Living downwind from corporate social responsibility: a community perspective on corporate practice

This paper critiques dominant corporate social responsibility (CSR) theory, which claims that commercial and social goals overlap and coincide. It is suggested that this uncritical portrayal and treatment of complex industry–community relations risks neglecting the potential tensions that may arise should these goals diverge or be in conflict. In this context, the experiences of residents in a small Western Australian town are presented to describe a long‐running conflict between community members and their corporate neighbour. The data point to a range of community impacts as a result of corporate activities and unearth strong differences between ‘local’ and ‘corporate’ understandings of CSR. Based on the perceived shortcomings of an economically underpinned CSR approach, we question the possibility of meeting local needs by means of economic efficiency. Calls are made for critical reflection on the key assumptions underlying dominant CSR theory and consideration is given to questions of guidance for CSR practitioners.     

Business groups and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from China

This study investigates the impact of firms' business group affiliations on their performance in corporate social responsibility (CSR) in China. We find that firms with a dual-status of being a business group member and a state-owned enterprise (SOE) at the same time have weaker CSR performance. Our finding is consistent with the view that CSR engagement is a strategy for firms to pursue political legitimacy from the government and seek legitimacy in general from the public. The business group affiliation and the SOE identity together afford legitimacy to the firm and reduce its need to conduct CSR activities.Data availabilityAll data used in the study are publicly available from the sources noted in the text.     

Customer concentration and corporate social responsibility performance: Evidence from China

This study examines whether and how a supplier firm’s customer concentration affects its corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance in emerging markets. Using a sample of Chinese listed firms, we find that customer concentration is negatively associated with supplier CSR performance. Cross-sectional analyses reveal that the negative relation is more pronounced in suppliers without foreign customers or foreign investors, suppliers that are non-state-owned, and suppliers operating in poor legal environments. Finally, channel tests suggest that reduced demand of disclosure from customers and limited awareness of CSR are potential mechanisms through which customer concentration negatively affects CSR performance.     

Schefflerian ethics and corporate social responsibility

This paper examines some of the essential features of Samuel Scheffler's hybrid theory of ethics. Scheffler posits and defends a moral theory which is intended to be neither act-consequentialist nor fully agent-centered. Instead, it provides an agent-centered analysis of moral thinking: one that, unlike consequentialist theories, respects the personal integrity of the moral agent. In this paper I shall do the following: (1) Sketch some of the general points of Scheffler's proposal; (2) Apply Scheffler's ethical theory to the matter of corporate social responsibility; and (3) Raise some objections to this Schefflerian corporate social responsibility theory, along with some modifications of this hybrid theory of corporate social responsibility which are intended to evade such criticisms.The significance of this paper is that it shows that Scheffler's quite innovative ethical theory is problematic as a foundation for a theory of corporate social responsibility. J. Angelo Corlett is a research fellow in philosophy at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has published philosophy papers in the Journal of Business Ethics, Business & Professional Ethics Journal, Public Affairs Quarterly, and the American Psychologist among other journals. His areas of interest include Social/Political Philosophy, Ethics and Value Theory. He is currently working on a book entitled Liberty and Equality: Analyzing Nozick and Rawls.     

Effects of corporate social responsibility on customer satisfaction and organizational attractiveness: A signaling perspective

In recent years, many researchers have attempted to determine the mechanisms of how corporate social responsibility (CSR) brings financial benefits to a firm. However, many chief financial officers (CFOs) throughout the world are uncertain about the strategic value of CSR, and no consensus has been reached on defining how CSR creates value. Drawing on signaling theory, we explore the effects of the multidimensional construct of CSR on organizational performance by examining the relationships among CSR, corporate reputation, customer satisfaction, and organizational attractiveness from the perspectives of both customers as well as job seekers. Consistent with the European Commission's view, CSR is defined as having three components: CSR for employees, CSR for customers, and CSR for social public welfare. Data are collected through an online survey of a convenient sample of 500 individuals from different organizations in China. Results indicate that corporate reputation plays a mediating role in the relationship between CSR and customer satisfaction and that between CSR and organizational attractiveness. Further, the impact mechanisms of the three components of CSR are different. For CSR for employees, both cognitive and affective reputation work as mediators, with the former playing a bigger mediating role than the latter. For CSR for customers, only cognitive reputation works as a mediator, whereas for CSR for social public welfare, only affective reputation works as a mediator. This study's findings show that the abovementioned relationships are more complex than previous studies have revealed. These insights provide guidelines for firms to better adjust their CSR strategies to improve customer satisfaction and organizational attractiveness.     

Implementing corporate social responsibility through social partnerships

This paper examines how corporate social responsibility (CSR) is implemented through social partnerships. Drawing on previous literature and case study research, it presents a conceptual model of the process of implementation. An exploratory case study of the social responsibility partnership programme at the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has been conducted. The case study draws on interview data and documentary sources of evidence gathered from UEFA and the six partner organisations that comprise its CSR portfolio. The conceptual model identifies three stages of the implementation process (selection, design, management), with partnership evaluation being an ongoing process during all three. The latter consists of two elements, namely project and process evaluation. A key finding is the lack of process evaluation due to a high degree of inter‐personal trust. The conceptual model adds to the growing body of research on the implementation of social partnerships and CSR. This paper is also the first to empirically explore the process of CSR implementation through social partnerships in the football sector.     

