Corporate Social Responsibility Theory Research Articles

Adapting to the COVID-19 crisis: corporate social responsibility in an emerging market economy

ABSTRACT Grounded in the theories of stakeholder and corporate social responsibility (CSR), the study investigates the role of businesses in responding to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in an emerging market economy such as Bangladesh. Employing a convenience sampling procedure, ten commercial banks were selected as the sample for the study, and the content analysis method was utilised for data analysis. After examining the annual reports of a sample of banks, the study reveals that they have implemented diverse health safety, consumer essential needs, and community development-oriented CSR policies to safeguard their core stakeholders, such as employees, customers, and communities, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh. This indicates that corporations, through CSR initiatives, can maintain a win-win relationship between business and society, even in a crisis period. Lastly, the researcher recorded implications and proposed directions for future research on CSR policies in similar critical times, albeit in different circumstances.

Analyzing the Sustainability Report of Multinational Companies

Nowadays, more and more multinational corporations attach importance to sustainable development, and most of them present their annual decisions in sustainability reports. However, most multinational corporations only execute sustainability decisions to establish a good corporate image and reputation and meet public expectations, without rigorously evaluating the feasibility of sustainability reports and subsequent measurements, so this article uses HP, a representative multinational corporation, and critically analyzes HP's sustainability reports in recent years using the well-known and widely used GRI framework and corporate social responsibility theory.

The Influence of Internal Corporate Social Responsibility Factors on the Innovation Climate of Employees in the Healthcare Industry

This study examined the relationship between employee innovation and employee-initiated corporate social responsibility (CSR) elements in medical diagnostic enterprises in Pakistan during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research identified nine variables of employee-driven CSR, including communication, empowerment, and work satisfaction. Theoretical framework of the study based on theory of corporate social responsibility and expectancy theory of motivation. It evaluated their effects on the atmosphere for employee innovation using statistical analysis by using SPSS and after collecting data by using a survey questionnaire. The study population was employees working in the healthcare industry in Pakistan. The findings showed that employee-driven CSR and innovation were significantly correlated, with work satisfaction having the most impact. Overall, this quantitative study provides important insights for both theoretical understanding and practical application in fostering innovation through CSR initiatives. It emphasizes the critical role of job satisfaction as a key motivating factor for innovation within the framework of employee-driven CSR in the medical diagnostics sector.

Challenges and Opportunities of Integrating Social Responsibility and Ethical Practices in Hospitality and Tourism Operations in Ghana

Purpose: The study sought to analyze the challenges and opportunities of integrating social responsibility and ethical practices in hospitality and tourism operations.
 Methodology: The study adopted a desktop methodology. Desk research refers to secondary data or that which can be collected without fieldwork. Desk research is basically involved in collecting data from existing resources hence it is often considered a low cost technique as compared to field research, as the main cost is involved in executive’s time, telephone charges and directories. Thus, the study relied on already published studies, reports and statistics. This secondary data was easily accessed through the online journals and library.
 Findings: Integrating social responsibility and ethical practices in Ghana's hospitality and tourism sector faces challenges like limited awareness, resources, and cultural sensitivities. Despite hurdles, opportunities exist for positive change. Sustainable practices can drive economic development and community engagement, while conservation efforts enhance destination appeal. Collaboration among stakeholders is crucial for overcoming challenges and maximizing benefits.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Stakeholder theory, Corporate social responsibility (CSR) theory & Triple bottom line theory may be used to anchor future studies in the challenges and opportunities of integrating social responsibility and ethical practices in hospitality and tourism operations. Implement robust social responsibility programs that address the specific needs and concerns of local communities, employees, customers, and other stakeholders. Advocate for the development and implementation of supportive policies and regulations that incentivize and reward social responsibility initiatives in the hospitality and tourism industry.

