Making Communication Pay Off: Corporate Social Responsibility and Effecting the Bottom Line in Light of Stakeholder Saliency-- what we can do to make the difference
In the wake of the corporate scandals that blossomed in the early 1990's, it is amazing to think that companies today have not learned from their mistakes. More than chasing the bottom line, the actions that corporations take communicate something, whether it is responsibility or lack of ethics, when taking decisions.
Key to this communication is stakeholders--and this is an interesting field of study. Believe it or not, there is a struggle between economic theorists who still feel that focusing on shareholders in communication strategies as well as performance measurements, and stakeholder theorists who advocate that companies need to keep all stakeholders in mind: any individual or group that is affected by the objectives of the organization (Freeman, 1984). The literature over the years has substantiated a focus on customers, employees and shareholders-- albeit it is an expansion from the narrow economic focus on shareholders, it nevertheless falls short when encompassing corporate social responsibility.....
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be summed up best when looking at key three responsibility areas as to what a corporation should focus upon when communicating to the stakeholder base: financial responsibility, environmental responsibility and social responsibility. Balancing between the three with the stakeholders in mind would lend (one would assume) to a corporation functioning above the board from an ethical perspective.
Paramount to CSR is knowing who are our stakeholders and what should we communicate. A stakeholder, when looking at their saliency, can have a certain degree of power, secondary to their relationship and influence on the corporation. The saliency can change as well--whoever is a key stakeholder today may not necessarily be tomorrow. And stakeholders that may seem to be non existent yesterday in a flash of a second could pose big trouble overnight.
In the wake of the ABC/Disney decision to air The Path to 9/11, many have been angered by the lack of sensitivity, blatant disregard for facts as well as politicizing an extremely difficult event for profit. It seems that the social responsibility leg of CSR is of no importance to ABC/Disney, and this is clear in their communication--to whom they gave a preview copy, chastising the public for not waiting for the final edit, changing the rhetoric to docudrama, claiming it is based on the 9/11 Commission Report and including a possible interruption of the final installation by a President that has a high rating of disapproval.
Where are we in the scope of this? What is our role?
When looking at the stakeholder perspective, we are the focus of all of the communication at the end of the day--we are the consumers. And to get to us, the likes of ABC and Disney use sponsors for advertising, sell their products at our stores. Many forget that the channels are also stakeholders, and with this in mind we have a wonderful opportunity to communicate back what we think and feel, as well as get the social responsibility leg back into play when looking at CSR.
Closing the loop on making communication pay off is to affect all channels, as well as increase rapidly our saliency to ABC and Disney. This can be done many ways, and below are several things that we can do to hit their fiscal responsibility focus, and draw attention to their need to fulfil their social responsibility to the American public.
1) Do not purchase ANYTHING Disney. October 1 is close by, the official launch day for most retailers for the Christmas season. Disney products include:
a. Winnie the Pooh
b. Pirates of the Caribbean
c. The Muppets
d. Snow White, Cinderella
e. That So Raven
f. Little Einsteins
SEE LIST OF DISNEY HOLDINGS TOWARDS THE END
2) Do not watch ANYTHING produced by Disney, including Buena Vista, Walt Disney Pictures, El Capitan Theater and Plaid Banana Product Lines. Upcoming movies include:
a. BOYCOTT the opening of The Hero, slated for 15 September
b. The Escape Clause, Cars, Tim Burton's the Nightmare Before Christmas, The Bridge to Teribithia, Pirates of the Caribbean, Meet the Robinsons, Ratatouille
SEE LIST OF DISNEY HOLDINGS TOWARDS THE END
3) Write actors/actresses and the directors of the above films to add the pressure
4) We have not forgotten ABC. For starters, do not watch any of their shows, do not tune into their channel
5) Stop buying ABC sponsors products, and write them as to why you are not buying their products
PLEASE ADD SPONSOR INFORMATION--WHO ARE SPONSORING THESE SHOWS, ASKING US TO BUY THEIR PRODUCTS?
6) Contact actors/actresses/directors of Grey's Anatomy, Jimmy Kimmel, Boston Legal, Desperate Housewives, Extreme Makeover Home Edition, Lost, The 9, According to Jim--tell them you are boycotting their shows and why.
7) Contact your local affiliate, stage demonstrations outside their facility, and do not purchase anything from the sponsors. Put pressure on your local businesses to advertise with another station.
8) Do not DL any iTunes, Apple anything, and write Steve Jobs as to why you are doing this.
9) Bring ESPN into the picture--they are the provider for ABC sports--and their sponsors, etc., including NOT flying Southwest Airlines
10) Take a sock at GE and Hearst--they codistribute on behalf of Disney--do not buy their products and let them know why
11) Create a one stop shop web site and blog that has ALL vendors, suppliers, sponsors, distributors, retailers, affiliated entertainment companies, record labels, local affiliates and their chains broken down by state and major media markets, products and product lines, stores, high profile people linked to ABC/Disney (let's get the whole chain) to organize more effectively the information needed to execute a long haul boycott.
Educate yourself on everything Disney and ABC and all of the touchpoints, do not purchase or participate, yet make sure that you COMMUNICATE your decision, what actions you are taking and why. Action is communication as well--suffering sales says quite a bit. Find all other stakeholders that engage, or affected, by ABC/Disney--if they sell products, do not buy them, and COMMUNICATE this.
We may not be able to stop the docudrama from being aired, there will be a mess of misinformation we will have to process in the months to come, however hitting that fiscal line with our actions and communication will teach two large media companies that ignoring social responsibility will not be tolerated, and ignoring the saliency of certain stakeholders proves dangerous to their bottom line.
