Balancing the Old with the New: Creating a Typology for Explicit-Implicit CSRS Interaction

Abstract

In this article the authors articulate four separate models that consider the inter-relationships between Explicit and Implicit Corporate Social Responsibility. These models suggest that the transition from a traditional and 'quiet' social responsibility approach to a strategic and more expressive communication is design is variable and influenced by both institutional and firm level factors. At the institutional level, market liberalization, social legacy, localization forces and cultural legitimacy may all help predict where firms exist along the Explicit-Implicit continuum. Organizationally, strategy, social significance, market size and space, and self-determinism to moderate the extent to which firm adopts or resists Explicit CSRS. By considering these models and their related factors individually, the authors present a rich framework to educate future research in social responsibility and social change.