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

能源转型、金融危机或低工资——企业责任的程度和构成——是德国公开辩论中一个经久不衰的主题，随之而来的是对企业的怀疑。对可信性的怀疑表明，不同的期望妨碍了对企业责任的全面理解。企业社会责任研究主要讨论的是理想概念，而责任判断在公共话语中究竟是如何形成的，还有待研究。本项目通过分析关键参与者和利益相关者（媒体、公民和公司）在责任判断的再生产和制度化中的相互作用来解决这个问题。目的是查明影响企业责任归因和评价的因素，分析媒体、公民和公司之间的差异和共同取向。例如，如果企业和媒体对责任的判断的共同取向变得明显，这与公民的观点相反，那么公共话语中的多元化的丧失将迫在眉睫。此外，作为责任主体的企业与作为责任接受者的公民和媒体之间在责任判断上可能存在的差异威胁着企业的行动能力。本项目采用了基于公共话语中责任判断再生产和制度化的结构理论模型的三部分方法论方法：a)对企业责任自我形象的内容分析，b)对媒体中的公众形象的内容分析，以及c)对公民中的公众形象的调查。比较这三种观点可以推断出可信度问题的原因，并有助于找到解决由此产生的企业和社会问题的解决策略。

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.