Konferenzbeitrag
The Future of Corporate Environmental Communication: Trends, Contents, Media, Technologies
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Datum
2002
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IGU/ISEP
Zusammenfassung
The various developments within the field of corporate environmental communication are arranged to a comprehensive and reasonably structured survey. On the one hand, from an academics’ perspective, this survey offers an overview of recent literature and empirical studies in the field. On the other hand, from a practitioner’s point of view, helpful guidance is provided how to employ the Internet and other associated technologies productively. The survey focuses primarily on environmental aspects; it is based on rising challenges by which companies are more and more confronted. However, the general insights can be transferred also to financial, social, or sustainability communication seen as a currently emerging phenomenon towards an integrated approach containing financial, environmental, and social aspects, in particular their mutual interrelations. According to the pioneering effort of structuring the multitude of developments, it appears useful to describe the overall contours in a basic framework. In a more detailed fashion, the framework rests on a set of four substantial categories, illustrated by four characteristics that are relevant for the field of corporate environmental communication on the whole. This framework includes: (i) current trends representing the major developments, tendencies, and determinants for progress, (ii) important contents representing essential subjects, crucial themes, and critical issues companies and target groups are communicating, (iii) various media like hypermedia, multimedia, print media etc. used for corporate environmental communication, and (iv) the professional employment of information and communication technologies (ICT) and its applications, in particular the technical benefits by employing Internet technologies and Internet services. The proposed framework should be regarded as schematic, not photo-realistic. However, it is helpful to highlight substantial differences between outdated, very early stages of managing corporate environmental communication e.g. by providing simple “green glossy brochures” on print media or just put by Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet for the sake of merely smart presentations in contrast to a forward-looking environmental communication system often called a “sustainability communication system” or a “cybernetic communication system”. As such, a cutting-edge environmental communication system offers a set of appropriate contents (customised information and personal reports on demand), media (print media, Internet, CD-ROM), presentation styles (target group tailoring), and distributing principles (push, pull) by an efficient manner. In terms of corporate environmental communication, taking the four categories into account will improve the way in which companies give environmental information, communicate environmental related topics, and manage their environmental management internally and externally. By so doing, such a corporate environmental communication system may be beneficial for all members involved that are reporting companies, key target groups addressed, and other stakeholders involved like standard setting institutions, and benchmarking organisations.