Our message should be clear: in making our communication pay off, let's affect Disney's bottom line with this message-- as salient stakeholders we are holding you socially accountable by our actions, therefore you will be held socially responsible.
Personal Note
I am sure that there are many more things that we can do, and since I am an appalled American living overseas I am not in touch with the everyday sponsors/activities of ABC and Disney. PLEASE ADD TO THIS LIST--LET US MAKE IT EXHAUSTIVE! In our home, we do get NFL Football, and we are not watching those games that are aired by ABC/ESPN. We are also contacting our provider to see if they can pick up games from other stations. We are not purchasing any products that would sponsor ABC/Disney, and that includes Coke. No more watching Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy here until this is resolved.
I realize we have not seen this docudrama yet in order to make what would be perceived as a more informed decision, however they way Disney/ABC launched the preview to a select audience, how historians are coming out against it, alongside the few clips that have made it public--is communication enough for us to take action. There is no need to take a wait and see approach as some have argued, and the previous observations are reason enough. Furthermore, we should focus on the real issue--the 9/11 Report was disregarded in the making of the film, and the mistruths communicated by it is perilous for our society. Politicizing it as a left versus right dialogue will not only not have the same affect, it will steer us away from the main issue: the media has a social responsibility to which they must be held accountable.
Best,
expatden
WHAT DISNEY OWNS: (bear in mind this does not cover distributor, suppliers, retailers, etc).
From: http://www.cjr.org/...
The Walt Disney Company 500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521
(818) 560-1000
http://disney.go.com/...
Film
Walt Disney Pictures
Touchstone Pictures
Hollywood Pictures
Miramax Films
Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Pixar
Broadcast Television
ABC Network
Owned and Operated Television Stations
* WLS - Chicago
* WJRT - Flint
* KFSN - Fresno
* KTRK - Houston
* KABC - Los Angeles
* WABC - New York City
* WPVI - Philadelphia
* WTVD - Raleigh - Durham
* KGO - San Francisco
* WTVG - Toledo
Cable Television
ESPN
ABC Family
Disney Channel
Toon Disney
SOAPnet
Lifetime Network (partial)
A&E (partial)
E! (partial)
Radio
ABC Radio
* WKHX - Atlanta
* WYAY - Atlanta
* WDWD - Atlanta
* WMVP - Chicago
* WLS - Chicago
* WZZN - Chicago
* WRDZ - Chicago
* WBAP - Dallas
* KSCS - Dallas
* KMEO - Dallas
* KESN - Dallas
* KMKI - Dallas
* WDRQ - Detroit
* WJR - Detroit
* WDVD - Detroit
* KABC - Los Angeles
* KLOS - Los Angeles
* KDIS - Los Angeles
* KSPN - Los Angeles
* KQRS - Minneapolis - St. Paul
* KXXR - Minneapolis - St. Paul
* KDIZ - Minneapolis - St. Paul
* WGVX - Minneapolis - St. Paul
* WGVY - Minneapolis - St. Paul
* WGVZ - Minneapolis - St. Paul
* WABC - New York City
* WPLJ - New York City
* WQEW - New York City
* WEVD - New York City
* KGO - San Francisco
* KSFO - San Francisco
* KIID - Sacramento
* KMKY - Oakland
* WMAL - Washington DC
* WJZW - Washington DC
* WRQX - Washington DC
* KQAM - Wichita
* KKDZ - Seattle
* WSDZ - St. Louis
* WWMK - Cleveland
* KMIX - Phoenix
* KADZ - Denver
* KDDZ - Denver
* WWMI - Tampa
* KMIC - Houston
* WMYM - Miami
* WWJZ - Philadelphia
* WMKI - Boston
* WDZK - Hartford
* WDDZ - Providence
* WDZY - Richmond
* WGFY - Charlotte
* WDYZ - Orlando
* WMNE - West Palm Beach
* WEAE - Pittsburgh
* WDRD - Louisville
* WPPY - Albany, NY
* KPHN - Kansas City
* WQUA - Mobile
* WBML - Jacksonville
* WFDF - Flint
* WFRO - Fremont, OH
* WDMV - Damascus, MD
* WHKT - Norfolk Radio Disney
* ESPN Radio (syndicated programming
Music
Buena Vista Music Group
Walt Disney Records
Hollywood Records
Lyric Street Records
Publishing
Book Publishing Imprints
o Hyperion
Miramax BooksESPN BooksTheiaABC Daytime PressHyperion Audiobooks
Hyperion East
* Disney Publishing Worldwide
Cal Publishing Inc.
CrossGen
* Hyperion Books for Children
Jump at the SunVolo
Michael di Caupa Books
Disney Global Children's Books
Disney PressGlobal Retail
Global Continuity
Magazine titles include:
* Automotive Industries
* Biography (with GE and Hearst)
* Discover
* Disney Adventures
* Disney Magazine
* ECN News
* ESPN Magazine (distributed by Hearst)
* Family Fun
* Institutional Investor
* JCK
* Kodin
* Top Famille - French family magazine
* US Weekly (50%)
* Video Business
* Quality
Parks and Resorts
Disneyland Resort
Walt Disney World Resort
Tokyo Disney Resort
Disneyland Resort Paris
Hong Kong Disneyland
Other
Buena Vista Theatrical Productions
The Disney Store
Disney Cruise Line
ESPN Zone
Disney Toys
The Baby Einstein Company
Walt Disney Internet Group
last updated 6/27/06