Post on 09-Apr-2018
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The importance of organizational communication to the spread and understanding of
sustainability concept
Raquel Evangelista Lobo and Renata Suely de Freitas
PhD Students - University of Minho
Abstract
Based on a theoretical perspective of communication and organizational culture of authors
like Putnam (2004), Eisenberg (1997) and Elkington (1992), this paper aims to analyze the
production of organizational communication from its initiatives about sustainability. In order to do
so, was adopted a concept recognized by the World Commission on Environment and Development,
in 1987, which understand sustainability as a way of development that "meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".
The work starts from theoretical concepts on themes that direct organizational
communication and that extends to a comparative case study of a group of Portuguese companies in
the food business. In this sense the applied methodology is based on the collection of official data
with this group of companies, as well as describing and interpreting (1) the means of
communication and the strategies chosen to communicate about sustainability with their target
audience, (2) the evaluation system adopted by these companies to verify the efficiency of these
means, (3) the entrepreneurial vision about the importance of the means of communication in the
context of sustainability.
It intends to verify if these Portuguese companies know how to explore the communicative
potential of these means, if they have difficulties in systematically evaluating the efficiency of the
communication process and, finally, if there is an awareness of the importance of an integrated
organizational communication and the differential of sustainability as a competitive advantage, and
consequently as a communication strategy. The objectives of the paper are to join classical and
modern concepts of organizational communication and investigate how information onsustainability is used with the following stakeholders: employees, shareholders and consumers.
It is possible to state that connections between organizational communication and
sustainability constitute a theme of interest to the academic community and to civil society. The
changes required to the social context in order for a practical application of the concept of
sustainability belongs to a cultural order, of values and habits, of practices and symbolic
representation. As communication is the key factor in the constitution of a meaning and the
construction and deconstruction of society and its social movements it is important to have a
theoretical discussion of the theme.
Key-words: organizational communication, sustainability, competitive advantage
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Introduction
The main theme of this article is Organzational Communication within Sustainability
context. The purpose is to investigate how the sustainability issue is developed by organizations and
how it is transmitted to stakeholders: employees, shareholders and customers. The accessibility to
their yearly sustainability reports and the possibility of granting interviews and clarify possible
questions lead us to choose the following organizations most active in the Portuguese food market:
Danone, Delta Cafs, Nestle Portugal, and Sumolis Lactogal. Another reason for this choice was the
easy access to their annual sustainability reports and the opportunities we had to interview
managers.
We questioned which means of communication those Portuguese companies have been
using to communicate their actions about sustainability. To answer those questions we choose aqualitative methodology composed by questionnaires and interviews. Our intention was to verify if
companies privilege some means of communication which are considered more efficient and also if
there is any type of relationship between the financial growth and that communication directed to
Sustainability.
There has been some discussion in the academic and professional fields related to
Organizational Communication about how companies can act in a socially and environmentally
responsible manner. By having posture and activities related to Sustainability, companies can
contribute to the well-being while their economic growth is stimulated. Explain its position
committed to Sustainability to internal and external customers make companies values and their
organizational culture be strengthened.
From this perspective, this work will begin by reflecting on the evolution of Organizational
Communication concept and its importance to the Communication Sciences field. Then we will
conduct presentations about Sustainability and its reporting, which is our main research topic in this
article. To complement the theory with empirical analysis, we will conduct a case study that
involves Portuguese organizations that invest in Sustainability. In this study, and for conceptual
purposes, it is understood that the yearly sustainability reports are a set of accounting statements
with economic and financial character, which main aim is to bring to the attention of society as
much information as possible about the company's commitment to Sustainability, in other words, it
is a company's accountability to society.
Our main goal is to bring results about companies that invest in sustainability in Portugal
and contribute with relevant information to the food market and for scientific research in the area of
Organizational Communication and Sustainability.
