Global Perspectives on NGO Communication for Social Change

Giuliana Sorce

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781032037141
• eBook ISBN: 9781000474954
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Peace & Global Development
• Index: Social Sciences

This book examines the central role media and communication play in the activities of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) around the globe, how NGOs communicate with key publics, engage stakeholders, target political actors, enable input from civil society, and create participatory opportunities.

An international line-up of authors first discuss communication practices, strategies, and media uses by NGOs, providing insights into the specifics of NGO programs for social change goals and reveal particular sets of tactics NGOs commonly employ. The book then presents a set of case studies of NGO organizing from all over the world—ranging from Sudan via Brazil to China – to illustrate the particular contexts that make NGO advocacy necessary, while also highlighting successful initiatives to illuminate the important spaces NGOs occupy in civil society.

This comprehensive and wide-ranging exploration of global NGO communication will be of great interest to scholars across communication studies, media studies, public relations, organizational studies, political science, and development studies, while offering accessible pieces for practitioners and organizers.

Part I Communicating for Social Change

1 NGO–Business Partnerships Implications for Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Change Communication

Vidhi Chaudhri and James Everett Hein

DOI: 10.4324/9781003188636-3

Partnerships between non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and businesses have been defined as cross-sector collaborations or social alliances. Around the world, NGO-business partnerships have grown considerably and, thus, researchers from various disciplines have produced an impressive corpus of scholarship on the topic (Dahan, Doh, & Teegen, 2010a). The rationales for NGO-business collaborations not only include a focus on mutual benefits, such as the fruitful combination of complementary expertise, but also accommodate more mainstream appeals, such as collaborating for positive societal impact and social change (Selsky & Parker, 2005; Laasonen, Fougère, & Kourula, 2012). Giddens et al. (2017) define social change “as the transformation over time of the institutions and culture of a society” (p. 497), and NGOs play a key role in facilitating these transformations. Indeed, multiple actors, including NGOs, governments, and business, are engaged in social change efforts such as working toward more socially responsible oil extraction in Nigeria (Idemudia, 2017). Regardless of whether reactively or proactively prompted, Aguilera et al. (2007) argue that a corporation’s responsiveness to shifting societal expectations and the implementation of socially responsible and sustainable goals in business conduct has the potential for positive social change.

In this chapter, we treat business efforts to advance corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability via the formation of NGO-business partnerships as a manifestation of social change efforts. As a case in point, during the early 1990s, the corporate community in the United States was largely unified in resisting regulations on greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change; however, the international agreement among nations reached with the Kyoto Protocol in December 1997 led some companies to gradually shift toward working to address the climate change problem (Hein & Jenkins, 2017). One such effort emerged in 2007 between a group of corporate CEOs and environmental NGOs calling itself the US Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), which campaigned for cap-and-trade (Pooley, 2010; Skocpol, 2013; Hein & Jenkins, 2017).

NGO-business partnerships as a strategy for positive social change has only intensified in the context of CSR and sustainability (e.g., Pedersen & Pedersen, 2013; Seitanidi & Crane, 2009; Shumate & O’Çonnor, 2010).¹ CSR defies a universal definition. Broadly, it entails “the responsibility of enterprises for their impact on society” (European Commission, 2020). The scope of responsibility can be multidimensional, “integrating social, environmental, ethical, consumer, and human rights concerns into their business strategy and operations” (European Commission, 2020). Being socially responsible is deemed to have mutually reinforcing benefits for organizations (e.g., positive reputation, stakeholder support, employee recruitment, and retention) and society, neatly packaged into the idea of “creating shared value” or CSV (Porter & Kramer, 2011; for a critique, see Crane, Palazzo, Spence, & Matten, 2014).

Despite the variations in terminology and scope of activities included in the realm of CSR, its uptake as a management practice in recent decades has been impressive. The professional services firm KPMG’s survey of CSR reporting (2017) finds that 93% of the Global250 and 75% of the N100 (top 100 companies by revenue) now report on CSR.² Forty percent of the Global250 also discuss the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) in their corporate responsibility reporting (KPMG, 2018).

Equally impressive has been the focus on NGO-business partners as a mechanism for implementing CSR goals (e.g., Seitanidi & Crane, 2009). The C&E Corporate-NGO Partnerships Barometer (2019) attests to this upward trend with 94% of corporate and 93% of NGO respondents (in the UK) seeing partnerships as more important over the next three years. Respondents in the Barometer also expect their respective organizations (67% corporate versus 83% NGO) to increase investments (e.g., time, money, and resources) to meet cross-sector partnership commitments. The focus on partnerships is further intensified in the SDGs—Goal 17 explicitly urges the importance of global partnerships for sustainable development, and a 50% increase in partnerships between companies and NGOs is projected in the attainment of the SDGs (Bond, 2019).