Feminist Corporate Social Responsibility: Reframing CSR as a Critical Force for Good

AbstractWhile corporate social responsibility (CSR) research is now impressively broad, we identify fresh opportunities at the intersection of feminist and critical analysis to reframe this field as a force for good. We focus on the epistemological grounding of CSR in its potential to understand and change how managerial activity is interpreted and influenced for progressive ends. We approach this through a reading of the debate on CSR's limited practical use, to imagine a better methodological and purposeful future for CSR. This involves a different, feminist, political and ethical stance for researchers in relation to CSR as an object, to bring CSR theory and practice into alignment in order to revive its sense of purpose as a driving organizational force for good. Our change‐orientated approach is based on a reading of Judith Butler's notion of critique as praxis of values; it is politically aware, reflexive, and focused on the goal of good organization to address grand, often existential, challenges. We conclude by showing how this approach to CSR brings a more transparent way of analysing practice, requiring reflexive action on the part of those working with CSR initiatives both as practitioners and as researchers to co‐produce better futures.

Corporate social responsibility program: Based on community development in the village

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an action taken by a company as a form of social responsibility and the surrounding environment where the company operates. In this case, PT Pertamina Hulu Energi West Madura Offshore coordinates with Sidorukun Village to determine the fostered residents and beneficiaries of the CSR program. The purpose of this study to analyze/ explain the community empowerment-based CSR program in the village. This research uses a qualitative approach. Data collection techniques were carried out using observation, documentation and interviews. Researchers used purposive sampling and snowball sampling techniques to determine informants. The findings show that the implementation of CSR by PT Pertamina Hulu Energi West Madura Offshore is based on the CSR theory according to Sen and Bhattacharya, namely Community Support; Employee Support; Diversity; Environment; Non-US Operations; and Products, it can be concluded that the CSR of PT Pertamina Hulu Energi West Madura Offshore has met the theoretical criteria, starting from company policies that support education, health, and SME development programs. The implementation of nature conservation activities, innovation of processed products, and the company also provides employment opportunities for the community and pays attention to public safety and health during community empowerment activities.

Implementation of the Corporate Social Responsibility Program through Empowering Rural Communities

This research focuses on the implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs through empowering rural communities. The background of this research is because there are still many CSR implementations carried out by the company in the area where the company stands which are not appropriate and unsustainable. This research uses a bibliographic study method by utilizing literature materials in the form of books, journals and articles that are related to the title and theme of the study. In the focus of discussion in this research, there are several relevant theories, namely the theory of community empowerment, the theory of rural communities and the theory of corporate social responsibility. The result of this research is that community empowerment is one of the ideal methods for implementing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs. With rural community empowerment programs, the company implements empowerment based on the use of natural resources and human resources to create new sources in improving the quality of social, economic and environmental life of the community.

Can corporate ESG performance improve audit efficiency?: Empirical evidence based on audit latency perspective.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) is closely related to the "dual carbon" objective and the concept of sustainable development. The impact of ESG performance on audit efficiency, especially on audit delays, is still an issue to be studied in depth. Drawing on stakeholder theory, sustainable development theory, shared value concept and corporate social responsibility theory, this study adopts regression analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) to investigate the impact of ESG on audit efficiency based on the data of A-share listed companies in the period of 2015-2022, with a focus on audit delay. The results of regression analysis show that ESG performance has a significant effect on reducing audit delay, and audit delay is reduced by 0.007 on average for each unit increase in ESG performance. In structural equation modeling, the effect of ESG performance on audit delay is more significant, with an estimated value of -0.555 and a standard error of 0.097. In addition, the study shows that the corporate ESG performance on audit efficiency has a positive impact is more pronounced among firms with stronger ESG practices, especially among non-state-owned firms with lower institutional investor ownership and firms audited by "Big Four" firms. These results not only demonstrate the importance of ESG performance in improving audit efficiency, but also provide important guidance for corporate management and policy making. This study enriches the existing literature on corporate ESG performance and audit efficiency and provides new perspectives and directions for future research.