Organizational Communication
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In the last decades, organizations have taken positions of more visible interaction with
contemporary society, and its communicational methodology has advanced from a technique
function to a strategic role in the corporate reality. To define the scope of Organizational
Communication coverage and reflect about its daily social influence have been the work of
professionals related to scientific research and the labor market area. Thus, the best way to
understand scientific thinking around Organizational Communication is to identify which
theoretical thoughts contributed to its current understanding and emphasized its importance to the
academic community.
Currently, the Organizational Communication emerged as an interdisciplinary subject which
reviews the concepts of Sociology, Management and Marketing, Psychology and Philosophy,
among others, and establishes itself as an independent discipline. This autonomy is being made
possible through continuous discussions and researches published in the area, and thanks toprofessionals who are dedicated to the subject, helping Organizational Communication to stand out
within the large field of Communication Sciences. To better understand the events that contributed
to the Organizational Communication concepts growth, it is necessary an overview of theoretical
developments.
The first Organizational Communication studies published were developed in the United
States in the 40s, during the evolution of the disciplines Business Discourse and Industrial
Communication (unfolding since 1930) and under the influence of Mass Communication Research.
Many of the north-american ideas are rooted in functionalist and objective strands that give more
emphasis to the processes of the internal organizational environment, although recently there has
been produced works which consider the importance of external phenomena and critical and
interpretative studies.
To illustrate the north-American theoretical line of thinking will be exposed the views of
Kreps (1900), Eisenberg and Goodall (1997), Daniels, Skiper and Papa (1997) and Putnam, Phillips
and Chapman (2004). Kreps (1900) brings to academic field the discussion about the importance of
internal messages of Organizational Communication those which inform goals, objectives, tasks
and help the operational climate of the organization. The same author is concerned with the fact that
internal messages are considered the main sources of information for members involved with it.
The group of researchers Eisenberg and Goodall (1997) propose a more complex set of
models for Organizational Communication, according to the nature of information processes. The
model of information transmission, for example, explains the process of linear sender and receiver
of the message, where the receiver is passive and receives information and organizational meanings
of the issuer. The transactional process establishes that the receiver can construct meanings when
information is received. The model of control strategy is precisely to control the organizational
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environment, the model of balance between creativity and constraint / coercion / subject believes
the Organizational Communication can mediate tensions, balancing creativity with responsibility.
Finally, the model of space for dialogue produces a hopeful balance in the communication process,
giving voice to all members of the organization.
Other models were proposed by Daniels, Skiper and Papa (1997), who believe that the
complexity of Organizational Communication can be explained in three ways: (1) traditional, which
considers the communication as machine or as dynamic system; (2) interpretive model, which sees
the organizational reality as social construction and the (3) critical model, that serves the interests
from administrative hierarchy and also is an instrument of oppression.
Lastly, we highlight Putnam, Phillips and Chapman (2004) for their most recent and
comprehensive studies on Organizational Communication. Their models of explanation are based
on the metaphors "conduct", "lens", "link", "performance", "symbol", "voice" and "discourse" toarrange lines of thoughts about the communication processes in organizations, as shown in table:
PUTNAM, PHILLIPS AND CHAPMAN VIEW
Fig.1 summary-table of Organizational Communication approach, according to Putnam, Phillips e Chapman (2004)
The metaphorical model of behavior considers communication as a transmitter of
information, like a simplified channel or container. In the model of the lens, the organization filters
the communication, monitor the environment and create network connections. On the other hand,
the link model conceives communication as a link that connects individuals and also it would create
networks of contacts. The performance model encourages social interaction by communication;
symbol model promotes the interpretation of literary forms through communication. Regarding the
voice model, it is possible to say that it considers communication as the expression and organization
would be something like a chorus of voices. Finally, the discourse model proposes that
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communication is a conversation among internal and external members. It is possible to realize that
these models, whose names are metaphorical, are not mutually exclusive applications and can be
crossed to achieve organizational objectives.
