Manifestations of corporate social responsibility as sensemaking and sensegiving in a hydrocarbon industry

• Published date: 01 June 2021
• Author: Nathan Andrews
• Date: 01 June 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/basr.12236

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Manifestations of corporate social responsibility

as sensemaking and sensegiving in a

hydrocarbon industry

Nathan Andrews

Department of Global and International Studies, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, Canada

Correspondence

Nathan Andrews, PhD, Department of

Global and International Studies,

University of Northern British Columbia,

3333 University Way, Prince George, BC

V2N 4Z9, Canada.

Email: nathan.andrews@unbc.ca

Abstract

There is a large body of literature that examines

different dimensions of corporate social responsibility

(CSR) in Africa, with many focusing on the false

promises of these corporate initiatives. Contrary to

simplistic claims of CSR being merely window-dressing,

however, this paper reveals that although several

rhetorical proclamations underpin the idea, such

statements are often given instrumental meaning

through diverse mechanisms (e.g., interpretation of

cues toward the proactive (re)construction of identity,

(inter)subjective discourses on social legitimacy, and

acts of “issue selling”) that help to enact particular

characteristics of the corporation. The paper specifically

employs the organizational concepts of sensemaking

and sensegiving to explain how, through CSR activities,

hydrocarbon companies in Ghana construct and (re)

affirm a particular reality for its stakeholders. The

findings suggest that by having significant leverage over

the (re)construction of its identity and claims around

social legitimacy and performance, the corporation

gives sense to and further sustains its authority over

societal norms and expectations around what social

responsibility entails. The evidence presented

contributes to scholarship that considers the

Received: 30 April 2020 Accepted: 16 February 2021

DOI: 10.1111/basr.12236

© 2021 W. Michael Hoffman Center for Business Ethics at Bentley University

Bus Soc Rev. 2021;126:211–234. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/basr 211

corporation as a complex nexus of multiple relations,

contested narratives, and practices.

KEYWORDS

corporate instrumentality, corporate social responsibility,

discourse and power, Ghana, sensegiving, sensemaking,

stakeholders

1|INTRODUCTION

A large and growing body of literature on corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Africa already

exists—some of which have examined topics ranging from the etymology of the concept in

Africa's socio-cultural practices (Amaeshi et al., 2006), lack of positive developmental evidence

for CSR activities (Ackah-Baidoo, 2012; Andrews, 2013, 2019a; Frynas, 2005; Idemudia, 2007,

2014), to the contentions between CSR as “business ethics”or as the perpetuation of western

imperialism (Dartey-Baah & Amponsah-Tawiah, 2011; Vertigans, 2011) among others

(Andrews, 2016; Andrews & Grant, 2020; Dashwood & Puplampu, 2010; Muthuri &

Gilbert, 2011). Despite this diverse collection of scholarly contributions, there is still much to be

learned since the critical literature tends to focus on a purposive critique of CSR in a way that

makes such activities appear simply as window-dressing (Hilson, 2007; Idemudia, 2007, 2014;

Rajak, 2011). This paper contributes to filling this knowledge gap by showing that the CSR

sensemaking process is not at all merely rhetorical. Although several rhetorical proclamations

underline the discourse, these statements and processes are usually given material meaning

through diverse mechanisms of intervention (i.e., strategic actions and projects) that help to

enact particular characteristics of the corporation.

This paper employs the organizational concepts of sensemaking and sensegiving and

provides empirical evidence to contribute to the voluminous scholarship on the topic

(see Alvesson & Kärreman, 2000; Castello & Lozano, 2011; Cornelissen, 2012; Cramer

et al., 2004; Gioia & Chittipeddi, 1991; Greene, 2012; Maitlis, 2005; Maitlis &

Christianson, 2014; Maitlis & Lawrence, 2007; Maon et al., 2012; Nijhof & Jeurissen, 2006;

Pater & Van Lierop, 2006; Skilton & Purdy, 2017; Štumberger & Golob, 2016; Suddaby &

Greenwood, 2005; Vaara, 2010; Weick, 1995, 2012; Weick et al., 2005). Sensemaking is

important to a discussion of CSR because it underscores the “ongoing cognitive and

communicative processes”that are used by organizations to construct particular realities based

on their actions (Iivonen & Moisander, 2015, p. 650). Understanding this discursive practice, as

will be done in subsequent sections, is imperative to explaining the instrumental functions of

the corporation in the political economy of Africa and beyond.

The primary question the paper responds to is as follows: What are the discursive, material

or instrumental practices that explain how organizations use sensemaking and sensegiving

processes to convey certain images or a certain organizational identity to stakeholders? In

relation to this question, the paper's core contribution is twofold. First, it shows how the

corporation, through CSR, constructs and (re)affirms a particular reality for its stakeholders.

Second, the paper contributes to the larger discussion around how corporations frame,

structure, and determine both discourse and practice. These two points reflect how processes of

sensemaking and sensegiving perform an instrumental function that shapes the social order

212 ANDREWS