The puzzling association between accounting conservatism and corporate social responsibility

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to focus on exploring the mutual impact of accounting conservatism and corporate social responsibility (CSR).Design/methodology/approachTo empirically assess the theoretical arguments the authors estimate a simultaneous equations system for accounting conservatism and corporate social responsibility determination by two-stage least squares in a sample of 175 firms listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) for the period 2009–2019.FindingsThe results of the present study showed that accountability in companies listed on the TSE has led to an increase in the use of conservative practices. Therefore arguably, companies that seek CSR activities are more conservative in preparing and presenting financial reports. Also, companies that engage in conservative practices for the benefit of stakeholders are better able to implement CSR activities to meet stakeholder obligations. These results show a two-way relationship between CSR and accounting conservatism.Practical implicationsAccording to the results obtained from this study and the elimination of conservatism from the qualitative features of financial reporting in International Accounting Standards, it is recommended for the trustees and authorities of national accounting standards to decide whether this qualitative feature is effective or not.Originality/valueFurthermore, the findings of this study suggest that the application of corporate social responsibility theories calls for more inquiry.

Sustainable and entrepreneurial: a path to performance improvements for family firms?

This study endeavors to reconcile the limited, mixed findings related to entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility in the family firm context. Specifically, the relationships between entrepreneurial orientation (EO), sustainable investments in environmental and societal initiatives, and the interaction of EO and sustainable investments with family firm performance are evaluated. Data were collected through in-person interviews of 151 top managers of automobile and motorcycle dealerships. Secondary data were collected from ReferenceUSA to confirm the veracity of the primary performance data. Multiple linear regression models were used to evaluate the hypothesized relationships. The results indicate family firms realize higher performance with an EO by being proactive, innovative, and risk-taking. Moreover, sustainable investments are associated with higher family firm performance by either increasing revenues or decreasing costs. EO does not significantly accentuate the positive relationship between sustainable investments and performance. The observed interaction was contrary to expectations with EO acting as a substitute for sustainable investments; firms with an EO use a variety of initiatives, including but not limited to society and the environment, to improve performance. These findings advance the family business literature on entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility theory by establishing EO and socially responsible, sustainable investments as antecedents of family firm performance while also analyzing the EO-sustainable investment interaction.

Examining the link between responsible leadership and employee sustainable performance: the mediating role of ethical climate

PurposeThis study investigates the relationship between responsible leadership (RL) and employee sustainable performance (ESP), utilizing the CSR theory as a theoretical framework. Furthermore, this study aims to examine the role of ethical climate as a potential mediator in the relationship between RL and ESP.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 415 employees from the healthcare sector of India was collected through a questionnaire-based survey by using the convenience sampling technique. The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with the help of SmartPLS 4.FindingsThe study's findings demonstrated a significant, positive association between RL and ESP [employee well-being (EWB) and employee performance (EP)]. Additionally, the findings show that ethical climate partially mediates the link between RL and ESP (EWB and EP).Research limitations/implicationsThe generalizability of the study's data collection is limited because it is based on the responses of Indian healthcare sector employees to an online and offline survey. The authors propose that the healthcare industry implement an intensive leadership training program in light of the findings of this study, which will aid human resource (HR) managers in comprehending the significance of RL and fostering related behaviors, such as encouraging employees to maintain ethical behavior and positive attitudes.Originality/valueTo the authors' understanding, this study is among the earliest attempts to present an integrative model that examines the relationship between RL, ethical climate and ESP in the context of Indian healthcare employees, incorporating the theory of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Moreover, the novelty of this research study examines the relationship between RL and ESP, with an ethical climate serving as a mediator. The focus is specifically on employees working in the Indian healthcare sector.

Is Institutional Ownership Socially Responsible? Perspectives from Heterogeneity and Stability of Institutional Ownership

This study examines the relationship between institutional ownership and the corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance of companies in India. Referring to social market theory, the free cash flow theory of agency costs and the institutional theory of CSR, this study hypothesized a positive association between institutional ownership and CSR performance (CSP). It empirically tested the hypothesis on a sample of 814 firm-years from 2010 to 2019. The findings reveal a significantly positive association between institutional ownership persistence and CSP. The robustness of the findings is tested against the heterogeneity of institutional ownership, namely, domestic and foreign institutional ownership, with reference to the ‘hometown advantage hypothesis’ and ‘global investor hypothesis’. Domestic institutional ownership significantly impacts CSP in line with the ‘hometown advantage hypothesis’; meanwhile, the significant influence of foreign institutional ownership on CSR aligns with the ‘global investor hypothesis’.

