Is a corporate social responsability a public relations invention in mobile communication?

Abstract

There is currently no consensually framed definition of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which tends to change according to time and culture. Besides, it can be stated that firms, while engaging in economic activities in order to make a profit, aim to meet public demand. Having priorly an altruistic and paternalistic appearance, CSR today encompasses diverse areas such as the environment, human and workers’ rights, work ethics and corporate management along with different actors such as capital, state and public. While corporations act with the goal of social responsibility, developing and implementing various social projects to benefit not only their share holders but also public stakeholders, they are mostly perceived to engage in “window dressing”, or making a “PR exercise”. As Peter Frankental states, those corporations that usually deny and do not accept responsibility for the damage they cause during their operations, end up being a part of crisis management, news management and public relations. The aim of this study is to analyze the social responsibility projects of the firms operating in the mobile communications sector in Turkey and to put forward within the criteria set by Peter Frankental if the CSR realized in this sector is a PR invention.