Guanxi and legitimacy: understanding corporate social responsibility and public relations in China and the U.S.

Simple item page
dc.contributorTang, Lu
dc.contributorKi, Eyun-Jung
dc.contributor.advisorLamme, Margot Opdycke
dc.contributor.authorMorrow, Sarah Ashton
dc.contributor.otherUniversity of Alabama Tuscaloosa
dc.date.accessioned2017-03-01T17:11:14Z
dc.date.available2017-03-01T17:11:14Z
dc.date.issued2014
dc.descriptionElectronic Thesis or Dissertationen_US
dc.description.abstractThis study provides a cross-cultural comparison of public relations practitioners as the facilitators of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives in China and in the U.S. A qualitative investigation was conducted employing grounded theory and in-depth interviews with 11 participants, incorporating representatives from top U.S. and China public relations firms, including five top ten international public relations firms. The research found that guanxi (business relationships) is a major cultural influence on the institutionalization of CSR in China, whereas legitimacy, and a need to develop more sophisticated business strategy and protect brand image, has driven CSR development at an increased rate in the West. The results build on a theoretical understanding of CSR as having an economic, legal, ethical, and/or discretionary rationale (Carroll, 1979), and call for a new theoretical understanding that focuses more on the benefit of CSR to society and its integration with business strategy. The study validates the role of public relations practitioners as the facilitators of CSR. Finally, the findings indicate that CSR is not paradigmatic by region so much as by business experience. That is, an overarching cross-cultural CSR paradigm emerged in this study that correlated effective CSR programs with levels of experience in running a business in the free-enterprise system. This study revealed a pattern of global activation that starts by uniting an organization around a similar issue or interest, activating stakeholders at the local level and adjusting for community-specific and culturally specific need, and laddering local effects back up to a greater global awareness and impact (Figure 1.1).en_US
dc.format.extent99 p.
dc.format.mediumelectronic
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.otheru0015_0000001_0001704
dc.identifier.otherMorrow_alatus_0004M_12155
dc.identifier.urihttps://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/2154
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Alabama Libraries
dc.relation.hasversionborn digital
dc.relation.ispartofThe University of Alabama Electronic Theses and Dissertations
dc.relation.ispartofThe University of Alabama Libraries Digital Collections
dc.rightsAll rights reserved by the author unless otherwise indicated.en_US
dc.subjectCommunication
dc.subjectMass communication
dc.titleGuanxi and legitimacy: understanding corporate social responsibility and public relations in China and the U.S.en_US
dc.typethesis
dc.typetext
etdms.degree.departmentUniversity of Alabama. Department of Advertising and Public Relations
etdms.degree.disciplineAdvertising Public Relations
etdms.degree.grantorThe University of Alabama
etdms.degree.levelmaster's
etdms.degree.nameM.A.

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
file_1.pdf
Size:
1.88 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download

Collections

Theses and Dissertations
Theses and Dissertations - Department of Advertising and Public Relations