TOWARDS THE INTEGRATION BETWEEN CORPORATE COMMUNITY RELATIONS AND CSR COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES. THE ENEL CASE STUDY

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the contribution corporate community relations (CCR) offer to corporate social responsibility (CSR) through an approach based on stakeholder
involvement strategies. Thus, the main objectives are: to investigate the increase and significance of CCR in communicating social responsibility and to explore the state of
the art in CCR on the part of Enel. Starting from the literature review on CSR and from a previous survey conducted by ISTUD-DNV, the implementation of CCR is studied in an
Italian context. The focus on CCR actions in the sustainability publications of Enel, leader in the energy sector, completes the scenario in functional terms. It is generally held that the practice of CSR is not usually considered part of regular operational activities. Nevertheless, the Enel case study shows not only the development of progressive interest towards the use of tools/actions that involve communities but also the necessity to integrate such initiatives in communication strategies addressed to sustainability. The paper pinpoints the fact that companies could reach the objectives of integrating CSR activities in their corporate strategies by involving communities.

The paper contends that striving towards social involvement and better mutual understanding of stakeholder expectations of communication strategy and vice versa, are crucial elements. This paper is the first step in a stream of research different aspects of which, are as yet unexplored.
KEY WORDS Enel | Corporate Community Relations | CSR | communication strategy | stakeholder involvement.