Anne Ellerup Nielsen

Digital Genres: A Challenge to Traditional Genre Theory

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to account for the genre characteristics of non‐linear, multi‐modal, web‐mediated documents. It involves a two‐dimensional view on genres that allows one to account for the fact that digital genres act not only as text but also as medium.Design/methodology/approach – The theoretical framework of the article is the Swalesian genre theory used in academic settings all over the world to investigate the relationship between discourse and social practice and to teach genre conventions to students of language and communication. Up till now most genre research has focused on the characteristics of “printed” texts, whereas less has been done to apply the genre theory to digital genres.Findings – The article discusses the characteristics of digital genres, notably the media constraints that have a significant effect on the production and reception of digital genres and suggests an extension of the Swalesian genre model that takes the digital characteristics into account.Resea...

CSR communication in small and medium‐sized enterprises

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how corporate social responsibility (CSR) appears and is communicated in small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on theory and research on CSR communication in general and in SMEs and a qualitative case study of the attitudes and beliefs of Danish SME managers regarding CSR and CSR communication.Findings – The case study demonstrates that CSR is primarily considered to be an ethical and moral issue which is isolated from strategic communication including public relations and reputation management. Rather than being a strategic instrument, CSR seems to be rooted in practice and regulated by the personal values and beliefs of managers. It is argued that in principle, SMEs like the ones in the case study which are based on employee commitment and the use of indirect word‐of‐mouth communication with internal and local stakeholders have a fruitful platform for adopting strategic CSR communication. The problem ...

Strategic stakeholder dialogues: a discursive perspective on relationship building

Purpose – Societal developments and stakeholder awareness place responsibility and legitimacy high on corporate agendas. Increased awareness heightens focus on stakeholder relations and dialogue as key aspects in corporate social responsibility (CSR), corporate identity and corporate communication scholarship, but the question remains how can dialogue be initiated and maintained? The purpose of this paper is to establish a framework for conceptualizing dialogue.Design/methodology/approach – Through a review of CSR, corporate identity, corporate communication and stakeholder literature, a framework is developed taking into account the different stakes held by key stakeholder groups, i.e. consumers, investors, employees, non‐governmental organization and suppliers. Based on the discursive terms of form and script, we argue that different stakes condition different dialogical types.Findings – The paper argues that the stakeholder orientations of the CSR, corporate identity and corporate communication discipl...

CSR communication: quo vadis?

Purpose – This paper aims to introduce the special issue on CSR communication attached to the First International CSR Communication Conference held in Amsterdam in October 2011. The aim of the introduction is also to review CSR communication papers published in scholarly journals in order to make a summary of the state of CSR communication knowledge.Design/methodology/approach – The existing literature on CSR communication was approached via systematic review. with a combination of conventional and summative qualitative content analysis. The final dataset contained 90 papers from two main business and management databases, i.e. EBSCOhost and ProQuest.Findings – Papers were coded into three main categories. The results show that the majority of the papers are concerned with disclosure themes. Considerably less salient are papers that fall under process‐oriented themes and the outcomes/consequences of CSR communications. The most important outlets for CSR communication‐related topics are Journal of Business...

The integration of CSR into corporate communication in large European companies

Purpose – This paper aims to shed light on corporate practices regarding the integration of CSR into corporate communication in large European companies.Design/methodology/approach – An e‐mail survey was conducted among large European companies in a total of 14 European countries. The questionnaire focuses on the organization of corporate communication activities, the organization of CSR activities, and the cooperation between the two.Findings – The authors find that CSR is managed most frequently by CSR departments, but also by communication departments to a small extent. Whichever organization is chosen, the communication departments frequently engage in cooperation with the CSR departments. The more frequently the two cooperate, the more likely they are to have formalised their cooperation. The authors also conclude that the communication department is generally aligned to the strategic management of the organization, whereas this is not always the case for the CSR department.Research limitations/impli...

