Corporate Social Responsibility at Alliander: A study of institutionalization through discourse and translation

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2017-12-06

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en

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Engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become very important for organizations. This thesis investigates how and why CSR is institutionalized through reviewing literature and a case study at Alliander. Literature shows that while there’s no clear and concise definition of CSR, definitions encompass five dimensions. Those dimensions are the stakeholder -, social-, economic -, environmental -, and voluntariness dimension (Dahlsrud,2008). According to literature organizations have three different motivations for why CSR is institutionalized: economic, moral, and relational. CSR is institutionalized when it’s legitimized through coercive isomorphic mechanisms, mimetic processes, normative pressure, or public pressure. Delmestri (2009) formed a framework which combines discourse and translation. This framework includes ten steps that lead from ideas or actions to institutions. These steps are used to form interview questions and to structure the results. The case study showed that institutions are formed through translation and discourse. Legitimation was provided through for example government laws or NGOs. The most important reason for CSR was the moral motivation, while relational was also important. A comparison with Meijer (2012) showed that Alliander has moved from inspiring employees to engage in CSR, to executing CSR programs. Thus from talking about CSR to actually engaging in CSR

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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen

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