Signals from CSR competition: The influence of relative CSR performance on analysts’ recommendations

Due to the institutionalization of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its integration into firm strategy, firms are engaged in fierce competition, which has gained stakeholders' attention. As intermediary stakeholders, security analysts screen information on firms' CSR activities to make more accurate investment recommendations. Integrating signaling through CSR competition and screening theory, we develop a framework wherein firms' relative CSR performance and improvement across two years are viewed as complementary signals reflecting their ability and intent to engage in CSR and affect analysts' recommendations. Using a panel of Chinese listed firms from 2011 to 2019 (n = 15,735 firm-year observations), we find that analysts respond positively to firms' relative CSR performance. Further analyses show that firms' CSR performance improvement has a decreasingly positive effect on analysts’ recommendations, and this effect is more pronounced for firms with higher relative CSR performance. Our study contributes to the literature on CSR and screening theory by highlighting the value of comparative CSR signals and generates practical implications for participants in CSR competitions.

Extended Signaling Theory and Role of Corporate Social Responsibility and Brand Personality

This research has offered an extended signaling theory model, which has extended the body of corporate social responsibility (CSR) knowledge in the existing literature. This research examines the association between CSR and brand experience, corporate reputation, brand personality, brand loyalty & consumer trust. The mall intercept control group was used to carry out this research. For the data analyses, we employed an SEM-based multivariate approach and assisted the formulated hypotheses from respondents of smartphone users. The study's outcomes show that brand personality, corporate reputation, and brand experience positively influence consumer trust. The outcomes further demonstrated that corporate social responsibility significantly and positively impacts personality, brand loyalty, and customer trust. This research also examined the mediating effect of brand personality between corporate reputation and brand loyalty and between corporate reputation and consumer trust. Moreover, the mediation of brand personality between CSR and brand loyalty and between CSR and consumer trust. The outcomes demonstrate that brand personality mediates brand loyalty and corporate reputation loyalty relationship, consumer trust, and corporate reputation relationship. However, brand personality does not mediate CSR and brand loyalty and CSR and consumer trust relationships. This research has important managerial and theoretical implications for industry practitioners and scholars.

The Implementation Science of Financial Intelligence in Evidence-Based Medicine Using Select Criteria Mechanism as Treatment Process towards Healthcare Corporate Governance

Purpose: Implementation science is the broader aspect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) translating healthcare education to clinical research and practice for public health and patient safety encompassing the hierarchy of evidence-based medicine (EBM), hence, serving as an integrative method of combing CSR towards healthcare corporate governance. This paper aims to model EBM under principles of valid contract formation as compliance to CSR theories of promoting positive health outcomes of patient safety leading to financial success and lessening the risks of mortality cases.
 Methodology: The elements of valid contract formation and sources of errors are the systematic plan for behavioral guidance of EBM practice. These determinants are crucial in refining the clinical judgment of medical experts together with other healthcare professionals in support with high-ranking databases of research publication, resulting to a greater impact of positive health outcomes of patient safety under “judicious” application of CSR. These principles of contract law are integrated for “measuring” the EBM’s financial success towards healthcare corporate governance.
 Findings: EBM is a scientific approach to handle medical cases and reports towards patient safety under clinical judgment of medical expert and healthcare team in corroboration with reliable sources of databases for medical research and review for reducing death rates in healthcare setting. SELECT Criteria Mechanism elucidated EBM as implementation science integrating CSR for behavioral compliance to healthcare corporate governance. First, the modeling of CSR as method to comply with EBM delineates the elements formed for valid contract formation in producing an “ethical” standard as responsibility for optimal patient safety as bargained promise under acceptance of the clinical team. Second, the illustration of the healthcare corporate governance in EBM practice as theory “measures” the reduction of healthcare expenditures from the exhibited means of diminishing mortality cases. Therefore, implementation science serves as an initiation for remediation process of reducing risks of death cases. 
 Recommendation: Implementation science is very important in EBM practice in treating ways of lessening the probability of mortality cases under “ethical” or “judicious” patient safety guidelines as corporate social responsibility. Hence, it is recommended to develop systems for behavioral guidance in a more organized plan of targeting death reduction cases towards financial intelligence as fulfillment in implementation science.

