Managerial Mindsets Toward Corporate Social Responsibility: The Case of Auto Industry in Iran

Ebrahim Soltani,Abdullah Iqbal,Jawad Syed,Ying-Ying Liao

doi:10.1007/s10551-014-2137-4

Abstract

Abstract Despite a plethora of empirical evidence on the potential role of senior management in the success of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Western-dominated organizational contexts, little attempt has been made to document the various managerial mindsets toward CSR in organizations in Muslim-dominated countries in the Middle East region. To address this existing lacuna of theoretical and empirical research in CSR management, this paper offers a qualitative case study of CSR in three manufacturing firms operating in Iran’s auto industry. Based on an inductive analysis of the qualitative data, three types of managerial mindset toward CSR are identified: conformist, self-seeker, and satisfier. While it is evident that these different mindsets of Iranian managers seek to serve managerial ends and short-term self-interests, they fall short of core values of Islamic ethics and CSR.

Highlights

There is a burgeoning theoretical and empirical literature on the adoption and implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in ‘‘advanced industrialized nations’’ in the West, as well as in ‘‘emerging market economies’’ (CIA 2013; Carroll 1999; Chambers et al 2003; Matten and Moon 2008; Fukukawa and Teramoto 2009; Jamali 2007; Cheung et al 2010; Yin and Zhang 2012; Khan et al 2013)
In order to better understand the managerial mindsets toward CSR within the context of the three automotive cases, this section first describes the features of each single case
Given the limited scholarship on Islamic CSR and business ethics in the global economy, coupled with Islamic resurgence and the dearth of research on ‘‘managerial attitudes toward CSR’’, this study provides empirical insights into the managerial mindset toward CSR in the Muslim-dominated region of the Middle East (Metcalfe and Syed 2012)

Summary

Introduction

There is a burgeoning theoretical and empirical literature on the adoption and implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in ‘‘advanced industrialized nations’’ in the West, as well as in ‘‘emerging market economies’’ (CIA 2013; Carroll 1999; Chambers et al 2003; Matten and Moon 2008; Fukukawa and Teramoto 2009; Jamali 2007; Cheung et al 2010; Yin and Zhang 2012; Khan et al 2013) Financial benefits such as profit maximization and non-financial benefits such as talent management (Bhattacharya et al 2008), risk aversion (Kytle and Singh 2005), and brand differentiation (Paluszek 2005) have been frequently cited as incentives for managers to be socially responsible (see Waldman et al 2004). Businesses and individuals are expected to commit themselves to their contractual obligations and lead a virtuous life in accordance with the Islamic Shariah (referred to as the kernel of Islamic law and the epitome of Islamic thought) (Dusuki 2008; Dusuki and Bouheraoua 2011)

Methods

Results

Conclusion