In Canada, the Montreal School of Communication stands out with its interpretive theories
under the influence of Garfinkel, Goffman, Berger and Luckmann. The biggest highlight is James
Taylor (2008), which argues that communication and organization are equivalent, without
hierarchies of power, and that the conversation allows communication experiences to have a
meaning. Thus, organization would be self-productive and communication would happen naturally
inside of it, although construction of meaning depends on the vision of the observer.
In addition to the north-american researches on Organizational Communication, should also
be noted that some reflective scientific productions that contributed to the understanding of the
communication process in organizations were developed in Europe. These works have beenproduced by researchers in Germany, Belgium, Holland, France, and more recently, Spain and
Portugal. In general, the theoretical thinking about Organizational Communication in Europe is
more analytical and more flexible with the information hierarchy than studies produced in the
United States. The Critical Theory from Frankfurt School, for example, emphasis on
communication with the external environment, even to criticize this communication as a negative
result of the capitalist system, since after World War IImany companies were affected by the model
of rational management from the United States.
In France, the scientific thought of Humanities Sciences has been marked for decades by the
plurality, diversity and critical skepticism, influenced by Pierre Bourdieu, Edgar Morin, Jean
Baudrillard and Dominique Wolton. In the Iberian region, questions of identity and corporate image
stand out. These are studied topics for empirical application in organizations in order to help them
to consolidate their position in the market they act. In Spain, with recently highlighted studies, it is
possible to find a more comprehensive and modern view of Organizational Communication, which
is considered a strategy of action and a dynamic activity. Portugal is still firming itself in the
production of researches, with the creation of studying groups at universities and conferences.
There is still the Latin American School of conceptual thinking of Organizational
Communication, with emphasis on Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia and Chile. Recent
scientific research developed and edited books give a current emphasis on more pragmatic than
theorical view. Most of it receive influences from Marketing and some organizational models from
the United States, however also goes for a critical and interpretive understanding arising from
European studies. In Brazil, the highlight is Margarida Kunsch, who has published researches about
the history of Organizational Communication in that country.
Once the theoretical perspectives and networks of the ideas that built the foundation for a
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school of thought on Organizational Communication were exposed here, it becomes necessary a
presentation on sustainability, a concept that has been used in the communication process for some
organizations leaders in the contemporary market and the theme that we intend to investigate
empirically in the Portuguese organizational reality.
Sustainability concepts evolution and models
Sustainability is a broad concept with many meanings and synonyms: corporate social
responsibility, corporate citizenship or corporate philanthropy, social marketing, social activism and
business. Diverse and numerous terms refer to the set of actions taken by companies related to
society and that exceed the sphere of its immediate and direct economic activity. Therefore it
becomes important to clarify this concept, so we can define the most appropriate form to a common
horizon of understanding about the references mentioned throughout this study.
According to Ioschpe (2008: 137), the term Sustainable Development:
arises from the environmental debate of the 60s and 70s decades and has been used to refer to the
social problems of human developmental efforts in the long term. The idea that embases it is that the
use of resources made today should not reduce real earnings in the future. Thus, the development is
sustainable if it can bring to future generations a development level per capita equal to or higher than
that achieved by the present generation.
Initially, the concept of sustainability was linked to the issue of environmental preservation.
A company was environmentally sustainable, if it practiced actions to develop and protect the
environment. In this case "was basically synonymous with sustainable environment" (Neto and
Froes, 2004: 180.) Therefore, it was a dimension of environmental management and not social.
The idea of sustainability and eco-development was expressed and consolidated by Ignacy
Sachs, chief of staff of the Secretariat General of the United Nations Organization,during the
preparations for the Stockholm Conference in 1972. According to Hiom, eco-development would be
"the socially desirable development, economically viable and environmentally prudent" (Sachs,
1986: 113). In the 90s, the term sustainable development has gained notoriety, instead of eco-
development, although this is also still used.
