CSR Strategy Research Articles

Does an (in)congruent corporate social responsibility strategy affect employees' turnover intention? A configurational analysis in an emerging country

AbstractCorporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives toward internal and external stakeholders can independently contribute to employee attitudes and behaviors. However, little is known about the joint effects of (in)congruent internal‐external CSR strategies on employee outcomes. Drawing from social exchange theory, we argue that when employees perceive that their organizations excessively favor CSR efforts to external rather than internal stakeholders, it can trigger a psychological contract breach, resulting in increased employees' turnover intention. We utilized a fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis method and the data of 511 employee from various industries in the Philippines to investigate the interaction effects. The results revealed that a congruent CSR strategy with high internal and external CSR perceptions is critical in fulfilling employees' psychological contracts and retaining employees. However, for employees with low perceived internal CSR, a high incongruent CSR perception led to a psychological contract breach and ultimately to high turnover intention. Psychological contract breach weakened the negative joint effect of high perceived internal and external CSR on turnover intention and strengthened the positive effect of high perceived incongruent CSR on turnover intention. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Challenges and Trends of Knowledge Management in SME Enterprises in the Context of CSR

Knowledge management, especially in the context of CSR, is still a new and challenging topic for Polish enterprises from the SME sector. However, the opportunities offered by the effective implementation of this process for organisations, as well as the global trend of its realisation, signal that it is worth conducting research into this phenomenon. The research objective of the article is to analyse knowledge management in the context of CSR in companies operating on the Polish market in the SME sector. The research was conducted in 2022, using the CATI method among 600 randomly selected companies from the SME sector operating on the Polish market. Moreover, the article presents the experience of companies - leaders of responsible business, giving practical examples of actions and tools supporting knowledge management. The results of the research show, among others, that: enterprises applying CSR have more or less developed their own systems of responsible business knowledge management, however, these are often unconscious processes. Enterprises do not use (at all or insufficiently) all available resources and tools for managing CSR knowledge. Those knowledge management tools that are applied in companies are most often not verified for their effectiveness. Almost half of the surveyed companies use experiential learning (participation in specific projects) as an element of educating employees about CSR, thus not limiting themselves to education with the use of "hard" resources only. The majority of companies do not verify or evaluate in any way the knowledge of employees on CSR. Company boards are minimally involved in the process of managing CSR knowledge in the organisation. The main area of benefit from knowledge management in the context of CSR is the relationship with employees, which improves thanks to their greater involvement, loyalty and identification with the company's mission and vision. This translates into improvements in processes and activities and more effective implementation of the CSR strategy. Also important is the image aspect and a chance for greater competitiveness, built on high competences of the team. Knowledge management in the context of CSR cannot be limited solely to descriptive knowledge (knowledge describing phenomena). Implementation of a knowledge management system is undoubtedly a challenge for companies and their managers. The use of CSR concepts in knowledge management is a current trend in the development of the SME sector.

Consistent response of weeds according to Grime's CSR strategies along disturbance and resource gradients in Bordeaux vineyards

AbstractVineyards are an appropriate model for testing the filtering effect of management practices on weed communities, as a wide range of practices (tillage, herbicides and mowing) is implemented. The aim of this study is to highlight which trait values are selected by each practice in different environmental conditions, with special references to Grime's CSR strategies. A combination of a multivariate analysis (RLQ) and the fourth‐corner analysis was used to analyse 400 floristic samples belonging to 100 vineyards in the wine‐growing region of Bordeaux (France). The main structure of vineyard weed communities was shaped by the opposition between mowing, favouring hemicryptophytes with a competitive strategy, and soil tillage, favouring therophytes and nutrient‐demanding species with a ruderal strategy. Secondly, the vineyard weed communities differed according to the trophic status of the soil. Vineyards on acidic, sandy soils with low organic matter were characterised by small‐seeded annuals with a stress‐tolerant strategy whereas vineyards with clayey, calcareous soils rich in organic matter, harboured larger perennial nitrophilous species with large seeds and a competitive strategy. Our study is the first to show that weed species responded consistently to two independent gradients with specific traits associated with disturbance (life cycle and SLA) and soil resources (plant height and seed mass) gradients. Based on knowledge of the soil characteristics, it becomes possible to predict which type of weeds will develop according to the combination of practices applied on the vineyard rows and inter‐rows.

