9. Although the companies are grouped into three on the basis of sinfulness, they do all have something in common. All companies have products or corporate names that are highly visible among the public and perhaps society. Indeed, one could argue that shop retailers (Boots and M&S), while perhaps the least "sinful", are potentially the most "visible", and these companies are unable to hide behind product brand names and so have the most to protect. Bass and Whitbread, of course, also have product brands that equate with their corporate name, but perhaps the least recognisable corporate name is BAT Exposure is not just about sinfulness, it is also about the visibility of a given organisation being associated with that sinfulness. We thank an anonymous AAA] reviewer for pointing this out.
The precise position of each sector on the continuum in Figure 1 is a matter of some debate. The authors suggest, however, that few will argue with the order of the sectors in terms of perceived "sinfulness" and hence their need to restore or build legitimacy. Different industries will be perceived differently and hence their legitimacy gaps will be of different magnitudes 11. The question of which company communications to include in an analysis is one of the most problematic in any CSR study. Ideally, a study of CSR would include all forms of data reaching the public (see Gray et al, 1995b), but in practice, this is rarely possible within normal resource constraints.
12. We find quite different disclosure responses by the two brewing companies on the Internet for example.
13. Similarly, following the analysis put forward in Mitchell et al(1997), it is possible that the directors of BAT see social reporting of interest to latent (or low salience) stakeholders only and hence see no need to report to them, preferring instead to concentrate on those exhibiting a higher degree of salience. These definitive stakeholders are likely to be shareholders in the case of BAT, interested in profits rather than ethics (see also Bansal and Roth, 2000). Of course this situation is likely to be fluid and change in the stakeholders' perceptions will occur over time. This can be illustrated in BAT's case by the recent direct and frank comments on the Web site and the new corporate social responsibility committee referred to in footnote 14.
14. It is interesting to note that the 2001 directors' report and accounts of BAT refer to a newly established corporate social responsibility committee (p. 11). The company has begun a process of global social reporting based on AA 1000 and has appointed environmental auditors. The social report is also expected to comply with the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines and is due out at the time of writing (Junie 2002). By and large the ambiguities about smoking and health appear to be resolved. However, these sorts of disclosure can serve a purpose by raising the point that on balance the company is not "all bad" and thus has some form of social legitimacy.
15. Scottish and Newcastle, by comparison (another major UK brewer), does not focus on the social impact of alcohol consumption but on environmental issues (ten pages on its Web site). On specific issues there is disclosure relating to climate change, packaging waste and pollution control.
16. The discussion about the "adequacy" of annual reports focuses on the representative nature of such reports in capturing the volume of total corporate social disclosures. However, a key issue has to be to what extent annual reports proxy for might be called "audience connection". For example, the annual report has probably the most influential impact on shareholders/investors: it is widely read and widely believed by shareholders but there is less evidence that annual reports are used by other (non-investor) groups in society (although see Tilt (1994)). Hence the value of Web sites for future content analysis exercises. We thank an anonymous AAA] reviewer for suggesting this to us.
9. Although the companies are grouped into three on the basis of sinfulness, they do all have something in common. All companies have products or corporate names that are highly visible among the public and perhaps society. Indeed, one could argue that shop retailers (Boots and M&S), while perhaps the least "sinful", are potentially the most "visible", and these companies are unable to hide behind product brand names and so have the most to protect. Bass and Whitbread, of course, also have product brands that equate with their corporate name, but perhaps the least recognisable corporate name is BAT Exposure is not just about sinfulness, it is also about the visibility of a given organisation being associated with that sinfulness. We thank an anonymous AAA] reviewer for pointing this out.
The precise position of each sector on the continuum in Figure 1 is a matter of some debate. The authors suggest, however, that few will argue with the order of the sectors in terms of perceived "sinfulness" and hence their need to restore or build legitimacy. Different industries will be perceived differently and hence their legitimacy gaps will be of different magnitudes 11. The question of which company communications to include in an analysis is one of the most problematic in any CSR study. Ideally, a study of CSR would include all forms of data reaching the public (see Gray et al, 1995b), but in practice, this is rarely possible within normal resource constraints.
12. We find quite different disclosure responses by the two brewing companies on the Internet for example.
13. Similarly, following the analysis put forward in Mitchell et al(1997), it is possible that the directors of BAT see social reporting of interest to latent (or low salience) stakeholders only and hence see no need to report to them, preferring instead to concentrate on those exhibiting a higher degree of salience. These definitive stakeholders are likely to be shareholders in the case of BAT, interested in profits rather than ethics (see also Bansal and Roth, 2000). Of course this situation is likely to be fluid and change in the stakeholders' perceptions will occur over time. This can be illustrated in BAT's case by the recent direct and frank comments on the Web site and the new corporate social responsibility committee referred to in footnote 14.
14. It is interesting to note that the 2001 directors' report and accounts of BAT refer to a newly established corporate social responsibility committee (p. 11). The company has begun a process of global social reporting based on AA 1000 and has appointed environmental auditors. The social report is also expected to comply with the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines and is due out at the time of writing (Junie 2002). By and large the ambiguities about smoking and health appear to be resolved. However, these sorts of disclosure can serve a purpose by raising the point that on balance the company is not "all bad" and thus has some form of social legitimacy.
15. Scottish and Newcastle, by comparison (another major UK brewer), does not focus on the social impact of alcohol consumption but on environmental issues (ten pages on its Web site). On specific issues there is disclosure relating to climate change, packaging waste and pollution control.
16. The discussion about the "adequacy" of annual reports focuses on the representative nature of such reports in capturing the volume of total corporate social disclosures. However, a key issue has to be to what extent annual reports proxy for might be called "audience connection". For example, the annual report has probably the most influential impact on shareholders/investors: it is widely read and widely believed by shareholders but there is less evidence that annual reports are used by other (non-investor) groups in society (although see Tilt (1994)). Hence the value of Web sites for future content analysis exercises. We thank an anonymous AAA] reviewer for suggesting this to us.
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