However, this paradigm has changed. According to Neto and Froes (2004: 182) was:
The emergence of social equity as a central issue. It entered the agenda, influenced by the notion
that sustainable development required the harmonization of three elements: environmental
protection, economic growth and social equity.
Under this new model, a sustainable company is the one that operates in three dimensions:
environmental protection, supporting and fostering economic development, whether local, regional
or global, and encouragement and assurance of social equity. Therefore, companies must adopt and
improve their management mechanisms.
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The report State of the World 2004, held by the Worldwatch Institute 1, emphasizes in an
appropriate manner the need for a sustainable future, when it says in its submission that:
It is imperative to improve the management and direction of natural and environmental
resources. Equally important is to recognize that reducing environmental degradation,
protecting human health, makes the land more productive and improves several other
elements of economic and social progress (Iglesias, 2004: 34).
The classic definition of sustainability is the one published in the report Our Common
Future, prepared by the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987, which says:
"Sustainable development is the one that meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs (CMMAD, 1987: 213).
For Buarque (1996: 56), this formulation is "a response to problems and social inequalities
that compromise the satisfaction of the needs of a significant portion of world population." It is also
a response to the process of environmental degradation, generated by the dominant style ofeconomic growth, which tends to limit the opportunities of future generations.
Currently, it is possible to identify different approaches to the concept of sustainability
developed from the 90s decade, for example, The Natural Step (2000), Natural Capitalism (Hawken
et al, 1999), Theory of Capital (Porritt, 2001; and Dyllick Hockerts, 2002) and Triple Bottom Line
(Elkington Jhon, 1998). This last model is one of the most popular and has been subject to constant
improvements since 1998, when it was first proposed. The Triple Bottom Line emphasizes two
issues: the integration between the economic, social and environmental issues, and integration
between the views of short and long term. On the first one, Elkington argues that the idea of
economic sustainability as an isolated condition is not enough for the overall sustainability of a
company. This reductionist view satisfies only the design of shorter-term concept. A long-term
vision requires an interconnected system of multiple resonances, confirming the complexity of its
approach. Regarding the issue of views in the short and long term, the author believes that the greed
for immediate profit is quite opposite to sustainability, which requires the company to meet the
needs of current and future generations without loss of any kind.
TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE VIEW
1 Independent research organization about sustainable development, funded on 1974 in the USA.
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Fig.2 Sustainability concept, according to Eklington,J (2006).
How to communicate Sustainability?
Sustainability generates challenging changes in Organizational Communication. There is an
agreement that actions, projects and programs in this area should be reinforced by strategies of
communication, since it is through them that companies present themselves to all stakeholders. For
that to happen it is important to create a specific placement related to each one of its audiences. To
Ries and Trout (1997: 23), positioning is:
an organized system that provides a window into the mind. This system is based on the
principle that communication can only occur at the right time and in certain
circumstances. And that is what socially responsible companies seek: a place in the lifeand mind of its publics, in which they are remembered as companies engaged in the social
and environmental issues.
Insofar as planning and execution of actions aimed at the incorporation of the
sustainability`s concept in organizations, new business relationships and positions are established
with the various stakeholders. It is essential to highlight the work of communication professionals
in this new scenario of concern with social, environmental and ethical issues. Communicators have
a strategic role within companies, ranging from planning and dissemination of social actions to the
establishment of ethical standards in dealings with the public.
There is a repositioning of identities, a reassessment of values and subjectivity, while
organizational communication is applied in the context of sustainability. To promote dialogue with
different social factors that make up its audience, organizations that adopt sustainable management
models are organized in an informational network structure - which may be a key to explain its
spread so quickly in today's networked society. Actors from different social positions and policies
are interacting within this context.
To track the changes in the capitalist way of production, organizations (especially private
equity firms) make concrete and symbolic acts, with emphasis on social development. That is why
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sustainability announces itself as a social, economic, political, but primarily communicational
phenomenon. By symbolically linking the environment around it, communication is legitimized as
an articulator power beyond its traditional position of instrumental and emerges as a central
dimension of practice.
