Understanding the behavioral gap: Why would managers (not) engage in CSR-related activities?

Abstract

Within their day-to-day decision-making, managers face various decision-making scenarios that include CSR-related aspects. However, there is no certainty, that managers will consider these aspects while weighing up their options. This paper examines top-level managers’ intentions to engage in CSR-related activities as they determine the extent of potential management control problems that might result from managerial behavior that deviates from corporate expectations in these decision-making scenarios. According to the theory of planned behavior, intention is determined by three psychological constructs, namely attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. We conduct two vignette surveys to examine the effect of the theory’s constructs on corporate CSR-related activities among German firms. Top-level managers participated in our study by completing an online questionnaire. Our results show that attitude towards CSR-related activities has a strong impact on the intentions to engage in certain activities. Furthermore, perceived behavioral control also influences top-level managers’ intentions to engage in CSR-related activities. However, the influence of subjective norm is not supported. Our findings provide important suggestions for the design of effective management control systems that set an important basis for long-term behavior, which is in line with corporate CSR-related goals and strategic objectives. Furthermore, our findings are relevant to governmental agencies, which seek to support the integration of CSR into corporate (core business) activities.