Communication for Socially Responsible Initiatives

This paper discusses the communication strategies adopted by the corporate while planning and implementing their CSR initiatives in India. Based on the data collected from five companies – a private sector, a public sector, a private-private joint venture, a public- private joint venture and a multinational corporation- the paper finds that the CSR communication within the companies is top driven. There are different levels of stakeholder involvement in CSR communication. With respect to the communication between the corporate and the communities, the paper contends that the companies simply may not have communication specifically focused on them. In addition, the communication strategies adopted by the corporate and implementing partners in the communities run the risk for the corporate houses of either hearing what they want to hear or of the communities’ dominance over the company.