Publication
Corporate citizenship: Almost 60 years of a joyous organization
| dc.contributor.author | Eiró-Gomes, Mafalda | |
| dc.contributor.author | Raposo, Ana Luísa Canelas Rasquilho | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2019-10-29T10:08:56Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2019-10-29T10:08:56Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2019-09-26 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Purpose The purpose of the research was to understand how the Corporate Citizenship process in the Nabeiro - Delta Cafés Group emerged and has been developed over more than fifty years. The small enterprise, with three employees, that turned to be today Delta Cafés Group was born in 1961, under a dictatorial regime in Portugal, in a small village in the south of Portugal not far away from the Spanish border, by the hands of its still actual owner. In the eighties and due to the enterprise grew two different branches were developed, the commercial and the industrial one. At the turn of the century the group with its activities in sectors that go from the coffee industry to the real state, was really consolidated having the structure it has today. The group seems to have had since its beginnings a great preoccupation with the well-being of its employees, as well as the community where it was developed. The main research question is precisely how does an organization that will turn 60 in two years manages to be seen as an important catalyst for societal development as well as what has been the importance of the communication department in all the process. Shall we go beyond the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and speak about a process of corporate citizenship (CC)? What's the role of the Public Relations (PR) practitioners? Design/methodology/approach From an interpretivist point of view an intrinsic and descriptive case study was constructed (Yin, 2009). What characterizes a descriptive case study and allows it to be autonomous in the face of exploratory and explanatory case studies, is precisely the purpose of it being to allow a description of the phenomena in their context. Case Studies are increasingly a method used in research processes where a biunivocal relationship is sought between practice and theory, and especially in the area of PR (Corporate Communications). Beyond the interviews to key informant's data were collected through documentary analysis of available material on the internet, public and private records, physical evidence and other instruments created by researchers specifically for this purpose (Yin, 2011 and 2012). The interviews were recorded and transcribed in full. Afterwards, authors proceeded to a qualitative content analysis (Berger, 2014). Some of the limitations (Seidman, 2013) that are intrinsic to this type of instrument are also assumed, and they are related to a certain amount of perspectivism that is due to the fact that the "facts" are somehow always mediated by the experience itself. Findings Two main concepts emerge as the most relevant all over these almost 60 years and they are those of sustainability and innovation. The concept of sustainability in its contemporary use is precisely the one that emerges as the driving force of the Delta joy. Instead of using the concept of joy, in a very cultural and contextual Portuguese way, they have called it "friendship" and have considered it the core concept of the Delta Group mission: to have a friend in all those that can be considered as Delta stakeholders, from the supplier to employees, from the clients to the local government representative and of course the community local and globally considered. All the documents analyzed stressed the importance of the founder and his implication in all the policies that we may consider as belonging to the realm of the social, economic and environmental sustainability. Some developments seem to be in due course, especially a more structured approach to all these issues in accordance with the international regulations and certifications as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) (2030), where goals 10, 11 and 12 might be said to hold a special place in the minds and hearts of those at Delta. Last but not least, an aspect that must be highlighted is a communication centered one, and we are speaking about aspects as those of plain language, clear writing and kindness in the use of language as is mandatory at all the organization publications. Communication practitioners, however, seem to be seen as performing only reporting functions and quite centered in the traditional tasks of the profession: media relations and employee communication. CSR communication means just to report the CSR achievements. Originality/value Understand how the PR are involved in CSR policies and practices as well as presenting a first approach to Nabeiro Group from a communication analysis standpoint and using case study as a research method. Moreover, it may be useful quoting Maxwell and understand that even if statistical generalizations are not possible "there is no obvious reason not to believe that the results apply more generally " (Maxwell, 2013, loc 2949). | pt_PT |
| dc.description.version | N/A | pt_PT |
| dc.identifier.citation | Eiró-Gomes, M., & Raposo, A. (2019, set, 26-28). Corporate citizenship: Almost 60 years of a joyous organization. Paper presented at 21st Annual Congress of the European Public Relations Association (EUPRERA): “Joy - Using Strategic Communications to Improve Quality of Life, Faculty of Economics & Business Zagreb, Zagreb, Croácia | pt_PT |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.21/10685 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | pt_PT |
| dc.peerreviewed | yes | pt_PT |
| dc.publisher | EUPRERA | pt_PT |
| dc.relation.publisherversion | https://euprera2019.com/ | pt_PT |
| dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ | pt_PT |
| dc.subject | Communication management | pt_PT |
| dc.subject | Corporate citizenship | pt_PT |
| dc.subject | Societal development | pt_PT |
| dc.subject | Case study | pt_PT |
| dc.subject | Public relations | pt_PT |
| dc.subject | IPL/2018/3Cs_ESCS | pt_PT |
| dc.title | Corporate citizenship: Almost 60 years of a joyous organization | pt_PT |
| dc.type | conference object | |
| dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
| oaire.citation.conferencePlace | Faculty of Economics & Business Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia | pt_PT |
| oaire.citation.title | 21st Annual Congress of the European Public Relations Association (EUPRERA): “Joy - Using Strategic Communications to Improve Quality of Life | pt_PT |
| rcaap.rights | openAccess | pt_PT |
| rcaap.type | conferenceObject | pt_PT |