Corporate social responsibility: issues for human resource development professionals

Recent human resource development (HRD) scholarship has called for greater focus on social responsibility and ecological sustainability. The purpose of this article is to explore the engagement of HRD professionals in corporate social responsibility (CSR), examining one central question: how do HRD professionals perceive their roles and challenges in implementing CSR in organizations that claim CSR to be a key focus of their corporate identity and operation? Understandings of CSR vary and are widely contested, but for the purposes of this discussion, CSR is defined as treating the stakeholders of the firm ethically or in a responsible manner. Drawing from a qualitative study of HRD managers in eight large North American firms declaring explicit commitment to CSR, the evidence shows that their engagement tends to focus on employee learning and promotion, employee ownership of development, and employee safety and respect. Overall, however, HRD appeared to be only marginally involved or interested in the firms' CSR activities. The article concludes with an argument for greater engagement of HRD in CSR and offers suggestions for research and practice towards this end.     

Understanding instrumental motivations for social responsibility engagement in a micro‐firm context

Firms engage in social responsibility activities for diverse reasons. This study focuses on understanding firms' instrumental motivations for engaging in socially responsible activities. We suggest that the instrumental motivations underlying firms' corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement are associated with their market, learning, and risk‐related behaviors; thus, we identify market orientation, learning orientation, and risk‐taking attitudes as three constructs that influence firms' CSR engagement. This research was conducted in the Norwegian firewood sector, in which CSR expectations are high and in which we expect CSR engagement to be encouraged by both instrumental and normative motivations. The firms in this study are micro‐firms with fewer than 10 employees and represent an important but highly neglected segment of firms in CSR research. Data obtained from 230 firms were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Our results indicate that market orientation, learning orientation, and risk‐taking attitudes affect social responsibility toward different stakeholder groups in different ways. In some cases, the size and age of firms also affect these relationships.     

Effect of newcomer socialisation on organisational commitment,job satisfaction,and turnover intention in the hotel industry

The academic literature features organisational socialisation as playing a crucial role in the early stages of newcomer employment. During this assimilation stage, newcomers adapt to a new workplace more effectively if socialisation is encouraged. It has been found that socialisation minimises the negative effects of unmet expectations on overall organisational effectiveness, including employee turnover – an issue that has become a considerable problem for many hotels. Extending this logic, this study aims to understand socialisation by specifically assessing whether turnover is determined by employees' beliefs about job satisfaction and individual commitment to an organisation and the hotel profession in general. The study of 428 respondents from 61 international tourist hotels in Taiwan implies that social interaction enables organisations to gain, from an increase in commitment to the organisation, job satisfaction and a decrease in newcomers' intent to leave the hotel profession. Two major contributions to the existing literature result (a) commitment to the organisation plays a dominant role in employee turnover intent and (b) job satisfaction is a powerful method of reinforcing individual commitment to the organisation.     

Corporate social responsibility and aging workforces: an explorative study of corporate social responsibility implementation in small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises

Although critical differences exist between large companies and small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), limited empirical research has been done on human resource (HR)‐related corporate social responsibility (CSR). In this paper we study aging workforce management (AWM) as a component of CSR. Our study was conducted in the Netherlands through a randomly distributed online questionnaire. Managers and team leaders of 201 SMEs responded. The data were analyzed using multiple hierarchical regression analysis. Our results are twofold: first, findings suggest that CSR policies in micro organizations with fewer than five employees seem to be strongly associated with AWM; and second, that companies with a focus on integration of older workers in daily activities do not perceive their actions as HR‐related. Using AWM as part of CSR helps to give insight into the role of the owner, company size and the nature of implicit CSR practices. Our study demonstrates that the use of AWM in CSR research can lead to valuable insights and therefore, our overarching research question is answered that AWM can be used when studying CSR.     

