The importance of cultural framing to the success of social initiatives in business

Executive Overview The unique nature of social initiatives, such as projects for environmental protection, diversity, or community development, poses particular challenges for those who wish to get them on the organizational agenda. How do their proponents both legitimize and gain action on these initiatives—activities that involve tapping into existing organizational beliefs, or cultural frames—when an organization has historically considered such issues to be outside its realm of concern? We identify eight possible cultural frames that may be used to motivate corporate action on social initiatives, and we illustrate the use of one frame through a case study of a high-technology manufacturer addressing a particular environmental problem. We use the case to identify framing tactics which proponents of social initiatives can use to best advance such issues in their organizations. These include using the metrics and language of relevant functional groups to assign responsibility for the problems, engaging the standard routines or approaches used in such groups, and using the culturally appropriate public and/or private channels to communicate the issue, eventually gaining allies in these groups. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of cultural framing for organizational change and for the broader debate on the connection between financial and social performance.