Entrepreneurial Responsibility in the Public Discourse. Differences and Co-Orientation in Judgments of Responsibility made by Corporations, the Media and Citizens.

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Energy transition, financial crisis or low-wages - extent and constitution of entrepreneurial responsibility are an abiding theme in public debates in Germany, which are followed with scepticism towards corporations. The doubts concerning credibility indicate that diverging expectations are preventing the establishment of a comprehensive understanding of entrepreneurial responsibility. While CSR research mainly discusses ideal conceptions, it has yet to be determined how judgments of responsibility are actually formed in the public discourse. This project addresses this question by analysing the interaction of key players and stakeholders - the media, citizens and corporations - in the reproduction and institutionalisation of judgments of responsibility. The objective is to detect factors influencing the attribution and evaluation of entrepreneurial responsibility and to analyse differences as well as co-orientation of the media, citizens and corporations. If for example a co-orientation of judgments of responsibility made by corporations and the media becomes apparent, which is opposed to the citizens´ perspective, a loss of pluralism in the public discourse will impend. Furthermore, possible differences in judgments of responsibility between corporations as responsibility subjects and citizens and the media as responsibility recipients threaten corporate action ability. This project employs a three-part methodological approach based on a structuration theory model of the reproduction and institutionalisation of judgments of responsibility in the public discourse: a) A content analysis of the self-image of corporate responsibility, b) a content analysis of the public image in the media, as well as c) a survey of the public image among citizens. Comparing the three perspectives allows to draw inferences about causes of the credibility problem and helps to find solution strategies for resultant problems, both corporate and social.