The Effects of CEO Trustworthiness on Directors’ Monitoring and Resource Provision

This research investigates the interplay between leadership styles and institutional corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. A large-scale field survey of managers reveals that firms with greater transformational leadership are more likely to engage in institutional CSR practices, whereas transactional leadership is not associated with such practices. Furthermore, stakeholder-oriented marketing reinforces the positive link between transformational leadership and institutional CSR practices. Finally, transactional leadership enhances, whereas transformational leadership diminishes, the positive relationship between institutional CSR practices and organizational outcomes. This research highlights the differential roles that transformational and transactional leadership styles play for a firm’s institutional CSR practices and has significant implications for theory and practice.     

Corporate Social Responsibility in Western Europe: An Institutional Mirror or Substitute?

In spite of extensive research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its link with economic and social performance, few studies have investigated the institutional determinants of CSR. This article draws upon neo-institutional theory and comparative institutional analysis to compare the influence of different institutional environments on CSR policies of European firms. On the basis of a dataset of European firms, we find that firms from the more liberal market economies of the Anglo-Saxon countries score higher on most dimensions of CSR than firms in the more coordinated market economies (CMEs) in Continental Europe. This result lends support to the view of voluntary CSR practices in liberal economies as being a substitute for institutionalized forms of stakeholder participation. Meanwhile, CSR tends not to mirror more institutionalized forms of stakeholder coordination. Instead, in CMEs, CSR often takes on more implicit forms. Our analysis also shows that national institutional and sectoral-level factors have an asymmetric effect – strongly influencing the likelihood of firms adopting ‘minimum standards’ of CSR, but having little influence on the adoption of ‘best practices’.     

The Role of Religiosity in Business and Consumer Ethics: A Review of the Literature

This study investigates antecedents of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in multinational corporations’ (MNCs’) subsidiaries. Using stakeholder theory and institutional theory that identify internal and external pressures for legitimacy in MNCs’ subsidiaries, we integrate international business and CSR literatures to create a model depicting CSR practices in MNCs’ subsidiaries. We propose that MNCs’ subsidiaries will be likely to adapt to local practices to legitimize themselves if they operate in host countries with different institutional environments and demanding stakeholders. We also predict that MNCs’ subsidiaries will be likely to adapt to local practices to avoid spillover effects if their parent companies suffer major legitimacy problems at home or abroad. However, we speculate that MNCs’ subsidiaries will be less likely to adapt to local practices if they are strongly annexed to their parent companies and the benefit to gain internal legitimacy outweighs external legitimacy. This article contributes to the discourse on CSR across borders by exploring the antecedents of CSR practices in MNCs’ subsidiaries at social and organizational levels, and integrating institutional and stakeholder views. We provide a number of propositions for future studies and explore implications for practitioners.     

The Signaling Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility in Emerging Economies

What signals do firms in emerging economies send to stakeholders when they adopt corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices? We argue that in emerging economies, firms that adopt CSR practices positively signal investors that their firms have superior capabilities for filling institutional voids. From an institution-based view, we hypothesize that the institutional environment moderates the signaling effect of CSR on a firm’s financial performance. Based on a sample of firms from ten Asian emerging economies, we find a positive relationship between CSR practices and financial performance. This positive relationship is stronger in the less developed capital market than in the more developed one. The financial benefits of CSR practices are also more salient in the low information diffusion market than in the high one. We emphasize that signaling theory and the institution-based view can jointly contribute to the CSR literature.     

Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Governance: Role of Context in International Settings

This research aims to explore the relationship between corporate governance and CSR: What are the major factors that play a direct role in the establishment of this relationship? How does context and institutional background impact upon the relationship between CSR and Governance? Using in-depth semi-structured interviews from two types of governance systems in three countries over three years, this study has demonstrated that in practice, within different settings, CSR is being used both as a strategy as well as a reaction to different drivers. We call this adaptive governance where governance can be defined as a flexible system of action incorporating strategic and monitoring activities that determines the way a company enacts its responsibilities to its shareholders and stakeholders and which is determined at any given time by the interrelationship of institutional drivers and behavioural norms. Governance systems and their interrelationships with CSR are demonstrated as fluid according to the national and institutional context, economic situation and industry impact. In the eyes of practitioners corporate governance includes both structural and behavioural factors as well as responsibilities and actions towards shareholders and stakeholders. Contextual factors that this research highlights to be important to the incorporation of CSR into governance include the economic environment, national governance system, regulation and soft law, shareholders, national culture, behavioural norms and industry impacts. Hypotheses on the impact of institutional contexts, industry impacts and economic situations on different types of CSR actions are proposed for further research.     

