Corporate Social Responsibility Development Research Articles

Development of Corporate Social Responsibility in Business as a Factor of Fiscal Decentralization

The study aimed to substantiate the nature of the influence and sustainability of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the effectiveness of the fiscal decentralization of local government in Ukraine. The estimates of CSR indicators for 490 enterprises were obtained using the questionnaire results. Determined the structure of directions for implementing a socially-oriented approach in Ukrainian business. Functions of dependence of indicators of the effectiveness of financial decentralization of local authorities on CSR development were constructed using linear regression methods and considering the time lag. We have identified a stimulating but not sustainable impact of business CSR on increasing the financial base of local budgets in decentralization. The time lag hurts the growth of the company's tax payments due to the growth of CSR level. The results obtained can be used to form efficiency strategies of local government to initiate CSR development in businesses.

The practice of CSR development and its performing mechanism——case study of P&G

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), a key subject in the field of management, has gained increasing attention not only in theoretical level, but also in the aspect of practical application. As one of the largest consumer products companies in the world, Procter & Gamble always adheres to the vision of finding small but meaningful ways to improve lives and keeps devoting itself to being a force for good and growth. Through its CSR report in 2014 and 2019, this case study will concentrate on the development of CSR in P&G. The significant changes of P&G’s CSR witness a big leap that P&G takes to build citizenship into business in different aspects. With the exploration of performing mechanism behind CSR report, this case study can give some inspirations for the business itself and the government to better the construction of CSR, and present more practical significance for the theoretical research of CSR.

The Relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting and Firm Performance and the Moderating Role of Firm Life Cycle Stages: Evidence from China

This study aims to investigate the relationship of firm performance and corporate social responsibility reporting and the moderating role of a firm’s life cycle stages in Chinese listed companies. We used the sample of all A-share listed firms on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges for the period 2010 to 2020. The authors used pooled ordinary least squares (OLS) regression as a baseline methodology. Our regression results show that positive Corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity significantly reduces the performance of the firm. In addition, the negative link between positive Corporate social responsibility and a firm’s performance is more pronounced for firms in mature life cycle stages. Our results are robust to alternative proxy measures of ROA for firm performance, corporate social responsibility reporting, and life cycle stages. To control the possible problem of endogeneity, we use a one-year lag and 2SLS least squares regression. We find that firm performance has a statistically significant influence on CSR reporting. Moreover, we see that firms with high performance are more likely to report CSR activities than low-performance firms. Additionally, six out of ten control variables (Independent Director, Board Shares, State Owned Enterprise, Board Meeting, Chief executive officer Duality, and Firm Growth) have positive influences on CSR reporting. These findings hold for a set of robustness tests. Our results have implications for the development of CSR reporting in developing countries such as China. Our research suggests that, in China, firms with better financial performance undertake more CSR reporting. This paper contributes to the existing literature by investigating the effect of firm performance on CSR reporting and the moderating role of a firm’s life cycle stages in Chinese listed companies. Additionally, this paper enriches the current literature on CSR reporting and highlights the importance of a firm’s financial performance for better environmental performance and reporting.

Corporate Social Responsibility and the Renewable Energy Development in the Baltic States

Recently, the approaches of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the renewable energy development have changed with the new global approach to sustainability. Today, CSR is an evolving and dominating business practice that integrates sustainable development into a company’s business model. The main focus of our paper is on the public relations of corporate social responsibility in renewable energy development. We show that a proper approach to public relations and resulting communication and dissemination of products and results should be sustained. This paper assesses the new pathways for executing public relations for CSR with relation to the renewable energy projects. The study analyses the impact of corporate social responsibility on energy companies, which are expected to make a positive contribution to the development of sustainable energy. We use both the overview of the theoretical concepts and literature as well as analyze the case of the “old” and “new” European Union Member countries represented by the Baltic States that yield many similarities but differ in their economic development to show the best practices of promoting CSR in sustainable energy development. Our results demonstrate that the implementation of corporate social responsibility can help to create more ethical and conscious sustainable companies and to build better relationships with the environmentally engaged citizens and loyal customers who are also concerned about the environment, health and well-being of their communities.

