Abstract

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a form of private self-regulation conducted by businesses; CSR aims to contribute to societal goals of philanthropy, activism, and ethics by improving society, policy, and or the environment. Corporate social responsibility is becoming a greater aspect of modern business, but as it becomes part of the modern discourse, it is right to question whether its efforts are authentic to those driving these initiatives? This case study seeks to understand how the leadership within the parent company of a global foods brand depicts authenticity and communicates its social and environmental efforts to stakeholders. Building on existing literature, the study uses qualitative interviews to determine whether the measures portrayed in externally facing reports and the emerging themes were consistent and internalized by the leadership. This study finds that the values espoused in the corporate reports are authentic to leaders creating CSR policies, and that communication across stakeholders and within diverse markets reinforces the authenticity of these efforts.