Impact of Perception of Corporate Social Responsibility and Innovation on Consumer Attitude: Mediation Role of Consumer Brand Identification in Southern Fujian, China

The image shaping and business behavior of enterprises influence their operations. It is helpful for enterprises to promote a virtuous cycle of economic progress and sustainable development based on corporate social responsibility in a healthy and sustainable economic environment. Based on the theories of corporate social responsibility and innovation perception combined with consumer identity, we constructed a model with research hypotheses in multiple dimensions such as economic responsibility, charitable responsibility, consumer responsibility, environmental responsibility, technology innovation, market innovation, consumer brand identity, purchase intention, and word-of-mouth recommendation. Provincial capitals of sub-provincial cities, prefecture- and county-level cities in southern Fujian were explored using the constructed model. The results from the model showed that perception of corporate social responsibility positively impacted the purchase intention and word-of-mouth recommendation of consumers while corporate innovation perception positively affected the purchase intention and word-of-mouth recommendation of consumers. Corporate innovation perception and perception of corporate social responsibility also influenced consumer brand identity positively. Consumer brand identity played a mediating role in the purchase intention and word-of-mouth recommendation as well as in perception of corporate social responsibility and consumer innovation perception.

The Role of Environment, Social, and Governance Performance in Shaping Corporate Current and Future Value: The Case of Global Tech Leaders

Corporations that prioritize Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations tend to have a more sustainable approach to business operations with a lower impact on the environment and society. Extant literature is available on the impact of ESG on firm performance, risk-taking, profitability, the cost of capital, cash flows, and default risk. However, very little is known about the role of ESG performance in shaping the current and future value of a corporation. Similarly, hi-tech firms, being a part of the rapidly growing sector of the world, are facing greater scrutiny from investors, regulators, and consumers to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability and social responsibility. This paper investigates the effect of ESG performance on the corporate present and future value of top global tech leaders for a period of eight years (2010 to 2017). Panel data techniques such as the fixed effects model and random effects model based on the Hausman test were used to observe this relationship. Earnings per share (EPS) and the price-to-earnings ratio (PE ratio) were used as a measure of firm current and future value, respectively. The results revealed that ESG has a significantly positive association with both proxies of corporate value of the top global tech companies. However, as compared to EPS, it had a more pronounced impact on the PE ratio of the sampled firms. Unlike many earlier studies that claimed that the ESG score impacts firm performance in the corresponding period, the present research is novel, as it asserts that investors are not only benefiting from firms’ higher investment in ESG through an increase in EPS but are also highly optimistic about the future performance of the firm and thus are paying more for each dollar of earnings. These finding contribute to the existing body of literature on the ESG and firm value nexus and are supported by the stakeholder theory of corporate social responsibility. Thus, policymakers for the tech sector should pay keen attention to firms’ ESG performance to earn the long-term trust of shareholders.

Do CSR efforts that focus on helping the environment influence brand purchase more than other forms of CSR?

Much has been written about corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, different types of CSR efforts may differentially influence consumer responses. We posit that CSR efforts that emphasize helping the environment affirm the moral values of universalism and benevolence. We advance a novel theory and provide empirical evidence regarding the unique emotional and behavioral effects of environment-based CSR relative to other CSR efforts, such as employee/fair labor practices and philanthropy/cause CSR. Specifically, we theorize and find that environment-based CSR has a stronger impact on brand purchase than these other types of CSR efforts, given its strong influence on consumers’ feelings of elevation and brand-self connections. The current study holds important implications for CSR theory, managers, and future research.