An Institutional Analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility in Kenya

There is little doubt that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is now a global concept and a prominent feature of international business, with its practice localised and differing across countries. Despite the growing body of research focussing on CSR in developing countries, there is dearth research on CSR institutionalisation in African countries. Drawing on institutional theory (IT), this article examines the focus and form of CSR practice of companies in Kenya. It is evident from our findings that the nature and orientation of CSR differ across companies with operations only in Kenya and those headquartered abroad or with international operations. Significantly, firm-related drivers such as public relations and performance, as well as global institutional pressures explain the focus and form of CSR in Kenya. This article concludes that for the institutionalisation of CSR in Kenya, attention must be paid to conditions that stifle CSR uptake such as lack of government regulations, and the government’s capacity and commitment to enforce regulation. The establishment of functional CSR institutions and a vibrant civil society that advance civil regulation ought to be encouraged.     

“Teaching the Sushi Chef”: Hybridization Work and CSR Integration in a Japanese Multinational Company

While corporate social responsibility (CSR) is recognized as taking on various national meanings and practices, research has not sufficiently investigated how multinational companies (MNC) simultaneously achieve global CSR integration and local CSR adaptation. Building on a qualitative case study carried out at ASICS, an MNC headquartered in Japan, we show how this organizational dilemma may be solved through hybridization work, a form of institutional work performed by CSR managers in subsidiaries to combine and adapt different institutional approaches to CSR. By developing the notion of hybridization work, we contribute by (1) revealing a set of practices that contribute to institutional change within organizations and (2) enriching the study of CSR organizational change and international business by showing how hybridization Work leads to a greater organizational integration between core and periphery, and by identifying the triggering factors for subsidiary initiative in CSR.     

The impact of globalization on HRM: the case of South Korea

Globalization can have far reaching implications for human resource management (HRM) and management practice in general. For some, globalization creates pressures for a common, often taken as ‘best’, transferable set of HRM practices that can spread around the world. These best practices are considered powerful enough to override existing systems. In contrast, others see national based HRM systems as more resilient, partly because of the systemic underpinnings of particular cultural and institutional milieu. Both views contain important implications and lessons. We outline these, a framework for viewing them and the case of HRM in South Korea to demonstrate the issues, contradictions and dilemmas and ways of thinking so that practitioners can make informed choices concerning HRM practices to develop competency enhancing HRM systems.     

A Comparison of Young Publics’ Evaluations of Corporate Social Responsibility Practices of Multinational Corporations in the United States and South Korea

The purpose of this study was to examine how young publics in the United States and South Korea perceive the corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices of multinational corporations and evaluate the effectiveness of CSR practices in terms of organization–public relationship (OPR). Results showed that young publics in the United States and South Korea differently characterized CSR practices of multinational corporations and evaluated relationships with them. Young American participants evaluated the CSR practices of multinational corporations more favorably than did the young Korean participants. In addition, four CSR practices (internal environment, moral, discretionary, and relational) were associated with OPR dimensions in the United States, while only relational CSR practices were significantly related to OPR dimensions in South Korea. Overall, the findings highlight that cultural and societal meanings were embedded in identifying CSR practices and evaluating the relationship with multinational corporations involved in CSR practices.     

An external perspective on CSR: What matters and what does not?

The paper aims at investigating external factors influencing organizational corporate social responsibility (CSR)-related decision making. Two theoretical perspectives—stakeholder theory and institutional theory—have been applied to compile a list of external factors that might affect a company's CSR choices. As a result, a framework built on the government-related, society-related, and business-related groups of external factors is being suggested. This framework is used in the paper to answer (a) to what extent do different external factors influence CSR-related decisions in large Danish companies and (b) how has that influence changed over the years. The research takes a qualitative approach and is designed as a multiple-case study. Empirically, the paper relies on data collected from semi-structured interviews with CSR specialists and managers and presents a dynamic perspective on the pressure exercised by the external factors on CSR decisions and choices.     

Towards an Understanding of Social Responsibility Within the Church of England

This research explores the interplay of individual, organisational and institutional variables that produce the current pattern of social responsibility practices within a specific religious organisation, namely the Church of England. By combining elements primarily of neo-institutional theory with Bourdieu’s theory of practice, we construct a theoretical framework to examine the extent to which social responsibility activity is modified or informed by a distinctive faith perspective. Given that neo-institutional theory predicts a convergence of structures and practices between different organisations operating in the same institutional sector, this research draws on a single case study focusing on social responsibility activity in six different Church of England dioceses and shows that the opposite is actually the case: there is evidence of a significant degree of divergence in terms of organisational practice within the same institutional structure. Reasons for that were found to be the impact of human agency and loose institutional structures. This paper thus contributes to the understanding of social responsibility in religious organisations by exploring the dynamics between institutional pressures, organisational context and individual agents operating in the field of faith-based social responsibility. It thereby also contributes to neo-institutional theory.     