CSR Ecological Strategies and Functional Traits of the Co-Existing Species along the Succession in the Tropical Lowland Rain Forest

Trait-based approaches to calculate ecological strategy is important for understanding forest succession dynamics. However, the functional traits and ecological strategy change during succession remain poorly understood. We measured key leaf traits and calculated scores for CSR ecological strategy for 13 co-existing species in different successional stages in tropical lowland rain forests. We analyzed the patterns of functional traits and CSR strategies varied along the succession. The relationship between CSR strategy and environmental factors was examined. Our research results are as follows: (1) In older plots, LDMC was generally lower and SLA was generally higher than younger plots with the succession, the functional traits of the successional co-existing tree species changed, and SLA and LDMC showed significant differences. (2) The co-existing tree species’ strategies shifted from S/CS and CS strategies to CS/CSR and CS strategies along the succession. (3) Ecological strategies are linked to different combinations of environmental factors across the four successional stages. Our study suggests that the co-existing tree species in different succession stages of tropical lowland rain forests have a high degree of resistance and a conservative ecological strategy, which is significantly related to canopy openness, soil water content, and soil nutrients.

Synergy or Antagonism? How Corporate Political and Social Strategies Influence Firm Innovation

Although the increasing research interest on non-market strategy, the relationship between non-market strategy and firm innovation as well as the combinative impact of engagement in CPA and CSR are not well researched or understood. In this study, we integrate institutional perspective and multi-stakeholder perspective to analyze how the CPA and CSR independently and interdependently affect a firm’s innovation performance. With 3938 firm-year observations of China’s A-shared listed private firms between 2014 and 2018, we find support for the predictions that CPA strategy and CSR strategy both can exert a positive effect on firm innovation performance. We further develop competing hypotheses for the interactive effect of CPA and CSR on firm innovation from synergistic versus antagonistic view, and the findings are consistent with the antagonistic view. This study not only enriches our knowledge regarding the independent and joint influence of non-market strategies on firm innovation performance, but also highlights the necessary to pay attention to the heterogeneity of non-market stakeholders when integrating non-market political and social strategies.

Firms’ Commitment to Sustainability: To What Extent is the Presence of Women on Boards Important?

Many firms are committed to Sustainable Development Goals, such as climate change, but their performance differs. Boards’ attention to sustainability might influence strategic decision making and consequently firms’ practices and ESG performance. Inspired by upper echelons theory, this study aims to examine the extent to which female board representation is important for ESG performance, considering board-management interactions. Building on past research, this study argues that women can enhance board monitoring and board strategy involvement, which can influence ESG performance. A configurational analysis is used, including different corporate governance mechanisms: board independence, female board representation, board orientation, CEO power and ESG-related executive compensation. The findings suggest that the presence of women on boards is important to firms’ ESG performance; however, it is not mandatory. A well-defined CSR strategy combined with ESG-linked executive compensation can make the presence of women on boards indifferent, if firms have high levels of board independence, CEO non-duality and a CSR Sustainability Committee. The results also show that a high ESG scores can be achieved with a combination of board-management mechanisms, which does not include executive alignment incentives, thereby contributing to the debate on whether monitoring and executive alignment incentives act as substitutes or complements. In addition, the results reinforce the notion that CSR Sustainability Committees are important, but should be combined with other conditions to be effective.

Beneficial or Detrimental? The Relationship Between Mandatory CSR Disclosure and Firm Performance

Using a sample of listed Chinese companies for the period 2003–2015, this study investigates the relationship between mandatory CSR disclosure and financial performance. To better clarify the mechanism between mandatory CSR disclosure and financial performance, this paper employed a dual model of financial performance, that is, short-term and long-term financial performance. The results suggest that mandatory CSR disclosure has a negative impact on short-term performance, but a positive impact on long-term performance. Moreover, this study found that corporate environmental investments mediate the relationship between mandatory CSR disclosure and short-term firm performance; the community-related, employee-related, and environmental CSR strategies mediate the relationship between mandatory CSR disclosure and long-term firm performance. The implications and future research directions are discussed.