Bon voyage: a vacation from food wastage

Learning outcomes The learning outcomes are as follows: to use advanced frameworks and tools to convey complex ideas related to strategy and sustainable business practices; apply relevant concepts and theories of corporate social responsibility and governance to a practical situation while making decisions; demonstrate understanding of the importance of stakeholders when developing socially responsible thinking; and analyze the different strengths and weaknesses of the organization when making a decision that would affect the company strategy. Case overview/synopsis Claire Humphry was the General Manager at the renowned The Nacre Hotel in Penang, Malaysia. Claire had a very busy job as she had many people who reported to her, and the hotel was always full of guests. One of the things Claire also managed was the restaurant OceanSound that was owned and operated by her hotel. OceanSound was a very thematic restaurant that specialized in making sculptures of food for special events. On the New Year’s Day in 2023, Claire came to work ready to tackle what was sure to be a long and busy day. However, Claire had not anticipated exactly how taxing the day would end up being. During Claire’s talks with her colleagues throughout the day, her conversation with her friend, the head chef of OceanSound, Poh, would nag at her head for the rest of the day based on the events that followed. The New Year’s special sculpture at OceanSound was to be a large rabbit made of cake to commemorate 2023 being the year of the rabbit according to Chinese zodiac. This is usually kept secret until the sculpture is revealed; but somehow this information had been leaked. This led to The Nacre Hotel and OceanSound being in the spotlight for bad reasons as this sparked a debate online regarding food wastage. This escalated quickly and even led to a famous food influencer commenting on this using specifically The Nacre’s name. Activists also quickly emerged in front of the hotel to protest the creation of sculptures and the food wastage in Malaysian hospitality industry, seeking to make an example out of The Nacre Hotel. The online criticism died down and was eventually replaced by praise for the sculpture. The activists were also eventually asked by the hotel security to leave, which led to the rest of the day to go as expected for a New Year’s Day at The Nacre. However, Claire’s nagging suspicion that they were not out of the woods led her to start looking into food wastage in the hospitality industry in Malaysia to educate herself and bring it up in a future meeting. Two days after this incident, on January 3, 2023, Claire found The Nacre Hotel posted on the newspaper headlines, dissecting the food wastage associated with the hotel now. After getting an urgent phone call from the Regional Manager, who was pressured by the board and shareholders, Claire decided the time to address this issue could not be delayed any longer. She wrote an email to her strategy team to come up with some ideas for possible solutions to the issue and to present them in a group meeting within a week’s time. At the conclusion of the meeting, Claire was contemplating about the decision that she had to make if she wanted The Nacre Hotel to continue operating successfully in Malaysia’s hospitality industry. Complexity academic level The main theoretical concepts illustrated in the case include corporate governance approaches, types of corporate social responsibility, stakeholders’ prioritization, organizational culture, organizational structure, industry analysis and strategic choices. Therefore, this case study can be used in a upper-level undergraduate business courses in the field of Strategic Management and Corporate Social Responsibility. The case study can be successfully used in a capstone course on Business Policy and Strategy, when tackling the concepts of corporate social responsibility, environmental sustainability strategy and corporate governance. Under this scenario, the usage of conceptual frameworks from Chapters 2 and 3 of the textbook titled “Concepts in Strategic Management and Business Policy: Toward Global Sustainability” by Wheelen and Hunger would be required. This case study can also be successfully applied to MBA level courses on Strategic Management in a Globalized World. In this case, the latest edition of the textbook titled “Exploring Strategy” by Whittington et al., could be used (particularly, the material from Chapters 2–9, 11, 14 and 15). Additionally, the case could also be used in courses related to Tourism and Hospitality, especially in schools which have specialized programs in this field. Supplementary material Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CCS 12: Tourism and Hospitality.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the service industry: a systematic review

The objective of the current study is to perform a systematic review to the published articles upon the advancement of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the service sector. This article analyzes the bibliometric information of the CSR-related articles linked to the service sector. The existing literature on CSR in the service industry were derived from the online WOS indexing dataset. Through completing a systematic review on existing academic articles, the current paper identifies the nations, universities/institutions, prolific researchers, high-profile journal that contributed to the advancement of CSR theory and practical applications. Moreover, the analytical graphs and bibliometric coupling shown the keyword co-occurrence to depict the academic relationship on the CSR advancement in the service industry. The systematic review adds to an in-depth knowledge of the progression behind CSR in the corporate environment and extends the CSR nexus researches.