Strategic communication of CSR in global business networks: a semiotic perspective

Strategic communication is a crucial component of companies’ intra- and inter- organizational activities. With the increasing attention to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), strategic communication has also become an im portant part of overall CSR management. In particular, the wide variety of current communication channels requires companies’ strategic communication to be extensive in order to convince the actors within the business network of the company’s responsible actions. Furthermore, due to the international nature of today’s business, understanding communication across cultures and how a specific message targeting different markets should carry the strategic intent would have an important part of the overall succe ssful CSR management process and particularly strategic communication. Nevertheless, the topics of strategic communication, CSR and culture both separately and in conjunction have been given limited attention in business network literature. Thus, there is a need for creating a deeper understanding of the strategic communication of the company’s CSR policies to business network’s actors in different cultural contexts.This paper is explorative in its nature and aims to create a deep understanding of strategic communication within global business networks, which is part of the overall CSR management of companies. The paper in particular focuses on how the strategic communication approach to CSR is developed, organised and communicated within global business networks. To reach our aims we conduct a case study, including interviews with key managers in Nordic based companies. We further conduct a semiotic analysis of the empirical data obtained in order to reach a deep understanding of phenomenon under study. The result of the research will consist of a framework for strategic communication of CSR policies within networks from a cultural perspective.