The Elevation of Luxury: Art Infusion and Artification as Vehicles for Creating Shared Value

Luxury brands have historically benefitted from engagement with the artistic community. There is a robust academic literature on the specific benefits for luxury brands of using mechanisms like art infusion and artification as a means of enhancing brand image and overcoming challenges associated with modern market conditions. Less clear, however, is how luxury brand involvement with the arts can benefit the artistic community and contribute to societal well-being more generally. In this paper, we argue that some means of artistic engagement should be considered more socially responsible than others and show how Porter and Kramer's (2011) creating shared value framework can help brands develop strategies that use art to simultaneously benefit brand and society. We highlight three specific means by which luxury brands can create shared value through their artistic engagement: 1) through reconceiving products and markets, 2) by redefining productivity in the value chain, and by enabling local cluster development, including the promotion of underrepresented artists. We close by considering how these engagements with art may play a larger, more transformative role in the CSR strategies of a luxury brand, enabling it to transcend from a corporate entity to a purveyor of culture, art, and well-being.

Ruderals naturalize, competitors invade: Varying roles of plant adaptive strategies along the invasion continuum

Abstract It is increasingly recognized that the factors facilitating plant invasions depend on the stage along the introduction–naturalization–invasion continuum. Adaptative strategies, that is, combinations of functional traits that represent overall fitness in the face of one or more selection pressures, have shown promise in explaining plant invasions. However, whether adaptive strategy patterns change with stages of plant invasion is not yet known. Using the Pladias Database of the Czech Flora and Vegetation, we explored how Grime's adaptive strategies (competitors, stress‐tolerators, ruderals; CSR) and introduction pathways (deliberate vs. accidental) relate to plant invasion along the introduction–naturalization–invasion continuum. Phylogenetically corrected ANOVAs showed that naturalized species (referring to non‐invasive naturalized species in this study) were mostly R‐selected, whereas invasive species tended to be C‐selected. The results of phylogenetic regression analysis further confirmed that across the deliberately and accidentally introduced species, R‐ and C‐selection were positively related to naturalization and invasion success respectively. We also found that deliberate introduction was negatively related to naturalization success and grid‐cell occupancy of naturalized species, likely due to the different CSR strategies of deliberately and accidentally introduced aliens. Our study provides empirical evidence that different adaptive strategies are associated with species that have reached different invasion stages and confirms the usefulness of the CSR strategy framework for understanding plant invasion. This has implications for predicting and preventing potential high‐impact invaders. For example, our results show that naturalized C‐selected species have a higher probability of becoming invasive than naturalized R‐selected species. Therefore, management actions are essential to prevent further introductions and spread of competitors. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Companies to promote CSR impact on employees: High‐performance work systems as a moderator

AbstractCorporate social responsibility (CSR) has been of much public concern in recent years. This study uses the Conservation of Resources Theory to discuss the measures that organizations can take to ensure that resources are not lost when they face institutional pressures. We distributed questionnaires to Taiwanese small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in two phases. The results reveal the following measures pertinent to enterprise management bodies: (1) SMEs faced with external institutional pressure must promote CSR strategies to secure existing organizational resources; (2) spreading awareness on and taking actions for CSR promotion by SMEs, in response to changes in the external institutional environment, can improve corporate image and increase employees' intention to stay; and (3) measures concerning high‐performance work systems can help unleash the full potential of human resource management and facilitate enterprises to introduce CSR. Some important theoretical implications emerge in this study. Based on the Conservation of Resources Theory, we argue that the stressor faced by SMEs is not a threat, but a factor that creates or preserves organizational resources. Through the application of this theory, we enrich the CSR model. Further, the feasibility of high‐performance work systems, as a moderator of institutional pressure, is determined.

Analysis of PT Grab Indonesia’s CSR strategy in facing cuts and capital management during the pandemic

Analysis of PT Grab Indonesia’s CSR strategy in facing cuts and capital management during the pandemic

PT. Bank Rakyat Indonesia Tbk CSR Strategy “BRILian Fight Covid” in facing challenges in pandemic

PT. Bank Rakyat Indonesia Tbk CSR Strategy “BRILian Fight Covid” in facing challenges in pandemic

THE EFFECT OF USING THIEVES AND CSR STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION SKILL AT EIGHTH GRADE SMP KINGSTON SCHOOL, DELI SERDANG

The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of applying THIEVES and CSR techniques to increase reading comprehension in Kingston School grade 8 students. The researcher devised a quasi-experimental study in order to fulfil the research's goal. The participants in this study were 108 eighth-grade Kingston School students, with 36 involved in the experimental group 1 who were taught reading comprehension using the THIEVES strategy, 36 involved in the experimental group 2 who were taught reading comprehension using the CSR strategy, and the remaining 36 involved in the control group who were taught reading comprehension using the conventional strategy. A pre-test and post-test with 40 multiple-choice items were included in the data collection instrument. The results were compared and examined to determine the efficacy of the two strategies. The experimental groups 1 and 2 scored higher than the control group, according to the results of a study. THIEVES and CSR techniques are both successful in boosting reading comprehension, according to the results. The statistics also indicate that the CSR method outperforms the THIEVES technique.
 
