Using websites to communicate corporate social responsibility for listed financial services companies

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the use of the corporate websites of listed financial services companies to communicate their corporate social responsibilities. This research also examines how adherence to section thirteen of the Financial Sector Charter, regarding Corporate Social Investment, is communicated on the corporate websites. The research also examined how the websites are used and how the information is organised and presented in order to draw conclusions about corporate social responsibility within the companies. This research was carried out in two stages. The first stage of the research was used to interview experts on CSR in South Africa. This data was used to create the framework for assessing the corporate websites, incorporating the information obtained from the literature review. The second stage of the research was the examination of the corporate websites to understand the CSR representation. A key finding, based on the information on the corporate websites, was that the companies generally position the CSR information in prominent locations on the corporate websites indicating that it is considered fairly important to the company. However, the information could have been more current to reflect more accurately their CSR activities. There is also no encompassing South African definition of corporate social responsibility, thus all companies interpret their activities and the components in their unique ways. Copyright