Employee volunteering: soul, body and CSR

Abstract

PurposeBy focusing on the intra‐organization dimension of corporate social responsibility (CSR), this paper aims to offer an ethnographic analysis of the way Coca‐Cola integrates its re‐branding and marketing strategies with CSR and the processes through which this strategic agenda is diffused into the company's national franchise in Israel.Design/methodology/approachThe research is based on a combined qualitative methodology of interviews with managers and employees on all levels of the organization; participant observations of formal meetings, company events and informal gatherings; and document evaluation.FindingsThis paper shows how the CSR program is purposefully and rationally designed to meet the standards of a business case approach to CSR and that, accordingly, company managers integrate it into the activities of departments and divisions such as sales, marketing, and human resources (HR). The paper further shows that the cause‐marketing and product‐branding goals underlying the global re‐branding strategy of Coca‐Cola have been mediated through employee volunteering projects that are based on the recruitment and mobilization of the physical bodies of employees not only as “bodily‐corporate‐producers”, but also as “bodily‐corporate‐ambassadors”.Research limitations/implicationsThe in‐depth empirical research that focused on a single corporation enabled the author to reach a better understanding of the intricate organizational processes involved in the implementation of CSR programs and their effects. At the same time, the research plan lacks a comparative examination of similar processes in other corporations. In this regard, this paper delineates the theoretical and empirical contours for future studies on the actual effects of implementation processes of the business case model for CSR.Originality/valueThe paper enriches a missing part in the literature regarding empirical examination of the impact of CSR at close range and at the level of individual firms.