This chapter reviews contemporary literature in the fields of communication, public relations, and management on NGO-business partnerships as a social change strategy. Although we concentrate on articles that speak to NGO-business partnerships in the context of CSR, we also include research on cross-sector partnerships that are relevant to our scope. Our goal in this chapter is to outline some old and new conversations surrounding NGO-business partnerships in the context of CSR and sustainability, focusing more on previously identified gaps in research (e.g., strategic considerations for NGO-business partnerships such as partnership fit) and emergent topics (e.g., communication of partnerships; partnerships in a non-Western context) that collectively further nuance our understandings of such collaborations. For instance, research on the importance of communicating to the public NGO-business partnerships, communicating to mitigate public skepticism, and communicating partnerships on social media are all discussed. We also review topics like NGO-business partnerships in non-Western societies highlighting the importance of institutional considerations that both facilitate and constrain collaborations for social change. Additionally, we focus attention on the opportunities and challenges of NGO-business partnerships in addressing sustainability and oil spills in Nigeria.

NGO-Business Partnerships for Social Change

Propelled by the institutionalization of CSR, businesses are increasingly recognizing NGOs as key stakeholders in cross-sectoral initiatives for social change such as sustainable development. From designing and enforcing sustainability standards, CSR policies, and Codes of Conduct to community involvement initiatives, Nijhof, Bruijn, and Honders (2008) observe that “developing partnerships with societal actors is a sine qua non for companies engaging in CSR initiatives” (p. 153).

An early definition of social partnerships came from Waddock (1988), who emphatically distinguished partnership from corporate philanthropy noting that “throwing money or equipment at problems” does not constitute partnerships. So how are partnerships defined? According to Waddock (1988), social partnerships entail

[a] commitment by a corporation or a group of corporations to work with an organisation from a different economic sector (public or nonprofit). It involves a commitment of resources—time and effort—by individuals from all partner organisations. These individuals work co-operatively to solve problems that affect them all. The problem can be defined at least in part as a social issue; its solution will benefit all partners. Social partnership addresses issues that extend beyond organisational boundaries and traditional goals and lie within the traditional realm of public policy—that is, in the social arena. It requires active rather than passive involvement from all parties. Participants must make a resource commitment that is more than merely monetary.

(p. 18)

Building on Waddell (1999), Jonker and Nijhof (2006) outline the (tangible and intangible) resources and competencies each actor brings to a possible collaboration (see Table 1.1). As different types of agents of social change, both businesses and NGOs benefit considerably by working together, in part because they bring different resources and competencies to their partnerships. NGO-business partnerships are imperative when an NGO lacks the business reputation that a business could utilize in mobilizing change from within an industry when it comes to embracing more ecological practices, for instance. In the case of the Shell partnership with the National Coalition on Gas Flaring and Oil Spills in the Niger Delta (NACGOND), joint investigation visits (JIV) gained credibility from NACGOND’s participation due to their community reputation, and Shell passed on specialized industry knowledge in terms of JIV training (Idemudia, 2017). Other definitions of social partnerships borrow from the central principles outlined by Waddock (1988) and conceptualize cross-sector partnerships as relationships “formed to explicitly address social issues and causes that actively engage the partners on an ongoing basis” (Selsky & Parker, 2005, p. 850). These associations may be transactional and short-term to integrative to developmental and long-term (p. 851). The Partnering Initiatives (TPI) defines partnerships as “an ongoing working relationship between organisations: aligning their interests, sharing risk and combining their resources and competencies, to maximise the achievement of agreed partnership objectives, while delivering net value to each individual partner” (Bond, 2019, p. 2). Also labeled multi-stakeholder collaboratives, social service partnerships, cause-based partnerships, and business-community partnerships, business-NGO collaborations are regarded as vital to creating social change (for a detailed review, see Koschmann, Kuhn, & Pfarrer, 2012).

Table 1.1 Complementary resources and competencies of social change agents

	Business	NGOs
Resources	Financial assets Production systems Specialized industry knowledge Business reputation	Inspiration and volunteer assets Community networks Specialized community/issue knowledge Community reputation
Competencies	Efficiency-focused activity Profit generation Management skills Business networks Delivery of goods	Issue development Trust generation Support for vulnerable and marginalized issues Community organizing skills
Source: Adapted from Waddell, 1999; Jonker & Nijhof, 2006.

Notably, even when researchers acknowle...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• List of Contributors
• Acknowledgments
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Part I Communicating for Social Change
• Part II Case Studies of Social Change NGOs
• Index