The strategic value of corporate social responsibility : a relationship management framework for public relations practice

This paper places corporate social responsibility in the context of the resource-based view of the firm, and then uses relationship management to explain the growing involvement of business in corporate social responsibility activities. It argues that the value of the public relations function to the enterprise is its capacity to aid relationship management, but at a level linked to corporate strategy rather than the communications-output perspective common to much public relations practice. In doing so, the paper views corporate social responsibility as a facilitator of relationship management, and thus building support networks for the organisation, instead of viewing corporate social responsibility as a set of activities that act as vehicles for building organisational legitimacy through the management of perceptions. Such a perspective adds to the growing focus in the public relations literature on the role of relationship management as a central rationale. It uses a case study approach to apply the concept to a single multinational firm in the building and construction industry. The paper identifies a series of specific public relations practices within CSR programs that are used to manage relationships. As a result, these relationships are not easily reproduced by other organisations.