Walking the talk about corporate social responsibility communication: An elaboration likelihood model perspective

Large organizations, including listed businesses, financial service providers as well as public services entities are increasingly disclosing information on their environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues through corporate websites or via social media. Therefore, this research uses valid measures from the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) to explore the individuals’ attitudes toward online corporate social responsibility (CSR) communications. The data were gathered from a structured questionnaire among three hundred ninety-two respondents (n = 392). A structural equations modeling partial least squares (SEM-PLS 3) approach was used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that the timeliness, relevance and accuracy of information as well as the source expertise were highly significant antecedents that were affecting the research participants’ attitudes toward CSR communications. This contribution implies that there is scope for content curators to publish quality online information on their business activities to improve their trustworthiness and positive credentials among stakeholders.     

Organizational attention to corporate social responsibility and corporate social performance: the moderating effects of corporate governance

Many studies have explored the antecedents of corporate social performance (CSP), such as institutional forces and stakeholder pressures. However, few studies examine CSP from a socio‐cognitive perspective. To address this research void, this study adopts an attention‐based approach to examine the relationship between managers' attention to social issues and CSP. More important, this study reports that this relationship will be moderated by governance mechanisms that constrain managerial discretion. Using a sample of Chinese listed firms, this study provides empirical support for these arguments. Therefore, our study adds new insights to the literature addressing CSP from a socio‐cognitive perspective and speaks to the structural features, both inside and outside organizations, that guide managers' attention.     

Corruption and social trust: The role of corporate social responsibility

The importance and benefits of social trust have widely been recognized in the literature. However, there has been increasing concern about corruption in relation to a decline in social trust, and the role of business in this relationship remains largely unknown. This study aims to examine the linkages among corruption, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and social trust. Using a large sample of 6892 corporations from 33 countries over the period 2010–2014, the results demonstrate that corruption generates a highly eroding effect on social trust, whereas CSR has important implications for promoting trust among people in society. The results further suggest the potential role of CSR in mitigating the eroding effect of corruption on social trust. These results are robust across various methods of estimation, falsification tests, and in a different time period (2017–2020). This study makes several contributions to the literature both theoretically and empirically, and offers meaningful implications for businesses and policymakers.     

Leveraging sponsorship with corporate social responsibility

Sponsors increasingly engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities surrounding sponsored events (e.g., the soccer World Cup and Olympic Games). This study examines how linking CSR to sponsorship affects consumer attitudes towards sponsoring brands. Schema theory suggests that consumer CSR perception and brand credibility act as serial mediators. They transfer the positive effects of a CSR-linked sponsorship strategy. These effects only occur for brands with a moderately low congruity to the sponsored event (but not for brands with a moderately high congruity to the sponsored event). Two experiments measuring (Study 1) and manipulating (Study 2) sponsor–event congruity confirm the proposed mediation mechanism for brands with a moderately low sponsor–event congruity. CSR-linked sponsorship (vs. sponsorship without CSR linkage) does not influence attitudes towards brands with a moderately high congruity to the sponsored event. The study develops theoretical and practical implications for sponsorship and CSR strategies.     

Triple bottom-line reporting as social grammar: integrating corporate social responsibility and corporate codes of conduct

This paper argues that many objections against, and limitations of, corporate codes of conduct can be addressed if a meaningful integration can be established between CSR and ethics management practices within corporations. It is proposed that the notion of the triple bottom-line finally presents corporations with a mechanism to establish this integration. The paper draws on the second South African King Report on Corporate Governance, which succeeded in integrating corporate governance, ethics management and triple bottom-line reporting by advocating what it called 'Integrated Sustainability'. The paper argues that this is an example of how ethics management initiatives like code development become more meaningful, if they can be related to the corporation's CSR initiatives and reporting practices. Integration between ethics management and CSR in the context of triple bottom-line reporting reframes corporate success in a way that makes both ethics management and CSR activities more meaningful. In fact, it is argued that in the absence of a social grammar that establishes this integration, neither codes nor CSR can foster meaningful organizational integrity.     

Online privacy as a corporate social responsibility: an empirical study

Information technology and the Internet have added a new stakeholder concern to the corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda: online privacy. While theory suggests that online privacy is a CSR, only very few studies in the business ethics literature have connected these two. Based on a study of CSR disclosures, this article contributes to the existing literature by exploring whether and how the largest IT companies embrace online privacy as a CSR. The findings indicate that only a small proportion of the companies have comprehensive privacy programs, although more than half of them voice moral or relational motives for addressing online privacy. The privacy measures they have taken are primarily compliance measures, while measures that stimulate a stakeholder dialogue are rare. Overall, a wide variety of approaches to addressing privacy was found, which suggests that no institutionalization of privacy practices has taken place as yet. The study therefore indicates that online privacy is rather new on the CSR agenda, currently playing only a minor role.     

Political embeddedness,media positioning and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from China

We examine the effect of political embeddedness and media positioning on corporate social responsibility (CSR). Using a sample of Chinese listed firms from 2009–2017, we provide evidence that firms with political embeddedness from the perspectives of both government ownership and managerial political connection (PC) perform more CSR than other firms, but their motivations for doing so are different. Employing media positioning, we find that firms controlled by the government conduct less CSR when they receive more positive media reporting, indicating that this is a firm's passive choice due to political pressure; and firms with PC are incentivized by negative media reporting to conduct more CSR, indicating an active choice to maintain political legitimacy. This association is robust to different media positioning measurements and endogeneity checks. Additional analyses show that this relationship is more pronounced in central government-controlled firms and regionally politically connected firms; in firms that disclose CSR reports voluntarily; and in the environment where CSR are more valued (following the 2012 national Anti-corruption Campaign and in provinces with higher levels of marketization). Overall, our study suggests that media positioning can help to identify the motivation for conducting CSR.