By admitting the centrality of Organizational Communication to incorporate the concept of
sustainability, immediately we are faced with some challenges in the path in the search of an
effective communication. The first would be to keep a constant monitoring and to promote social
audits to evaluate scenarios, listen to public opinion and understand the demands and expectations
of the public. It is through a set of well-planned and systematic evaluations that managers can
achieve results on the effectiveness of the media used or how messages are sent to different
stakeholders, for example.
Another challenge that deserves to be highlighted is the adoption of communication policiesthat are marked by ethics and transparency in their communicative actions. Typically, the
stakeholders have different notions of what is an ethical behavior. Therefore, it is essential that
organizations clarify what are their ethical standards and communicate it as transparent as possible
to its various publics. The sustainability reporting includes in itself the management of information
flow internally and externally in a clear and objective way, independent of the theme or the
consequences it might generate.
Once those challenges are overcome, it is assumed that organizations reach a certain level of
efficiency and begin to realize that sustainability reporting, through organizational media and plans,
becomes a competitive advantage. It is possible to identify three distinct moments in which this
relationship becomes more evident. The first is when communication takes scientific basis for
strategic planning, it means, the nature of strategy is reinforced by the results of research, studies
and reports done by specialists. The second time is when the organizational discourse demonstrates
a public commitment to corporate citizenship and encourages respect for individual rights and
social issues. The third would be when there is an aggregation of real value to organizations and to
societys sustainability. In these three situations, the Organizational Communication becomes more
valuable, either financially or in recognition by customers, or in setting their mark, or in terms of
awards.
Sustainability constantly uses Organizational Communication strategies and collaborates to
the construction of a positive organizational image. It focuses on the internal and external
communications actions and has generated significant returns, both in integration and employee
motivation or increase in sales volume. According to Bueno (2003: 119):
Business communication is a neuralgic component of the whole management processfocused on social responsibility. She summarizes and explains the organization's
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commitment to society and stakeholders adds fundamental value to the business and
contributes decisively to the formation of a good public image.
To investigate empirically how communication about sustainability is developed in a sample
of organizations from the Portuguese market, it follows the research methodology and results of the
case study.
Methodology
To answer the questions initially proposed (how organizations treat the concept of
sustainability in everyday business), sequential methods were used to define the universe of the
sample, the instrument of data collection, field research, analysis and interpretation of results. It
began with an exploratory, also called desk research, which has informality and creativity as main
characteristics and in which a first contact situation to be searched is obtained. We also used the
descriptive method of research called ad-hoc, which seeks to describe situations in which
sustainability practices occur.
Then the techniques of content analysis of interviews and documents were selected:
qualitative research, survey and questionnaire, in the quantitative side. The instruments used were
questionnaire arrays and a question guide for interviews, which was specially designed for this
investigation.
At first, the research strategy consisted in making a judicious survey about the number of
companies which are operating in the Portuguese market in order to identify only those that develop
some kind of social action in the country. They universe of this survey was composed by 110
companies, which are associated to BCSD. The next step was the formation of the survey sample in
order to make the group of companies more consistent with the proposed analysis.
We adopted three criteria for the companies selection. The first is the daily presence in
society. We tried to study market segments that are recognized by the public and whose products or
services are used every day. The second criterion is the level of environmental impact generated
from the production and sale of products. And finally, the third condition is the ease ofcommunication with managers and directors. After applying the exclusion criteria, ten companies
linked to food businesses were selected to form the sample of this research: Danone, Delta Cafs,
Nestle Portugal, and Sumolis Lactogal.
Questionnaires were given to these five companies and some interviews were conducted
with the directors of Sair da Casca and with the secretary general of BCSD Portugal 2. The data
presented below arise as a result of questionnaires and interviews, information gathered from
company websites and sustainability reports published in 2007, which data refer the performance of
those companies during the fiscal year of 2006. In general, it is possible to say that the results are
2 Businesses Council for Sustainable Development.
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very similar, although some companies have different strategic directions.