Exploring human resource management roles in corporate social responsibility: the CSR‐HRM co‐creation model

Formulating and translating corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy into actual managerial practices and outcome values remain ongoing challenges for many organizations. This paper argues that the human resource management (HRM) function can potentially play an important role in supporting organizations to address this challenge. We argue that HRM could provide an interesting and dynamic support to CSR strategy design as well as implementation and delivery. Drawing on a systematic review of relevant strategic CSR and HRM literatures, this paper highlights the important interfaces between CSR and HRM and develops a conceptual model, the CSR‐HRM co‐creation model, which accounts for the potential HRM roles in CSR and identifies a range of outcome values resulting from a more effective integration of the role of HRM within CSR. The paper concludes with relevant theoretical and managerial recommendations that advance our understanding of the potential interfaces between HRM and CSR and how HRM can support a systematic and progressive CSR agenda.     

Board of director attributes and CSR engagement in emerging economy firms: Evidence from across Asia

This study investigates the relationship between the board of director attributes and corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement across a sample of Asian emerging economy firms. We find a statistically positive relationship between CSR engagement and several directors' attributes including their political influence, international experience, business expertise, other directorships held and independence from management. These empirical results indicate that while corporate governance recommendations designed for developed economy firms are relevant for emerging economy firms, additional director attributes are also important in encouraging CSR engagement in emerging economy firms given the divergent institutional and resource dependency issues they face.     

Selective Engagement in Corporate Social Responsibility: A Stakeholder Perspective

This paper attempts to understand selective engagement in corporate social responsibility (CSR). CSR involves various issues that can meet demands from multiple stakeholders. A firm can focus on certain CSR issues to satisfy a particular stakeholder while ignoring the demands from other stakeholders, or it can take a more balanced approach to CSR by addressing a wider range of social issues. In this paper, I investigate how stakeholder pressures from three types of primary stakeholders (customer, supplier, and employee) shape selective engagement in CSR. The empirical results based on a representative sample of more than 1,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the early 2000s suggest that firms prioritize their stakeholders based on instrumental considerations. Those stakeholders who have greater power over the focal firm will exert a larger impact on a firm’s CSR engagement. Constrained by limited managerial resources, firms accord attention to a limited range of issues most relevant to salient stakeholders. Specifically, MNCs as major customers pressure the focal firm to assume more responsibility for product quality, as well as on a wider range of social issues; SOEs as both major customers and major suppliers pressure the focal firm to assume more responsibility for employee welfare; employees with higher education pressure the focal firm to assume more responsibility for employee welfare, and for a wider range of social issues. This study contributes to stakeholder theory and research on the CSR of SMEs, and has important implications for CSR practitioners.     

Corporate social responsibility and employee attitudes: The moderating role of employee age

This study examines the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on employee engagement and job satisfaction. Using 322 responses from employees of selected companies in Ghana, and employing hierarchical regression analysis, the study examines the direct impact of economic, legal, ethical and discretionary CSR practices on employee satisfaction and engagement in organisations. The study further explores the moderating role of employee age on the relationship between CSR and employee engagement and satisfaction. The results provide evidence that economic, legal, ethical and discretionary CSR practices influence higher employee engagement and satisfaction levels at work. However, the study finds no evidence of employee age moderating the association between each of the four CSR dimensions and employee job attitudes (engagement and satisfaction). These findings are insightful and provide a response to calls for research on these issues. The study contributes to the literature by demonstrating that ethical CSR practices strongly influence employees' satisfaction and engagement levels; legal and discretionary CSR activities also have an influence, though to a lesser extent; and the economic dimension of CSR activities has the least impact. The managerial, practical and further research implications of these findings are discussed.     