Multinational Enterprise Subsidiaries and their CSR: A Conceptual Framework of the Management of CSR in Smaller Emerging Economies

There is a lack of theoretical consensus on how multinational enterprises (MNEs) should implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) to build legitimacy, particularly those operating in the smaller Asian emerging market context, where current growth in the global economy is being felt more acutely than elsewhere. This paper argues for theoretical integration of business ethics (BE) and international business (IB) research to address this concern. Hence, we explore the management of CSR strategies by MNE subsidiaries with specific interest on their proactive adoption of strategic CSR to obtain legitimacy in a foreign host country. Drawing on the recent CSR literature and related theories, including stakeholder theory and institutional theory, propositions and a conceptual framework are developed and presented. The framework integrates BE and IB concepts on the different dimensions of CSR and provides a theoretical derived explanation of the process for strategic adoption of global through to more local CSR strategies by MNE subsidiaries to build legitimacy in an emerging market context. In addition, the framework provides valuable insights into the adoption of different ethical approaches or CSR strategies based on the level of ethical pressure in a host country and the degree of CSR ingrainedness in the parent company.     

Predicting corporate social responsiveness: A model drawn from three perspectives

Most studies of corporate social responsiveness (CSR) focus on the relationship between CSR and profit. Here, we use three perspectives (institutional theory, economic theory and agency theory) to explain CSR. Industry norms, market share and indicators of management reputation predict variance in CSR. The combined perspectives improve understanding of both CSR and the CSR-profit relationship in two ways. First, they suggest that CSR levels and their relationship with profit will vary by industry. Second, they suggest that stock market measures and accounting measures will respond differently to CSR measures. Stock market measures lead, while accounting measures lag, CSR.Dr. Barbara Beliveau is an Assistant Professor of Finance at the University of Connecticut. She has published inThe Journal of Risk and Insurance andThe Journal of Insurance: Issues and Practices. Her current research deals with efficient market theory and other issues in applied microeconomics and finance.Dr. Melville Cottrill is an Associate Professor of Management at Southern Connecticut State University, where he is also director of the school's small business outreach efforts. In addition to teaching, Dr. Cottrill remains a member of State and Federal Bars.Dr. Hugh O'Neill is an Associate Professor of Strategy in the Kenan-Flagler School of Business at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He has also served at Grand Valley State University and the University of Connecticut. His current research included investigations of management decision making, downsizing, and Board of Director involvement in CSR.     

Institutional dynamics and organizations affecting the adoption of sustainable development in the United Kingdom and Brazil

This paper provides an exploratory comparative assessment of the institutional pressures influencing corporate social responsibility (CSR) in a developed country, UK, vs. a developing country, Brazil, based on a survey of different actors. Information on sustainability concerns, organizational strategies and mechanisms of pressure was collected through interviews with environmental regulatory agencies, financial institutions, media and non‐governmental organizations. Our results confirm that the more advanced awareness and CSR responsiveness in the UK is a consequence of a predominance of coercive and normative forces on the organizational field. The institutional forces tend to build a Brazilian organizational field that is relational based and risk intensive. The findings lend support to the view that CSR responses are unlikely to be easily transformed into uniform standardized practices across the globe. This paper contributes to a collective understanding of the organizational field and a common template for CSR in the context of developed and developing countries.     

Corporate Social Responsibility in Transnational Spaces: Exploring Influences of Varieties of Capitalism on Expressions of Corporate Codes of Conduct in Nigeria

Drawing from the varieties of capitalism theoretical framework, the study explores the home country influences of multinational corporations (MNCs) on their corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices when they operate outside their national/regional institutional contexts. The study focusses on a particular CSR practice (i.e. corporate expressions of code of conducts) of seven MNCs from three varieties of capitalism – coordinated (2), mixed (2) and liberal (3) market economies – operating in the oil and gas sector of the Nigerian economy. The study concludes that the corporate codes of conduct of these MNCs operating in Nigeria, to a large extent, reflect the characteristics of their home countries’ model of capitalism, respectively, albeit with certain degree of modifications. The home countries’ model of capitalism is also found to have implications for the degree of adaptability of these MNCs’ CSR practices to the Nigerian institutional context – with the mixed market economy model of capitalism adapting more flexibly than the liberal and coordinated market economies, respectively. The findings of this study will contribute to the emerging literature on the institutional embeddedness of CSR practices in transnational social spaces, understanding of varieties of capitalism, and CSR in developing economies.     

