Abstract
Most studies of corporate social responsibility (CSR) have focused on the organisational level, while the individual level of analysis has been treated as a ‘black box’ when researching antecedents of CSR engagement or disengagement. This article offers insights into a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) that is recognised as a pioneer in CSR. Although the extant literature suggests that the owner-manager is crucial in the implementation of CSR, this study reveals that employees drive CSR. The employees in the focal firm voluntarily joined forces based on their shared perception of moral responsibility for CSR and they developed strict targets to be achieved by 2030. Despite their strong ethical and moral perspective when enacting CSR, they disengaged from their moral responsibility for CSR in various contexts. This paper contributes to the theory of moral decoupling by uncovering a novel context of disengagement—‘visionary procrastination’. Visionary procrastination is suggested to be a particularly relevant context of disengagement when individuals perceive moral responsibility for CSR. Moreover, by delivering insights into the antecedents of employee-initiated CSR on the organisational level, this study adds to the growing body of literature on the micro-foundations of CSR.
Highlights
Many empirical studies of corporate social responsibility (CSR) share a common focus—the quantitative scrutiny of CSR in multinational corporations (MNCs)—even though they adopt a wide variety of theories (Aguinis and Glavas 2012; Lockett et al 2006; Wickert and De Bakker 2018)
This article seeks to shed light on CSR micro-foundations by asking the following question: How is moral responsibility part of CSR enactment in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)? The findings indicate that CSR may be initiated by the employees’ perceptions of moral responsibility for CSR
The members of that group explained that their motivations for enacting CSR were based on a perceived moral responsibility to engage in CSR
Summary
Many empirical studies of corporate social responsibility (CSR) share a common focus—the quantitative scrutiny of CSR in multinational corporations (MNCs)—even though they adopt a wide variety of theories (Aguinis and Glavas 2012; Lockett et al 2006; Wickert and De Bakker 2018). The focus on MNCs may be rooted in the fact that CSR is often assumed to emerge from external pressures, such as exposure to stakeholder demands As more than 99%1 of companies in the European Union are SMEs (EC 2017) and as SMEs account for 70% of industrial pollution (Hillary 2004), SMEs constitute a crucial gateway to positive social and environmental impacts. SMEs normally do not have their own CSR departments. Whether an organisation establishes CSR policies might depend on individual employees. Employees act as proponents for CSR and assume responsibility for enacting CSR through their work roles, concepts such as moral responsibility Employees act as proponents for CSR and assume responsibility for enacting CSR through their work roles, concepts such as moral responsibility (e.g. McMahon 1995; Velasquez 1983, 2003) can offer distinct insights into the micro-foundations of CSR
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