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Corporate social responsibility communication of German family firms: a content analysis

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Abstract

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) gained importance over the last years. Yet, only few studies have investigated CSR in German family firms. This study analyzes the CSR communication of 714 listed German family and non-family firms using a content analysis of CSR mission statements. We find that family firms put strong emphasis in their CSR communication on the philanthropic dimension and convey CSR as part of their corporate culture. Non-family firms, in turn, are more likely to describe CSR as part of their corporate strategy.

Zusammenfassung

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) hat in den letzten Jahren stark an Bedeutung gewonnen. Wenige Studien jedoch befassen sich mit CSR in Familienunternehmen. Die vorliegende Studies untersucht die CSR Kommunikation von 714 an der Börse gelisteten Familien- und Nichtfamilienunternehmen. Die empirischen Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Familienunternehmen im Vergleich zu Nichtfamilienunternehmen in ihrer CSR Kommunikation mehr Wert auf die philanthropische Dimension von CSR legen und CSR eher als Teil ihrer Unternehmenskultur und weniger als Teil ihrer Unternehmensstrategie verstehen.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Professur für Unternehmensführung, University of Trier, Universitätsring 15, DM-Gebäude, Postfach 28, 54296, Trier, Germany

    Jörn Hendrich Block & Dominik Wagner

  2. University of Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Lange Gasse 20, 90403, Nuremberg, Germany

    Markus Stiglbauer & Anna-Lena Kühn

Authors
  1. Jörn Hendrich Block
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  2. Markus Stiglbauer
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  3. Anna-Lena Kühn
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  4. Dominik Wagner
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Correspondence to Jörn Hendrich Block.

Additional information

The research benefited from generous research support of the EQUA Stiftung and the Hans-Frisch-Stiftung.

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Block, J., Stiglbauer, M., Kühn, AL. et al. Corporate social responsibility communication of German family firms: a content analysis. uwf 23, 251–257 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00550-015-0366-3

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