 Keywords: reading comprehension, THIEVES Strategy, CSR Strategy

Study of the Differences in the Perception of the Use of the Principles of Corporate Social Responsibility in Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the V4 Countries

The aim of the study was to examine the differences in the perception of the use of selected principles by CSR managers and owners of Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in the V4 countries. The results of our research show that CSR strategies are most used by entrepreneurs and managers of MSMEs in Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. They are the least used in the Czech Republic. The sectoral comparison within the V4 countries highlighted interesting findings. When considering the moral and ethical implications of decision-making, no significant differences were found between the sectors. Differences were found in the perception of the CSR concept and its use in business. The CSR concept was mostly used in tourism and agriculture, to a lesser extent in construction, retail, manufacturing and services. Managers and entrepreneurs understand the link between CSR and gaining reputation and business opportunities and that CSR helps build a competitive advantage. The size of the company affects whether the company can be classified as CSR-oriented. Compared to medium-sized enterprises, micro-enterprises are 45% less likely and small enterprises are 33.5% less likely to be perceived as CSR-oriented. Compared to companies from Slovakia, companies in the Czech Republic are 41% less likely to be perceived as CSR-oriented. Hungarian companies are 70% more likely to be perceived as CSR-oriented compared to companies from Slovakia. Companies run by women are more inclined to apply CSR principles than men.

New insights into corporate sustainability, environmental management and corporate financial performance in European Union: an application of VAR and Granger causality approach.

The paper examines how environmental, social, and governance (ESG), including management incentives, influence a firm’s financial performance. The study method is based on an empirical analysis of data describing firm-level information about corporate financial performance and corporate sustainability performance between 2001 and 2020, summing up 6291 observations related to 422 analyzed firms from the European Union (EU). The study findings emphasize that firm size is highly influenced by sustainable economic development and significantly conditioned by a CSR strategy and a capable management team. We also prove a long-term relationship between the measures of corporate financial performance and the scores reflecting corporate ESG performance. Our results show a co-integration relationship between corporate financial performance metrics and corporate sustainability performance scores. ESG corporate performance is highly conditioned by the level of resources affected for this purpose, directly impacting firms’ cash flow.

Variation of plant CSR strategies across a precipitation gradient in the alpine grasslands on the northern Tibet Plateau

Identifying ecological strategies based on functional traits can help us better understand plants' adaptations and changes in ecological processes, and thus predict the impact of climate change on ecosystems, especially in the vulnerable alpine grasslands. Herein, we investigated the plant CSR strategies of four grassland types (alpine meadows, AM; alpine meadow steppes, AMS; alpine steppes, AS; and alpine desert steppes, ADS) and its functional groups (grasses, sedges, legumes, and forbs) along the east-to-west gradient of decreasing precipitation on the northern Tibetan grasslands by using Grime's CSR (C: competitor, S: stress tolerator, and R: ruderal) analysis. Although alpine grasslands were dominated by S-strategy, our results also indicated that AM with higher water, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) availability had significantly lower S-strategy values and relatively higher C- and R-strategy values (C: S: R = 6: 63: 31 %) than those in AMS (C: S: R = 3: 94: 3 %,), AS (C: S: R = 3: 87: 10 %), and ADS (C: S: R = 1: 94: 5 %). The CSR strategy values of forbs and legumes showed greater variability compared with grasses and sedges in the environmental gradient. Furthermore, water variability on the precipitation gradient eventually affected plant traits and CSR strategies through soil N and P availability and pH. Our findings highlighted that plant CSR strategies were regulated by the availability of soil resources, and plants adopted more flexible adaptation strategies in relatively resource-rich environments. This study sheds light on the mechanisms of plant adaptation to the changing environment in the alpine grasslands.

