In brief
Also known as corporate citizenship.

In today's globalised marketplace, there is growing acceptance that the corporate sector must face up to its responsibilities to the wider world. As well as minimising their impacts on the environment, more and more companies are getting involved in areas such as human rights, fair trade, local economic development and non-discriminatory employment practices. This trend towards sustainable development in the corporate sector, which relates economic success to social and environmental factors, has become known as corporate social responsibility (CSR).

CSR is, at least in part, a response of the business community to complaints that it has failed to create trusting relationships with its stakeholders. As people have become more aware of the power and influence of the corporate sector, so their demands for more accountability and transparency have increased. Effective stakeholder communication has therefore become a key issue for companies that want to adopt a responsible business outlook.

An increasingly well-informed breed of stakeholder is now demanding clear, hard facts about the business community's social and environmental performance. People want to know, for example, that their trainers were not made by children and that the manufacturing process does not pollute the environment excessively.

This growth in consumer pressure has been matched by increased regulatory requirement to report on what is material to a company’s historic and future performance, including its impact on the environment and the wider community.

This information needs to be presented in a way that is accessible, honest and engaging. More than that, companies are now expected to form partnerships with their stakeholders. Rather than just talking to them about their performance, they must find ways to empower stakeholders with that information, listen to their opinions and involve them in key business decisions.

The communication challenge for responsible companies is compounded by the fact that most businesses have numerous stakeholder groups, each with very different demands, expectations and communication needs. The right medium and message for employees may not be right for consumers, and entirely inappropriate for the Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and the regulatory bodies that monitor business performance.

Instead of simply promoting a brand or even helping businesses talk to their audiences, design and communication consultancies must now create channels of dialogue between stakeholder and corporation, tailored to the communication needs of different audiences.

About three-quarters of FTSE top 100 companies now produce CSR reports alongside their annual reports. Published either in print or as part of a company website, these reports usually follow a standard format. They outline the company's social and environmental performance, show performance against targets set the previous year and set out targets for the year ahead. CSR reports often try to encourage feedback through posted or online feedback forms. There is a move to more web-based reporting because companies can publish more information, tailored to different audiences, and users can choose what they read. But there are disadvantages too, because the web is still accessible to only half the UK populationand, even if they have access, users can get lost in poorly structured information.

Companies that aim to innovate in CSR practice are increasingly integrating CSR issues into the way that they do business, and aligning their company vision and value statements with the CSR agenda.

Although CSR reports are essential to give a picture of a company's social and environmental performance, it is clear they have limitations as tools for inclusive dialogue. The amount of complex information demanded by reporting best practice means that reports can make dull reading for non-expert audiences. For this reason, companies are beginning to look beyond the CSR report and find new avenues to reach non-specialist audiences, such as consumer groups and employees, to invite their feedback and opinions.

The Co-operative Bank, which has ethical banking at the heart of its brand, leads the way in communicating with customers about CSR issues. Customers are invited to tell the company which issues they would like it to support and, throughout the year, customers receive progress updates with their bank statements.

As CSR matures, more effort will be targeted at communicating with customers by integrating CSR issues into a company’s brand, and less on producing lengthy reports. This will drive product and service innovation, as well as brand communication.

By Rebecca Collings, reprinted with permission from the British Design Council www.designcouncil.uk