Corporate social responsibility and employee outcomes: The role of country context

This study examined the association between employee perceptions of two foci of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and work attitudes in different countries. Using data collected as part of a multinational research project with a core team in the United States, we found that perceptions of externally focused CSR enactment were positively associated with employee engagement and affective commitment. Perceptions of internally focused CSR enactment were positively associated with affective commitment but not with employee engagement. Analyses across countries revealed more cultural than economic differences. For example, perceptions of internally focused CSR enactment were consistently associated with affective commitment across cultural contexts, indicating that they might serve as a general foundation for building commitment. Perceptions of externally focused CSR were more strongly associated with affective commitment in Anglo than in Confucian and Latin American countries, suggesting a need for country-specific tailoring. Based on these results, we provided recommendations for planning and implementation of CSR.     

CSR development in post‐communist economies: employees' expectations regarding corporate socially responsible behaviour – the case of Romania

Drawing on stakeholder theory and the evolutionary approach to institutions, this paper investigates the channels through which corporate social responsibility (CSR) is developed in post‐communist economies by focusing on the employee background factors that shape the employees' expectations with regard to corporate socially responsible behaviour. We identify three channels through which exogenous and endogenous CSR are developed: employees with work experience in multinational enterprises (MNEs) (leading to exogenous CSR), employees with CSR knowledge (leading to exogenous CSR) and employees with experience of the socialist system (leading to endogenous CSR). Furthermore, we argue that the interactions between these channels lead to hybrid CSR in transition economies. We use a questionnaire‐based survey with employees of domestic and MNEs in Romania and we conduct regression analysis. We find that employees with work experience in MNEs act as channels for exogenous CSR, while employees with experience of the socialist system act as channels for endogenous CSR. Furthermore, employees with experience of the socialist system and CSR knowledge or work experience in an MNE act as channels for hybrid CSR in transition economies. Based on our results, we put forward implications for theory, managers and policy makers.     

Determinants of Success of Employer Branding in a Start‐up Firm in Nigeria

This article aims at providing an understanding of factors that determine the success and failure of employer branding. An African steel‐producing start‐up company developed an employer brand image, which enabled it to effectively attract and hire talent from the labor market and inspired high engagement and productivity. A few years later, the firm lost its attractive brand image and its employer brand loyalty also declined. The study is a longitudinal investigation, and data were collected from policies and through structured interviews with the employees, ex‐employees of the organization, and prospective employees. Findings show amazing success of the employer brand in the first six years in talent attraction, hiring, engagement, and retention. Thereafter, the brand lost its potency, and its dysfunctionality significantly impacted on the future of the firm—employee dissatisfaction, decline in productivity, and increase in turnover. The reasons include a toxic organizational environment, overbranding, failure to keep promises, disconnect between employer branding and human resource strategy, shift of emphasis by senior management from people to production, and lack of a dynamic and differentiated employee value proposition. The study offers practical lessons to managers. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Learning to perform? A comparison of learning practices and organizational performance in profit‐ and non‐profit‐making sectors in the UK

To date, much of the research on employee development activities and organizational performance has been conducted in private sector organizations, with the largely untested assumption that the same findings will apply to other sectors. This paper addresses the deficit by describing a study comparing differences in the use of employee learning practices between profit‐making and non‐profit‐making organizations, and examining the relationship between these learning practices and multiple dimensions of organizational performance. The study data was gathered through conducting structured telephone interviews with senior training and development managers in 368 UK organizations from a range of sectors. It was found that non‐profit‐making organizations had greater engagement in individual employee learning practices than profit‐making organizations, but no differences were found in terms of team learning practices or engagement in strategic needs analysis and evaluation activities. The analyses also indicated that individual learning practices showed a stronger relationship with performance in the non‐profit‐making organizations, whereas team learning practices were more significant for the profit‐making companies. The learning practices collectively accounted for greater variance in organizational performance in the non‐profit‐making organizations. The study implies that the functional aims of organizations need to be taken into account when examining the learning practice–organizational performance relationship.     

