspective : An Empirical Investigation . Corporate Social Responsibility and Governance: Theory and Practice . editor / Samuel Idowu ; Claus Strue Frederiksen ; Asli Yüksel Mermod ; Morten Ebbe Juul Nielsen. Cham : Springer, 2015. pp. 211-225 (CSR, sustainability, ethics & governance).

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CSR Reporting seen from an Ethical Perspective: An Empirical Investigation

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