Identifying typical and early warning species by the combination of functional-based diagnostic species and dark diversity

The European Union Habitats Directive requires the identification of typical species that reflect the structure and functions of habitat types, as well as early changes in the habitat condition, but no common methods are available for their selection. Diagnostic species with high fidelity to a specific group of plots are identified by traditional methods, but their value as typical species is still debated. We designed a protocol for the identification of typical plant species based on a recently proposed method to detect diagnostic species by combining abundances and functional traits. We tested the method on a set of alpine habitat subtypes, comparing diagnostic species based on traits or Grime’s CSR strategies (competitive, stress-tolerant, ruderal) with those based on presence/absence or abundance only, and then we calculated for each species the dark diversity probability—i.e. probability of being absent from a habitat type with suitable ecological conditions. Functional-based methods allowed to recognize larger sets of exclusive species, adding dominant species linked to the structure and functions of habitat subtypes (i.e. to the functional centroid). Dark diversity probability was equally distributed between diagnostic and non-diagnostic species identified by functional-based methods. Species with higher dark diversity probability among those associated with the functional centroid can be considered as early warning indicators of changes in habitat conditions. The protocol proposed here enables species ranking on measurable variables (functional association, dark diversity probability) and can be applied as a standardized tool for the identification of typical plant species for habitat types dominated by plants.

Corporate social responsibility: A case study of selected clothing companies

The aim of the article is to present activities undertaken by selected clothing companies with respect to corporate social responsibility. The authors provide the definition of corporate social responsibility, the main areas of a CSR strategy and its potential benefits using examples of good practices undertaken by large clothing companies that operate globally: H&M, CCC S.A., Adidas, LPP S.A. CSR policies pursued by these brands are an expression of their concern for the environment, society and the future of our planet. CSR activities undertaken by these companies contribute to their positive image, which can translate into higher sales and a competitive advantage.

Small Businesses’ Social Responsibility and Political Activity Survey Studies: A Review, Synthesis, and Research Agenda

This systematic review assesses the development of survey-based small business social responsibility (SBSR) and political activity (SBPA) research over the last 30 years. Survey research designs are a widely adopted approach to studying SBSR and SBPA, making a significant contribution to the small business nonmarket strategy (SBNS) research agenda. Survey research has been used in a quarter of the 203 SBNS research publications identified, 60% of all quantitative SBSR studies and 100% of all quantitative SBPA publications. This review identified a total of 53 survey-based studies of SBSR and SBPA in a multidisciplinary selection of 40 top journals. The SBSR articles reviewed primarily focused on environmental themes, CSR strategies, and CSR performance at the macro level and micro concerns around entrepreneurial commitment/attitudes to CSR. The SBPA articles had no clear focal phenomena. The theoretical positioning of the articles used primarily organizational and organizational field level theoretical foundations, in SBSR studies the main theory used was stakeholder approaches/theory, resource-based approaches and (meso/micro) institutional theory, while the SBPA research was clearly oriented toward resource-based approaches. The SBSR studies in contrast to the SBPA research had a far clearer set of established predictor, outcome, moderating/mediating, and control variables. In terms of survey research design the results show a consistent and ongoing improvement of the research designs, but many norms of good survey design are not yet consistently adopted in SBSR and SBPA research. Critically the literature lacks replication of results. Future studies should pursue replication studies and adopt methodological best practice.

CSR Strategy in Tourism during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Travel and tourism is one of the most affected sectors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, impacting economies, enterprises, and livelihoods worldwide. The pandemic has heavily damaged businesses across the tourism industry, including airlines, transportation, hotels, cruises, and others. Numerous tourism companies went bankrupt or had been struggling to survive, yet other ones have adapted their strategy and seized the crisis to transform their business for the post-pandemic future. This study aims at investigating the TUI Group’s CSR strategic adaptability during the COVID-19 pandemic. The case study is based on a documentary analysis including such documents as annual reports, sustainability strategy, sustainability reports, and financial statements. The findings show that the pandemic crisis moved forward the company’s transformation into a digital platform and its sustainability transformation. Moreover, the CSR strategy has been constantly adapted to the evolving COVID-19 environment. The company’s efforts aimed at maintaining sustainable value have been primarily focused on supporting and engaging employees, ensuring safe holiday packages for customers, and supporting local communities and partners. Several implications are provided based on the study results.