Law‐abiding organizational climates in developing countries: The role of institutional factors and socially responsible organizational practices

The institutional environment of developing countries may lead firms to engage in unlawful firm conduct, which is a pervasive problem in this context. Our paper examines the effectiveness of organizational practices for ensuring that firms adhere to the law in the light of pressures from the institutional environment to be unlawful. Using the lens of anomie theory, we investigate: (a) the negative effect of aspects of the institutional context—regulatory burden and lack of industry munificence—on a law‐abiding climate, a type of organizational climate related to unlawful conduct, and (b) the role of socially responsible organizational practices in combating these negative effects. Survey data were collected from 118 firms and analysed using OLS moderated regression. Our results indicate that a manager's perceptions of regulatory burden and lack of industry munificence are negatively related to the extent to which the firm has a law‐abiding climate. Furthermore, our findings shed light on the ability of socially responsible practices to countervail this effect. While the negative effect of perceived regulatory burden on law‐abiding climate weakens when codes of ethics are used more extensively by a firm, it strengthens when firms hold a CSR certification. The latter finding may be due to the lack of enforcement associated with the specific certification considered in our study.     

The Embeddedness of Responsible Business Practice: Exploring the Interaction Between National-Institutional Environments and Corporate Social Responsibility

Academic literature recognizes that firms in different countries deal with corporate social responsibility (CSR) in different ways. Because of this, analysts presume that variations in national-institutional arrangements affect CSR practices. Literature, however, lacks specificity in determining, first, what parts of national political-economic configurations actually affect CSR practices; second, the precise aspects of CSR affected by national-institutional variables; third, how causal mechanisms between national-institutional framework variables and aspects of CSR practices work. Because of this the literature is not able to address to what extent CSR practices are affected by either global or national policies, discourses and economic pressures; and to what extent CSR evolves as either an alternative to or an extension of national-institutional arrangements. This article proposes an alternative approach that focuses on an exploration of links between disaggregated variables, which can then be the basis for imagining new national-institutional configurations affecting aspects of CSR. It illustrates this approach with an exploration of the importance of development aid policy for CSR practices in global supply chains.     

Corporate Social Responsibility in Challenging and Non-enabling Institutional Contexts: Do Institutional Voids matter?

The extant literature on comparative Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) often assumes functioning and enabling institutional arrangements, such as strong government, market and civil society, as a necessary condition for responsible business practices. Setting aside this dominant assumption and drawing insights from a case study of Fidelity Bank, Nigeria, we explore why and how firms still pursue and enact responsible business practices in what could be described as challenging and non-enabling institutional contexts for CSR. Our findings suggest that responsible business practices in such contexts are often anchored on some CSR adaptive mechanisms. These mechanisms uniquely complement themselves and inform CSR strategies. The CSR adaptive mechanisms and strategies, in combination and in complementarity, then act as an institutional buffer (i.e. ‘institutional immunity’), which enables firms to successfully engage in responsible practices irrespective of their weak institutional settings. We leverage this understanding to contribute to CSR in developing economies, often characterised by challenging and non-enabling institutional contexts. The research, policy and practice implications are also discussed.     

Top executives' perceptions of the inclusion of corporate social responsibility in quality management

Exercise of global responsibility is critical to the future of quality practices in business, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) is relevant to the quality movement. However, not much is known about management perceptions of CSR in the specific context of quality management. This paper examines top executives' views on CSR and quality management implemented through the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) framework. We report the results of a survey of executives in a multinational corporation operating in the outsourcing and technology services industry. The main factors influencing managerial perceptions were value generation, industry forces, institutional and stakeholder pressures, and organizational values and beliefs. In contrast to previous studies, we found limited evidence supporting the influence of shareholder pressures, competition, or the business case for CSR. We concluded that company lifecycle, changes in ownership structure, and owners' orientation toward CSR influenced its potential for adoption through implementation of the EFQM quality framework.     

How home country industry associations influence MNE international CSR practices: Evidence from the Canadian mining industry

We explore how national industry associations influence the international CSR practices of MNEs. Drawing from a longitudinal case study of the evolution of CSR in the Canadian mining industry, we show how the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) aimed to influence the CSR practices of its member firms operating outside of Canada. Our findings reveal how MAC utilized multiple strategies to influence member firms in both the regulative and normative realm. We uncover the key mechanisms underpinning these strategies and factors that constrained or enabled the degree of their influence. Our study contributes to research on home country influences on MNE CSR practices and research on industry associations as institutional actors.