The role of communication in building society identity and successful CASR: an internal stakeholder perspective

Ferguson, Lisa (2021) The role of communication in building society identity and successful CASR: an internal stakeholder perspective. Doctoral thesis, Northumbria University.

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Abstract

This research seeks to develop a deeper understanding of organisational identity through CSR as the basis for organisational-stakeholder exchanges in UK building societies. Whilst the extant literature focuses on the institutional perspective of CSR implications there is limited understanding of the associations between the organisation, CSR, and stakeholders. Specifically, this research explores the role of CSR in the identity of building societies, the influences that affect internal stakeholder associations with CSR, and further understanding of how and why internal stakeholders relate to these organisations. This research provides an empirical contribution to the extant literature and develops a deeper understanding of organisational identity and CSR, and the role of communication in the identification process in the mutual sector.

The Straussian approach to grounded theory has been adopted from an operational standpoint; allowing the researcher to recognise how the social circumstances couldaccount for the interactions, behaviours and experiences of the people being studied.Data was gathered through 37 interactions with 46 participants consisting of informal discussions and semi-structured focus groups and interviews with both internal and external stakeholders. These interactions provided a holistic view of the exchanges and experiences of stakeholders, CSR, and organisational identity, and provide indepth understanding of the role of CSR in building society identity in order to support practice and policy development. The protocol outlined by Strauss and Corbin (1990) was selected due to its structured approach which also enabled the researcher to review relevant academic discourse prior to field entry; and to broader comprehension rather than limit understanding of the phenomena to support the researcher in their understanding and analysis of the data, thus developing a legitimate and justified theory.

Through this exploration of stakeholder thought and experience, the research findings show how the concepts of history, identity, the media, autonomy, and advocacy significantly contribute towards stakeholder-organisational exchanges and building society identity. Tentatively, with little work dedicated to the understanding of the associations between CSR, the stakeholder and media evolution, the first and perhaps most significant contribution is presenting and unpacking of the interaction between the concepts of social mobility, identity, and communication mechanisms, specifically new media. This is valuable for both practice and policy making as the building society sector plays a significant role to facilitate economic stability as well.as impacting the social environment of stakeholders, through it is lending activities.

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