Results discussions
In order to answer the hypotheses initially proposed here, we chose to address the issue of
media used according to three important stakeholders for business: customers, employees and
shareholders. When asked about what would be the most appropriate means of contact for each
public, interviewers had 15 means of communication as answers options. The results indicated
were:
WAYS OF COMMUNICATION AND ITS EFFICIENCY
Media Stakeholders Efficiency (%)
Mail Customers 60.0%
E-mail Customers Employees Shareholders 80.0%
Intranet Employees Shareholders 85.0%Site Customers Employees Shareholders 90.0%
Warning tables Employees Shareholders 80.0%
Informatives Employees Shareholders 80.0%
Internal magazines and
newspapers Employees Shareholders 90.0%
Sustainability Reports Employees Shareholders 65.0%
Meetings in company Employees Shareholders 95.0%
Audio and visual means Employees 50.0%
Itsown Telephonic line Customers 80.0%
Institutional Publicity
in the media Customers 75.0%
Product Pack Customers 50.0%
Services Points Customers 80.0%
Promotional Actions Customers 90.0%
Fig.3 Means of organizational communication used in Portuguese companies in the food market and its efficiency.
The result indicates that only e-mail and websites were reported as efficient means of
communication for all the three stakeholders. For customers, because it is an external audience,
there is a predominant use of resources outside the environment of the company itself, such as
telephone line and institutional advertising in the media. In the case of employees and shareholders,
they emphasized the domestic media, such as intranet and meetings in the company.
Regarding the efficiency of each mean of communication, results show that website, internal
magazines and newspapers, meetings in company and promotional actions are considered the most
efficient by directors and managers. On the other hand, audio and visual means and products wraps
are considered the less efficient. When requested, companies answered that television and radio are
means with a low level of attraction, because messages are often sent during lunch time or when
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employees are leaving their work and in these occasions they don not give so much attention to
companys message.
It is known that the most appropriate choice of media depends on the size of business and
on the industry where the company operates. The issue of transparency in the act of communication
and the use of various meansfor this are mentioned clearly in the sustainability reports from our
sample. Nestl's concern with transparent communication, for example, is represented in its
sustainability report with a complete mapping of stakeholders and the detail of each media
involved.
Nestl is committed to maintaining an open dialogue with all interested parties
communicating through wide and varied channels of communication. This involvement
allows us to identify the main expectations of stakeholders and outline future trends interms of risks and opportunities (Nestl Portugal, 2007: 35).
In relation to the media used only with customers, institutional advertising in the media and
service points stand out. The first causes a direct impact and, unlike advertising campaigns that or
advertise news products or try to convince consumers to buy them or to remain faithful to certains
brands, the use of institutional advertising refers only to the promotion of sustainability actions or
the reassertion of company's commitment with the subject.
Have the product packaging as a means of communication, values, assume different
functions each day. Initially, they were created to protect and transport products, but now
incorporate information of much importance as, for example, seals of quality, the validity of the
product, its manufacturing date, nutritional composition, among other topics of entertainment, like
recipes.
When the target audience is internal, including employees and shareholders, the media
shown in this study remained the same: e-mail, intranet, website, bulletin board, newsletters,
newspapers and magazines internal, periodic meetings at the company and themselves sustainability
reports, it means, we could divided them into online, printed and presence medias.
Print media are frequently used by business surveys, which in fact confirms the trendsshown in other studies on internal communication. The move is mostly used in businesses with
fewer than 1500 employees. Companies in higher-dimensional, newspapers, magazines and
sustainability reports are more present. The use of media has proved to be negligible compared to
the written media. Your target audience is composed primarily of officials who have no permanent
presence on the company premises and are not used to read internal newsletters.
