CSR as a key driver of strategic legitimation: a research on the Italian pasta industry

Abstract

The object of analysis of this document is Corporate Social Responsibility, that is the strategic corporate orientation for which ethical and eco-sustainable values are integrated into the functioning budget. The thesis illustrates the establishment of CSR practices in today's business context, from the origins and evolution of the term to its formalization and measurement. Subsequently, the analysis of the advantages and criticisms will have considerable relevance, as the phenomenon of "greenwashing" will be studied in depth: a neologism for which companies risk damaging their reputation, exposing themselves to public condemnations. In addition, the main tools adopted by organizations to communicate and disseminate their CSR actions will be analysed, with reference to the macroeconomic context, regulations and obligations imposed by the law in terms of reporting. In doing so, emphasis was placed on the distinction between classic communication methods and 'informal' tools. The main objective of the thesis is to deepen the so called "talking CSR" operations, that are business practices through which companies actively disseminate their CSR initiatives, through great efforts in terms of communication. In fact, CSR is not only a question of ethics in the widest sense of its meaning: it is a factor of competitiveness for companies that can, through their socially responsible behaviour, strengthen the own brand reputation and establish profitable relationships of great added value with the reference community (stakeholders). In a highly competitive context, being sustainable is clearly an advantage at the expense of other competitors, but at the same time, communicating in a distorted way might backfire on the company itself. In the same way, "walking CSR" will be illustrated, which are business practices for which companies undertake a path aimed at CSR policies, but they do it in a different way from the traditional one, and which therefore at first glance may seem difficult to understand. The paper aims to answer the CSR communication research question: does adherence to formal and generalized procedures represent an essential strategic and institutional lever in CSR communication? Through an empirical analysis, in the last part of the thesis, several case studies will be analysed both of large companies and of small-scale organizations in the pasta industry in Italy, to highlight the theoretical notions described. The different research results will show the relationship between corporate social responsibility communication in relation to the structuring of sustainable activities.