Abstract
Since March 2020 when WHO declared the COVID-19 coronavirus a global pandemic, the world has confronted a crisis of shuttered businesses, empty schools, and lockdowns. Measures taken to combat the virus affected the global economy and created the worst job crises in the U.S. since the Depression. Business leaders have been in the spotlight during the pandemic. They have confronted issues such as requiring testing, vaccines, and masks, along with demands for more transparency from employees. This study is centered on the public relations field of internal communication and its practices of corporate social responsibility (CSR). It explores employers’ responses in navigating the crisis with respect to their key stakeholders: employees. Guided by stakeholder theory and corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature, this study uses discourse and rhetorical analyses of mediated communication and CSR reports from the top 30 “Best Corporate Citizens” in the United States. This study explicates findings of the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer, which found that business “is not only the most trusted institution among the four studied (business, media, government, NGOs), but it is also the only trusted institution with a 61 percent trust level globally…” It also provides evidence of how CSR activity can mitigate reputation damage from disasters, informing pathways for future research on CSR engagement and communications.
Presenters
Lawrence ParnellAssociate Professor, College of Professional Studies, George Washington University, Virginia, United States Janis Teruggi Page
Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, University of Illinois at Chicago, Illinois, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Public Relations, Corporate Social Responsibility, Employee Communication, Pandemic