According to the Draft Corporate Social Responsibility, organized by the Ministry of Labour
and Social Solidarity of the Portuguese government in partnership with Equal, which is co-financed
by European Social Fund (ESF): producing publications and documents containing the guidelines
of the organization is indispensable in communicating CSR practices internally. Thus, the
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organization can create posters and banners for the dissemination of initiatives, periodically prepare
policy documents such as memorandum and circulars, to newsletters and / or brochures on the
activities of internal organization (Oeiras Pro, 2008: 15).
A good example of the union of two media (postal and internal newspaper) is given by the
Group Sumol. The company publishes the quarterly internal journal "consumption", which aims to
inform and educate, giving an account of the actions developed by its brands, the evolution of
business and financial results achieved and propagating the organizational culture of the Group
Sumol. The journal is sent directly to the residence of each employee and their production relies on
an editorial board.
Another important finding is that food companies have reviewed and developed intranet
systems and specific areas to each level of employees and shareholders. The use of email and the
site itself is also done on a large scale by all companies. The difference between the use of printedand online has been greater in these firms, which highlights the importance of digital media today.
Nestle, Danone and Delta mentioned the use of interactive tools like blogs and portals relationship
as possible means of communication, especially with the younger audience. The food businesses
surveyed also presented financial growth over this period, as shown below:
FINANCIAL GROWTH
Fig.4 Graphic of financial growth in the fiscal year of 2006.
Another feature that can be noted by investigating Organizational Communication is that
some companies are already investing in the creation of Corporate Social Responsibility
Departments. According to the Green Paper (published by the Council of Europe in 2001, it is
considered a guide to organizations which want to understand and put in practice the corporate
social responsibility concept), there is a direct link between sustainability and profitability:
faced with the challenges of a changing environment in the context of globalization and in
particular the internal market, the companies themselves are becoming aware that their social
Lactog
al
Delta
Sumol
Dano
ne
Nestl
0.0%
1.0%
2.0%
3.0%
4.0%
5.0%
6.0%
7.0%
8.0% 7.4%
6.2%
5.0% 4.8%
3.7%
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responsibility is likely to be of a direct economic value. (...) The experience with investment in
technologies and environmentally responsible business practices suggests that go beyond mere
compliance with the law and could increase the competitiveness of the company (Green, 2001: 3).
The academic field has not stipulated one single quantitative model which enables us to
make a relation between Sustainability and financial performance of companies. However, recent
researches indicate that it is a good opportunity for growth, especially in contexts of recession. In
2008, the IBM Institute for Business Value conducted the study "Achieving Sustainable Growth
Through Corporate Social Responsibility"3. Its findings reinforce the hypothesis that Sustainability
contributes to increase profitability: 68% of respondents emphasize the generation of revenue
through initiatives, 65% acknowledge that they can have a positive financial impact on their results
and 54% believe they offer a competitive advantage.
Among the companies analyzed in this article, follows the result about the presence of a
Sustainability Department and the first year when their sustainability report published:
SUSTAINABILITY DEPARTAMENTS AND REPORTS
Companies Has specific department? Year of the first report
Danone Sim 2004
Delta Sim 2003
Lactogal No 2007
Nestl Sim 2003
Sumol No 2006
Fig. 5 Table of departments and reports about sustainability.
The organizational structure of the Delta can be considered a good example in terms of
sustainability. The company created the CODES - Council for Sustainable Development - that is in
fact the agency responsible for compilation and dissemination of social responsibility strategy of
Nabeiro Group. Belong to this specific department representatives from all areas of the
organization, including employees, and the areas of Research, Environment Control, Finance,
Quality, Food Safety, Hygiene Health and Safety, Human Resources, Marketing, Management and
Social Action.
Even in companies where there is a department of sustainability "formalized," can be seen
the need to involve other sectors of the company's deployment and implementation of sustainability
activities. Almost always there is a professional communication and marketing to coordinate the
projects, but relies on the constant help of lawyers and human resource directors. The first usually
3The institute interviewed directors of strategy at 250 companies from the banking, petrochemical, consumer goods, electronics,
energy and utilities, retail and automotive industries. Of the participants, 30% are located in North America, 30% in Asia Pacific,20% in Western Europe, 7% in Eastern Europe, Latin America 6% and 4% in the Middle East and Africa.
