The Importance of Accountability on ESG Issues Within Public Relations

Keywords: accountability, ESG issues, management, crisis communication, sense-making

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Environmental, Social, and Governance issues have become increasingly important to businesses. Public relations professionals play a large role in creating a plan of communication with stakeholders and the public. It is vital to have a sense of the ever-changing industry and society. The World Com Group states, ‘Ultimately, the integration of ESG into PR practices is not just a trend but a fundamental shift in how companies engage with their stakeholders and society at large’. Furthermore, the article highlights that the key areas a PR professional should focus on are strategic communication planning, stakeholder engagement, transparency and reporting, crisis management, thought leadership and measuring impact (Nawrocki, 2024).

ESG Issues

As many are familiar with the Adidas and Ye partnership and crisis, this is a prime example of ESG issues, specifically social. Over the duration of this partnership, Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, made multiple antisemitic comments, generating major backlash to both him and Adidas.

Adidas and Ye completed a decade-long partnership before ultimately ending it. However, the initial collaboration with Ye boosted sales, raised awareness, expanded the target market and much more. What was thought to be a new way of celebrity endorsement led to Adidas creating internal and external crises.

After Ye’s antisemitic comments, Adidas was silent and lacked urgency. This influences social and governance issues within the brand. Adidas failed to take accountability for its social responsibility. This delay of action made customers, stakeholders, employees, etc., question their mission, purpose, and values. 

The article says, “It would be contradictory to state these [inclusive, trustworthy, and fair] brand values while continuing to work with a public figure like Ye, who had become divisive amongst Adidas stakeholders and encouraged hate speech towards a vulnerable group in our society” (Ruiz et al, 2024). As Adidas lacked social responsibility, they faced reputation damage, decreased sales, loss of trust from the public, stakeholders and employees, and much more.

Another crisis that examines ESG issues is ‘The Politics of Pink: Susan G. Komen for the Cure Steps into Partisan Minefield'. This was an issue that took place in 2012 after Susan G. Komen decided to cut funding to Planned Parenthood.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure began in 1982 as a nonprofit foundation to raise money for breast cancer research, health services, and advocacy.

According to the article, “For many years, Komen for the Cure provided grants to Planned Parenthood clinics in local communities through Komen’s affiliate network” (Conflict Management, p. 214). In 2011, Komen for the Cure changed its policies, leading to no longer funding Planned Parenthood.

This event was largely interpreted as politically motivated, as Komen was conservative and anti-abortion. These assumptions generated intense backlash and boycotts.

The leaders of Komen for the Cure were unable to control the narrative or explain the true reasoning. There was a political divider that contributed to the organization's decline. Komen’s loss of trust from the public and stakeholders overall stemmed from ESG issues.

The social issues were formed from politics being brought into the organization. As well as failing to uphold values and morals.

The governance issues were formed by a lack of transparency in communication and decision-making. The stakeholders were caught off guard by the initial decision. Komen for the Cure failed to remain ethical, transparent, inclusive and credible.

Sensemaking

The Flint water crisis focuses on the sensemaking theory and ‘its utility for both organized and risk communication scholars and for practical application’ (Nowling and Seeger, 2019). This case is also considered a prime example of failed sensemaking through communicated messages and responses.

The Flint water case is a renowned event involving an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in the drinking water in Flint, Michigan. The city failed to communicate with the public about the dangers and risks of the contaminated water.

This case links to all environmental, social, and governance issues through the absence of sensemaking.

From the environmental pillar, the state and local officials failed to acknowledge the initial signs of unhealthy water. This led to the contamination spreading and becoming worse due to being untreated.

The social pillar in this case can be found through officials ignoring concerns and complaints. This forced the town and officials to be untrustworthy, as every little thing led to more harm.

Lastly, the governance pillar is highlighted through the denial of problems by the government, not acknowledging issues immediately and lacking transparency, authenticity, and trustworthiness.

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Crisis Communication

The ‘Multimillion Dollar Error’ case is a great example of crisis communication. This case is about how the St. Vrain Valley School District faced a major financial problem due to a miscalculation of employees and salary increases.

The method, action-implicative discourage analysis, guided the administrators, board members and stakeholders to assess the crisis. Robert R. Agne says, ‘AIDA views communication as composed of different practices in which communicators are problem-solvers’. (para. 1, 2008). It is debatable if this is how the conflict was resolved.

When addressing the stakeholders, there was constant confusion about the problem and a lack of clarity. There was also a lack of trust and social responsibility from the district. Dissatisfaction was common amongst the stakeholders due to frustration when communicating. This all leads to the social issues.  

The faulty decision-making process and accountability lead to governance issues. No one seemed to take full accountability and there was a shift of blame. K. Tracy states, “As both a business organization and a democratic body, a local governance group has a more complex task in its pre-crisis planning phase than do other kinds of organizations” (p. 438). There was no internal structure within the district,which resulted in the crisis being of a magnitude.

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References

Agne, R. R. (2008, June 5). Action‐implicative discourse analysis - Agne - major reference works - Wiley Online Library. Wiley Online Library. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781405186407.wbieca009.pub2

Nawrocki, L. (2024, November 1). ESG: Communication and strategy for corporate sustainability. The Worldcom Group®. https://worldcomgroup.com/insights/esg-communication-and-strategy-for-corporate-sustainability/

Nowling, W. D., & Seeger, M. W. (2020). Sensemaking and crisis revisited: the failure of sensemaking during the Flint water crisis. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 48(2), 270–289. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2020.1734224

The Politics of Pink: Susan G. Komen for the Cure Steps into Partisan Minefield. Conflict Management. (n.d.).

Tracy, K. (2007). The Discourse of Crisis in Public Meetings: Case Study of a School District’s Multimillion Dollar Error. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 35(4), 418–441. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909880701617133

Ruiz, V., Rutter, Marina, & Anderson, J. (n.d.). Adidas Says BYE: Adidas Drops Partnership with YE. https://page.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ADIDAS-SAYS-BYE-With-great-power-comes_Case-1.pdf