With the evolution of CSR reporting practices and the introduction and widespread adoption of the GRI Guidelines, this research sought to understand the factors that determine a company’s CSR disclosure strategy. It examined the relationship between a four-dimensional model of reporting determinants and a firm’s CSR disclosure strategy. The proposed model drew from legitimacy, institutional and stakeholder theories and included the following constructs: non-financial corporate characteristics, the firm’s financial performance, the involvement of the firm’s stakeholders and environmental turbulence. The firm’s CSR disclosure strategy was represented by the GRI application level chosen by the firm and the presence or absence of third party assurance. The study found environmental turbulence to be the only strongly predictive construct. However, this construct and other predictive variables that were shown to be related help strengthen understanding of disclosure strategy. Given these findings, four key concepts emerge that firms must consider in developing their CSR disclosure strategy. These include stakeholder salience, environmental turbulence, mimetic behavior, and institutional norms.
","abstract_html":"<p>With the evolution of CSR reporting practices and the introduction and widespread adoption of the GRI Guidelines, this research sought to understand the factors that determine a company’s CSR disclosure strategy. It examined the relationship between a four-dimensional model of reporting determinants and a firm’s CSR disclosure strategy. The proposed model drew from legitimacy, institutional and stakeholder theories and included the following constructs: non-financial corporate characteristics, the firm’s financial performance, the involvement of the firm’s stakeholders and environmental turbulence. The firm’s CSR disclosure strategy was represented by the GRI application level chosen by the firm and the presence or absence of third party assurance. The study found environmental turbulence to be the only strongly predictive construct. However, this construct and other predictive variables that were shown to be related help strengthen understanding of disclosure strategy. Given these findings, four key concepts emerge that firms must consider in developing their CSR disclosure strategy. These include stakeholder salience, environmental turbulence, mimetic behavior, and institutional norms.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Simmons, James Michael, Jr."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Marketing","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Victoria Crittenden","Dr. Bodo Schlegelmilch","Dr. Brian Rutherford"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-10-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2013-10-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:42:53Z","subjects":["CSR reporting","GRI guidelines","stakeholder salience","environmental turbulence","mimetic behavior","institional norms","Marketing"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/etd/600","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Victoria Crittenden","Dr. Bodo Schlegelmilch","Dr. Brian Rutherford"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Simmons, James Michael, Jr."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-02-20T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Marketing"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["CSR reporting","GRI guidelines","stakeholder salience","environmental turbulence","mimetic behavior","institional norms","Marketing"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/etd/600"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["With the evolution of CSR reporting practices and the introduction and widespread adoption of the GRI Guidelines, this research sought to understand the factors that determine a company’s CSR disclosure strategy. It examined the relationship between a four-dimensional model of reporting determinants and a firm’s CSR disclosure strategy. The proposed model drew from legitimacy, institutional and stakeholder theories and included the following constructs: non-financial corporate characteristics, the firm’s financial performance, the involvement of the firm’s stakeholders and environmental turbulence. The firm’s CSR disclosure strategy was represented by the GRI application level chosen by the firm and the presence or absence of third party assurance. The study found environmental turbulence to be the only strongly predictive construct. However, this construct and other predictive variables that were shown to be related help strengthen understanding of disclosure strategy. Given these findings, four key concepts emerge that firms must consider in developing their CSR disclosure strategy. These include stakeholder salience, environmental turbulence, mimetic behavior, and institutional norms.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Understanding the Determinants of Corporate Social Disclosure Strategies: An Examination of Firms' Use of GRI Guidelines"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Victoria Crittenden","Dr. Bodo Schlegelmilch","Dr. Brian Rutherford"],"dc:creator":["Simmons, James Michael, Jr."],"dc:date.available":["2014-02-20T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["With the evolution of CSR reporting practices and the introduction and widespread adoption of the GRI Guidelines, this research sought to understand the factors that determine a company’s CSR disclosure strategy. It examined the relationship between a four-dimensional model of reporting determinants and a firm’s CSR disclosure strategy. The proposed model drew from legitimacy, institutional and stakeholder theories and included the following constructs: non-financial corporate characteristics, the firm’s financial performance, the involvement of the firm’s stakeholders and environmental turbulence. The firm’s CSR disclosure strategy was represented by the GRI application level chosen by the firm and the presence or absence of third party assurance. The study found environmental turbulence to be the only strongly predictive construct. However, this construct and other predictive variables that were shown to be related help strengthen understanding of disclosure strategy. Given these findings, four key concepts emerge that firms must consider in developing their CSR disclosure strategy. These include stakeholder salience, environmental turbulence, mimetic behavior, and institutional norms.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/etd/600"],"dc:subject":["CSR reporting","GRI guidelines","stakeholder salience","environmental turbulence","mimetic behavior","institional norms","Marketing"],"dc:title":["Understanding the Determinants of Corporate Social Disclosure Strategies: An Examination of Firms' Use of GRI Guidelines"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Marketing"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:42:53Z"}