CSR in corporate self‐storying – legitimacy as a question of differentiation and conformity

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address corporte social responsibility (CSR) as a form of corporate self‐storying that highlights isomorphic processes influencing legitimacy as a key organisational concern.Design/methodology/approach – Having constructed a theoretical framework incorporating CSR and corporate identity literature, the paper draws on a discourse perspective to analyse the legitimation strategies applied by a single organisation storying its CSR involvement. The strategies are subsequently addressed in relation to isomorphic discourses of legitimacy.Findings – The analysis supports the view that corporate self‐storying of CSR balances between the needs for differentiation and conformity. Organisations thus navigate between the value associated with compliance with societal norms and expectations and the value of promoting organisational uniqueness.Research limitations/implications – Institutional processes result in isomorphic organisational practices also in relation to legitimacy...

A discourse analysis of the disciplinary power of management coaching

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the control assumptions embedded in some textbooks on management coaching with a view to uncovering the potentialities and constraints applying to the individuals self‐realisation project.Design/methodology/approach – By means of a qualitative discourse analysis of selected works on management coaching, the paper examines the rhetorical articulation of the management coaching concept in terms of established discourses of managing and controlling the individual.Findings – As a result of the findings, the paper categorises the management coaching literature into two types: employee and executive coaching, respectively. It demonstrates that employee coaching seems to involve action control and direct monitoring, while executive coaching involves control of the spirit as well as results/achievements, thereby generating tight constraints on the individuals self‐realisation project. It concludes that coaching can be a stronger disciplining technique than contr...

Acts that matter – an analysis of Kiva

Purpose – The goal of this paper is to provide insight into how global social responsibility is performed through economic, mental and even physical investment and engagement by consumers and organisations. Design/methodology/approach – An illustrative analysis from the corporate website and blogs of an ethical organisation is undertaken. The analytical approach is communicative and inspired by discourse and legitimation studies and more particularly based on the framework of legitimation in discourse and communication developed by Theo van Leeuwen. Findings – The paper claims that new forms of value creation and a new relational logic of ethics – a so-called “logic of matter” – are emerging. From the three types of relational logic of matter ethics – an ethics of care, an ethics of reversibility and an ethics of activism – the ethics of activism plays the most important role in our material. Research limitations/implications – The analytical examples presented in this paper demonstrate how the new relati...

Self‐realisation and control in the discourse practice of management coaching

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the construction of discourses in current popular management models described in the field of management coaching in order to examine the disciplining forms and the type of authority appeal drawn upon in these models.Design/methodology/approach – The authors apply a discourse analysis to two selected works on management coaching in order to investigate the rhetorical articulation of the coaching concept in terms of established discourses of management.Findings – It seems that the analysed works draw on both a rationalistic and a spiritual paradigm of disciplining. Self‐realisation is mainly a superficial change. The discourse pattern thus fits into a wider social postmodern context in which social order seems to be constituted through a blending of rational and spiritual discourse order.Practical implications – The analysis provides insight into the extent to which management coaching practices are likely to facilitate intrinsic employee involvement and he...

Constructing Non-profit Identity in the Midst of Stakeholder Complexity

Abstract The purpose of the study is to conceptualize the identity of nonprofit organizations as suspended between various stakeholders who present the organizations with different challenges, paradoxes, and dilemmas. Thus, it seeks to answer the questions: How do we define and study the relational identity of a nonprofit organization (NPO)? How do stakeholders participate in NPO identity constructing practices? Theoretically, the study draws on and contributes to the relational conceptualization of organizational identity as a discursive accomplishment. Based on a discourse analysis of an online discussion on the micro-lending NPO Kiva, the study’s findings point to complex articulations of both the organization and its stakeholders. Conclusively, the study suggests that NPO identity can be defined and studied through multiple discourses articulated by stakeholders. In addition, it points to understanding NPO identity alongside stakeholder identities, as stakeholders construct a number of different identities simultaneously.