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deal with legal issues, analyzing the law and whether or not giving its approval for the
implementation of actions. The second, provides information, participates in the formulation of
activities and is also responsible for the communication of the plans aimed among employees and
shareholders.
For the direction of the consulting firm Sair da Casca:sustainability strategies and communication can be assembled by someone from the department of
communication or sustainability (if any) and then have to be shared with all departmental
directorates. Obviously, there must be a leader, an organizer who, preferably, have a good
understanding of what sustainability is and will coordinate communication between the parties
involved and responsible.
For the realization of these reports, two interesting features can be highlighted. The first is
that only from 2001, the year dedicated to volunteering, business really began to devote himself to
preparing these documents. The second characteristic is the importance given to the mapping of the
various stakeholders and their expectations for the company, and they met or not.
Final Thoughts
The theories reviewed in this paper exposed the evolution of the concept of Organizational
Communication and its affirmation as a discipline in academia. We emphasize the importance of
activities related to sustainability in companies, so it becomes possible to set up a social and
environmental consciousness. The creation of departments of corporate social responsibility
demonstrates that Portuguese companies already examined are reorganizing to act ethically and
with respect to society, thinking about the sustainable future of coming generations.
One of the challenges for Organizational Communication about sustainability is the search
for creative and innovative solutions for a proactive communication. The incorporation of values
and practices that make up the concept of sustainability is not simple, because not all audiences
have the same level of education and culture. Every process of change involves resistance,
transformation and learning. Therefore, the use of creative means, which hold the attention of
stakeholders, as well as the renewal of these resources, becomes essential in the search for effective
communication.
The centrality of communication in sustainable management does not simply mean that this
movement is characterized by intense use of communication tools, or it becomes an exaggerated
effort to build corporate image or reputation, although, in many cases, it is just how events take
place. The communication of sustainability preserves of centrality, because rearticulates symbolic
meanings, forming a favorable network performance, establishing a link between business and
social enterprise
As seen, the firms surveyed indicated using all the means suggested for communicating
sustainability: mail, email, intranet, website, bulletin board, newsletters, internal newspaper and
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magazine, sustainability reports, company meetings, audiovisual means, own telephone line,
institutional advertising in the media, product packaging, service centers and promotional activities.
The sites and emails were the means which were repeated for all recipients: customers, employees
and shareholders
The results of our empirical research pointed to the confirmation of the hypothesis on
companies investing in sustainability and publicize those actions with stakeholders. Media Intranet,
email, newsletter were indicated as the most widely used strategy in organizational communication.
Although the companies believe that all means are efficient, point to the site, internal newspapers
and magazines, company meetings and promotional activities as the most profitable.
In the questionnaires it was possible to verify that the Portuguese market companies usually
do not examine systematically the evaluation of the communication of sustainability activities to
employees, shareholders and consumers. However, companies recognize the importance ofinvesting in activities relating to social responsibility and realize that this may be an important
competitive advantage.
It was noted that the companies provided financial growth during the period, although this
does not necessarily indicate that the communication on sustainability has been the reason for this
growth. By showing that Portuguese companies have invested in corporate social responsibility and
provide financial growth, it is hoped that this example will be illustrative for other areas of the
market to invest in sustainability.
Subsequent researches could investigate the impact of these messages among the
stakeholders of companies. A reception study could investigate whether the internal and external
customers choose companies on account of their actions sustainable. Providence will also extend
this study to other areas than the grocery. It follows, then, that effective communication about the
sustainability employed by the organization can become a differential in the competitive market.
When the organizational discourse demonstrates a commitment to society, corporate citizenship is
encouraged and every member of society is put in the role of sustainability.