Virtuous relationship. Companies and associations in the corporate social responsibility

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility is coming out as an interesting communicative phenomenon, suggesting important examples as it’s possible to bring out the aims of ethic values with business organization goals. If in the past this action was an attempt of the companies to win consumers without a real involvement of the social subjects suggested, nowadays it has to create a different relationship among companies, consumers and social context. This work shows the results of a research about the corporate social responsibility communication. Ten projects carried out by ten companies and by as many other associations have been analysed. The research used qualitative methods: a) the analysis of web sites of associations and companies involved in the projects, to identify and analyse the communicative strategies and arrange the selected project in the wider communicative context of both partners; b) interviews to a referent of each partner at least (23 interview have been carried out); c) the analysis of materials communication both partners. The wealth of the analysed experiences and the results achieved are here selected and interpreted as regards a precise aim: to identify –even if in their heterogeneity- those peculiarities you find in every project and that are able to increase and reinforce the «space» that projects of corporate social responsibility are hardly acquiring within the social communication. The partnership between business organizations and associations is considered a communicative relationship and so analysed from a relational and dialogic point of view.