Making Sense of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Enterprise

This dissertation examines the internal construction of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) identity at a car rental company, Enterprise. It is based on an interpretive single-case study of Enterprise East Midland office and branches. The study was conducted through a research placement at Enter...

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Main Author: Vigneau, Laurence
Format: Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2010
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/23942/
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author Vigneau, Laurence
author_facet Vigneau, Laurence
author_sort Vigneau, Laurence
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description This dissertation examines the internal construction of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) identity at a car rental company, Enterprise. It is based on an interpretive single-case study of Enterprise East Midland office and branches. The study was conducted through a research placement at Enterprise, where I was able to conduct semi-structured interviews and have access to internal and external documentation. The aim of this dissertation is to describe, compare and interpret the managers’ and employees’ construction of a CSR identity. I co-constructed the managers and employees CSR identity narratives and analysed them with regard to the literature on organizational identity, sensemaking/sensegiving and legitimacy. This led me to better understand how employees and managers make sense of and give sense to CSR. It also helped me grasp the notions of control and legitimacy around CSR at Enterprise. The dissertation’s goal is to produce insight on Enterprise’s CSR identity and suggest possible actions for Enterprise to tackle some issues related to the internal perceptions of CSR. The study shows that employees constructed a different CSR identity from the managers. A sensegiving problem was identified, as managers were not able to transmit the morality argument of CSR to employees. This study also highlights the role of internal communication in the sensegiving processes around CSR at Enterprise, as well as the influence of organizational identity on CSR identity.
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spelling nottingham-239422018-02-17T02:18:41Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/23942/ Making Sense of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Enterprise Vigneau, Laurence This dissertation examines the internal construction of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) identity at a car rental company, Enterprise. It is based on an interpretive single-case study of Enterprise East Midland office and branches. The study was conducted through a research placement at Enterprise, where I was able to conduct semi-structured interviews and have access to internal and external documentation. The aim of this dissertation is to describe, compare and interpret the managers’ and employees’ construction of a CSR identity. I co-constructed the managers and employees CSR identity narratives and analysed them with regard to the literature on organizational identity, sensemaking/sensegiving and legitimacy. This led me to better understand how employees and managers make sense of and give sense to CSR. It also helped me grasp the notions of control and legitimacy around CSR at Enterprise. The dissertation’s goal is to produce insight on Enterprise’s CSR identity and suggest possible actions for Enterprise to tackle some issues related to the internal perceptions of CSR. The study shows that employees constructed a different CSR identity from the managers. A sensegiving problem was identified, as managers were not able to transmit the morality argument of CSR to employees. This study also highlights the role of internal communication in the sensegiving processes around CSR at Enterprise, as well as the influence of organizational identity on CSR identity. 2010 Dissertation (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/23942/1/Final_dissertation_-_Laurence_Vigneau.pdf Vigneau, Laurence (2010) Making Sense of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Enterprise. [Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)] (Unpublished)
spellingShingle Vigneau, Laurence
Making Sense of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Enterprise
title Making Sense of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Enterprise
title_full Making Sense of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Enterprise
title_fullStr Making Sense of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Enterprise
title_full_unstemmed Making Sense of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Enterprise
title_short Making Sense of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Enterprise
title_sort making sense of corporate social responsibility (csr) at enterprise
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/23942/