Corporate social responsibility practices of transnational corporations: Examples from Turkey and Italy

Abstract

As an open system and a social institution, companies’ responsibilities have gone beyond the provision of shareholder wealth. Today, companies are expected to conform the principles of good corporate citizenship and corporate governance, and disclose corporate activities in an accountable, honest and transparent manner. In this context, sustainability reporting is an important tool for communicating organizational performance related to economic, social and environmental issues with respect to corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. The aim of this study is to analyze the annual corporate social responsibility or sustainability reports published by transnational corporations in the context of the triple bottom line (TBL) approach and to determine the similarities and differences of CSR practices applied in Turkey and Italy. The annual corporate sustainability or corporate social responsibility reports of the transnational corporations listed in Forbes CSR ranking were examined to identify the CSR practices in Turkey and Italy. Content analysis and the triple bottom line dimensions developed by Ho and Taylor (2007) and Rondinelli (2006) were implemented to evaluate the CSR reports. The results of the study indicate that the corporations compose their sustainability reports with reference to the triple bottom line approach. Data of environmental issues like water and energy consumption, disposal of waste and CO2 emissions are given in absolute numbers. Reports also include projections about goals in percentage and tables. Corporate social responsibility projects in Turkey and Italy enabled us to identify and analyze the manner renewable energy, waste disposal, use of global resources, intercultural problems, entrepreneurship and healthy eating issues are being handled in a comparative perspective. © 2013European Journal of Research on Education by IASSR.