The influence of family culture on the development of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative of immigrant enterprise: a case of Korean business in Vietnam

PurposeThis paper aims to explore how family culture can contribute to support the development of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in a Korean immigrant enterprise in Vietnam.Design/methodology/approachThis research highlighted a critical case, in which entrepreneurs and most of the organisational members share a common family culture and the culture support management capability of an entrepreneur, during the introduction of a new organisation initiative. In addition, Bourdieu’s tripartite analytical framework of field, capitals and habitus was adopted to facilitate the case analysis.FindingsFirstly, the motivation behind the development of CSR came from the intention to gain access to the local capital market. Secondly, family culture plays an important role in maintaining the support of organisational actors to support the decision of the entrepreneur.Research limitations/implicationsThis research contributes to the emerging literature about CSR and immigrant entrepreneurship. This study sheds light on how family culture can aid the leadership of CSR initiatives and CSR practices in the context of the immigrant organisation.Practical implicationsThis study identifies processes that immigrant entrepreneurs can use to inspire organisational members to engage in a new initiative in which organisational culture and norms can help to overcome challenges to enable engagement with a novel initiative.Originality/valueThis paper explains how family culture supports the leading role of an entrepreneur, in which the absolute pressures inherited from family values and traditions in the place of origin help an organisation to overcome existing barriers such as lack of time and financial support towards a new initiative.

Trends in Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting. The Case of Chinese Listed Companies

Compared with Western developed countries, corporate social responsibility (CSR) implementation in China started relatively late, but so far, its development has been going on for more than ten years. Therefore, the development process of CSR reporting as a vital tool to reflect the CSR related information of Chinese listed companies is worth studying. It has been asserted in a large amount of literature that the government of a country has an important influence on the development of CSR reporting. Thus, in this paper, we aim to study the trends in CSR reporting practices of Chinese listed companies through statistical analysis methods and then consider the role of the government in it. The results show that the number of CSR reports issued by Chinese listed companies has increased year by year; notably, the number of voluntary CSR disclosure and environmental information disclosure has increased significantly. However, the overall disclosure rate of CSR reports is low and shows no upward trend, the published CSR reports lack third-party certification, and the information disclosure level of most CSR reports is concentrated at a relatively low level. The findings provide some useful references for the future development of Chinese CSR related laws, regulations, and guidelines.

CSR Uptake in Non-Western Contexts: the Impact of Institutional Environment and Entrepreneurs

The impact of institutional environment and institutional entrepreneurs for corporate social responsibility (CSR) uptake, practice and process in the context of Western countries has been extensively examined. However, while these examinations are insightful, it is not clear if other conditions and influencing factors in relation to the institutional environment and institutional entrepreneurs foreign to the West exist. If indeed they do, this raises questions related to the extent to which they may influence CSR practice and process. The paucity of such research restricts and prevents a more comprehensive understanding of the role and impact of institutional dynamics and underlying processes for CSR. From a practice perspective, CSR managers and organisational leaders miss the opportunity to utilise CSR as an instrument serving organisational interests and legitimacy. Consequently, this study investigates the impact of institutional environment and institutional entrepreneurs for CSR uptake, practice and process from a non-Western perspective. Employing an exploratory research design within a range of public and private sector organisations, we interrogate the phenomenon from the perspective of key actors involved in its formulation. The findings evidence a set of distinct institutional dynamics and institutional entrepreneurs that contribute to the formulation of specific CSR. The identified forms of CSR reveal organisational attempts for adaptation to the institutional dynamics and for preserving organisational legitimacy. Therefore, our work provides important contributions to the CSR debate by outlining factors and conditions specific for non-Western countries that result in context-driven forms of CSR. These findings offer a number of insightful and substantives considerations for practitioners and policy makers involved in the development of CSR.

The Historicity of Corporate Social Responsibility in the United States and Britain

Our purpose is to examine the historical nature of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), a pillar of business practice, strategy, and research. Traditional narratives place the development of CSR as a response to the post-World War II world, where an educated public demanded business to pursue more ethical policies. The genesis of this movement is Bowen’s seminal book on CSR, published in 1953. However, we offer a counter-narrative. We argue that the real genesis of CSR in both Great Britain and the United States was an attempt by business to gain legitimacy from employees as the work relationship switched from transitory workers to permanent employees at the end of the nineteenth century. Early CSR was an attempt to reduce information asymmetries, gain worker loyalty and trust, and reduce labor costs such as theft, destruction of property and absenteeism. This was not an altruistic response, but an example of enlightened self-interest, as well as a more nefarious response to reduce industrial action among workers.