The Influence of Internal and External Codes on CSR Practice: The Case of Companies Operating in Serbia

In this article, our aim is to examine the difference between the corporate social responsibility (CSR) practice of the multinational companies (MNCs) and of the domestic companies operating in Serbia, as well as the influence of internal self-regulations such as statements of corporate values and codes of conduct, and external self-regulations such as the implementation of the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards on CSR practice. The CSR practice is observed in five CSR areas: employee relations, customer relations, environmental practice, community and social involvement, and transparency in business activity. The findings indicate that the CSR practice of the MNCs is significantly different in comparison to domestic companies only in the area of employee relations. Furthermore, the overall results suggest that internal self-regulations have more influence on CSR practice than the implementation of generic management system standards. However, the existence of transparent corporate values, codes of conduct and implemented management systems according to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards does not prove to be strong predictors of CSR performance.     

Determinants of Community‐Based Sponsorship Impact on Self‐Congruity

Sponsors increasingly shift from large professional to community‐based properties, as these can deliver an engaged audience and enable them to demonstrate their corporate social responsibility (CSR). This research comprises two studies and shows that community‐based sponsorship may improve CSR image and, in turn, self‐congruity, a key determinant of consumer behavior. Study 1 investigates perceived sponsor–club fit, confirming attitude and corporate positioning similarity as relevant predictors. Importantly, CSR image similarity does not impact fit, suggesting sponsorship opportunities for organizations independent of their initial CSR image. Study 2 shows perceived sponsor CSR image to mediate the relationship between the perceptions of a community‐based property's CSR image and consumers' self‐congruity with the sponsor. While perceived sponsor–club fit and sponsorship awareness moderate the relationship between property and sponsor CSR image, attitudes toward CSR moderate the association between sponsor CSR and self‐congruity. The paper concludes with implications and future research directions.     

Colliding Employer‐Employee Perspectives of Employee Turnover: Evidence from a Born‐Global Industry

Set in the context of internationalization of the global division of labor, this article provides a deeper exploration of qualitative themes of conflicting accounts of employees’ reasons to quit and managerial strategies to prevent employee turnover in six business process outsourcing firms operating in India. Such differences in cognition and action between the two constituencies suggest that the decision to quit is not a linear and rational process as highlighted in most extant models of employee turnover. Our findings suggest that employees are attached more to a place or people they work with rather than the organization per se. Intergenerational differences between Generation Y knowledge workers and Generation X managers and the ineffectiveness of espoused human resource practices suggest the presence of “push” human resource management (HRM) systems. Our findings have implications for employee turnover models, intergenerational theory and high‐commitment HRM, and practitioners. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The Roles of HRM in CSR: Strategic Partnership or Operational Support?

As the implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy requires promoting employee participation and initiating meaningful changes in organisational culture, the involvement of the human resource management (HRM) function in policy formulation and implementation is highly desirable. The relationship between the HRM and CSR functions is, however, under-investigated than other areas. Hence, there is a lack of clarity concerning HRM roles and the conditions under which they may be strategic or operational in nature. By drawing on data from interviews with 29 CSR and HRM professionals of large organisations in New Zealand, this paper argues that the role and contribution of the HR function in CSR is contingent on organisational variables such as the CSR structure, the scope and application of CSR and the nature of the HR functions. It concludes that in such contexts HRM is more likely to offer operational support in executing CSR rather than strategic input.     

The effects of power on consumers’ evaluation of a luxury brand's corporate social responsibility

This paper examines how power affects consumers’ responses to corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of luxury brands. The results of three studies show that high‐power individuals evaluated a luxury brand's CSR campaign more positively than low‐power individuals. High‐power individuals viewed CSR activities as being more fluent than low‐power individuals. This study further demonstrates that power influences consumers’ responses to nonluxury brand's CSR activities. Low‐power individuals, who are more receptive to warmth, evaluated nonluxury brand's CSR more favorably rather than high‐power individuals.     

Forward looking or looking unaffordable? Utilising academic perspectives on corporate social responsibility to assess the factors influencing its adoption by business

The paper demonstrates its ‘CSR at a tipping point’ thesis by juxtaposing views of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as essential for business and societal sustainability against those that see CSR as unaffordable or irrelevant in the current economic climate. Drawing from Kohlberg's seminal theory of moral development, CSR is conceptualised as the development of organisation moral reasoning, and the proposition is illustrated by demonstrating inter‐disciplinary similarities in levels of ethical concern within different approaches to the practice of marketing, human resource management (HRM) and performance management. Levels of concern for CSR are related to environmental and firm‐specific drivers and constraints that influence the CSR dynamic. Environmental influences on organisational CSR stances emanate from a range of stakeholder constituencies, while the importance accorded to CSR is also influenced by firm‐specific factors such as the organisation's stage of development, strategy and leadership. The paper's identification of inter‐disciplinary similarities in the varying levels of concern for CSR and its delineation of CSR drivers and constraints contribute to CSR theory, and these frameworks also represent analytical tools that managers can use to assess or to change an organisation's CSR stance. The multi‐level perspective on CSR adopted by the paper links an organisation's overall or ‘macro’ CSR stance to the ‘meso’ levels of CSR represented by practice within its specialist functions. It proposes that the ‘CSR at a tipping point’ proposition is assessed by utilising the conceptual model in the paper within a case‐study research design to determine whether specific organisations – identified as ‘CSR‐positive’ ones by their relatively high level of concern for stakeholder welfare – are changing the importance they accord to CSR as a result of the new business context, and the extent to which practice in their marketing, HRM and performance management functions are shapers or consequences of this.     

Is it ‘you’ or ‘your workplace’? Predictors of job‐related training in the Anglo‐American world

This paper examines the determinants of job‐related training and workplace voice. Using data from a unique 2016 cross‐national survey of Australian, British, Canadian and American employees, the paper contrasts two classic formulations in the literature; (1) the neoclassical/human capital approach which predicts that individual characteristics (such as age and education) which increase the efficiency of learning, will have the largest impact on the allocation of training (i.e. younger and more educated employees will be afforded training) and (2) the traditional institutional approach which favors the structural characteristics present at the industry and firm level, the nature of the job itself and the strategic choices of firms as the major predictors of job‐related training. We find that age – a key factor in the human capital model – plays a significant role in the allocation of training but that education (in keeping with recent evidence) does not. In sum the human capital model provides, at best, only a partial explanation for the differences in training observed across individuals. In contrast, variables invoked by the institutional literature (i.e. occupation level; industry; ownership type; and market structure) are highly significant and account for a much greater proportion of the variance in training observed across workers. Other institutional factors such as the presence of a union and a human resource department were strong positive predictors of job‐related training. But most important were product‐market strategy and employee voice. Respondents working in firms utilizing a ‘high road/high quality’ product/service strategy and with a workplace consultative committee were significantly more likely to receive training than similar workers employed in observably similar firms. This last finding supports the industrial relations view of voice as an important channel by which training is optimally delivered inside the firm.     

The Influence of Servant Leadership on Restaurant Employee Engagement

Servant leadership is a leadership philosophy which addresses the concerns of ethics, customer experience, and employee engagement while creating a unique organizational culture where both leaders and followers unite to reach organizational goals without positional or authoritative power. With employees viewed as one of the greatest assets for organizations, maintaining loyal, productive employees while balancing profits becomes a challenge for leaders, and drives the need to understand employee engagement drivers. Thus, the purpose of this study was to qualitatively explore servant leadership from the perspective of employees. Participants were 11 employees from a servant leadership led restaurant who took part in two focus groups. The modified van Kaam method (Moustakas 1994) contributed to data analysis, which examined employee responses for comparison and assessment. Several themes emerged including servant leader experience, servant leader traits, the impact of servant leadership, the application of servant leadership, and limited employee attrition. The themes revealed servant leadership positively influences employee engagement while contributing to employee loyalty to the workplace. Based on the servant leader experience, participants were more committed, built healthy work relationships, and actively participated in achieving organizational goals. Findings are discussed in light of current research and practical applications are provided.