The Effect of CSR Attributes on CSR Authenticity: Focusing on Mediating Effects of Digital Transformation

What corporate social responsibility (CSR) attributes determine the CSR authenticity of a company? In the face of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, what direction should the CSR strategy pursue? In the electronics industries in Korea and China, are there any differences in CSR attributes? In this study, we start with some of these basic questions. Considering the promotional and actual costs incurred from CSR activities, CSR strategy are not an issue that can be easily determined from the corporate perspective. However, now it is essential for companies to carry out CSR and sustainable development goals (SDGs) activities, and businesses cannot overlook social issues either. Companies cannot pursue only growth through corporate interests without social value. In this study, we derive three attributes of CSR fit, CSR sustainability, and CSR impact to verify the authenticity of CSR activities. Moreover, we demonstrated the impact of these three attributes on CSR authenticity for the electronics industries in Korea and China. As a result of empirical testing, most of three attributes above mentioned (i.e., CSR fit, CSR sustainability, and CSR impact) produce meaningful results for CSR authenticity. However, CSR sustainability was rejected for the Korea sample, and CSR fit was rejected for the Chinese sample, showing some differences between the two countries. Meanwhile, the digital transformation of the Fourth Industrial Revolution had strong partial mediating effects between CSR attributes and CSR authenticity. This means that digital transformation can be an important pathway to achieve CSR authenticity and suggests that important mediating effects can eventually lead to a firm’s competitiveness.

Sustainable Partnership: Operational Condition Analysis for Brand Value Co-Creation

Enterprises are the origin of social innovation. Enterprises implement sustainable relations through “people-oriented” social value creation, particularly other economic developments in the post-2020 COVID-19 pandemic no longer show linear development but more diversity. On the one hand, enterprises must face the fast social transformation towards AI and superintelligence. On the other hand, enterprises must cope with green sustainable development, emphasizing corporate social responsibility in innovative research and development. An increasing number of enterprises respond to the service-oriented and green sustainability-based consumer market today by expanding and collaborating between the upstream and downstream relations in supply chains. Therefore, enterprises must construct a healthy and sustainable dynamic value chain through value co-creation. The study analyzes the types of the dynamic brand value chain and the operational conditions that provide enterprises with the direction in searching for and establishing a sustainable partnership. We employ literature review, case analysis, and in-depth interviews to determine the types and causes of the dynamic brand value chain, followed by integrating sustainable design to verify the sustainability in the dynamic brand value chain model. The study findings show that growth in quadrants of culture for the tandem brand value chain acts as the primary motivation to strengthen a sustainable relationship. Subsequently, the development in pursuit of brand value creation will intensify the sustainable relationships and activities of the brand, causing sustainable partnerships to be more intense. The primary motivation for the branch brand value chain lies in the growth in quadrants of culture; the more extensive the development system, the more diverse the participating niche brand, and the brand value innovation of pursuit climbs higher.

The strategic value of corporate social responsibility CSR: the present and future of its management

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become the central theme of many debates on the role of organizations in society in recent years. The voluntary incorporation of strategies that influence economic profitability and in turn social and environmental issues is already a reality in companies. This article has several aims: (1) to analyse whether CSR is strategic and cross-cutting for companies and whether there exists a true dialogue between companies and stakeholders; (2) to identify the functions, relationships and quality of CSR or sustainability directors; (3) to determine the main challenges for the future; (4) to reflect on the impact that Covid-19 has had on the development of CSR in businesses. The study was based on the Delphi method and employed a sample of 20 experts: 10 academics (lecturers and researchers) and 10 professionals (communication and CSR directors, and CSR and reputation consultants). The results reveal that: (1) with the exception of SMEs, CSR management in companies is strategic and cross-cutting; (2) there is no reciprocal dialogue between companies and stakeholders; (3) the functions carried out by CSR directors can be classified as analytical, strategic, tactical and communicative; (4) the most outstanding qualities of the CSR director are communication skills, deep knowledge of the company and a willingness to work as part of a team; (5) the main challenge for senior management for the future is to be more strategic; (6) Covid-19 has changed the focus in CSR areas of action and in the prioritization of stakeholders. In short, we conclude that CSR management is well rooted in companies and represents a true transformation for businesses as social entities.

Developing corporate social responsibility in financial services

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to contribute to the theory and practice of financial services marketing in sub-Saharan Africa (sSA) by investigating how financial service providers are developing corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices, in particular, seeking to uncover the involvement of stakeholders.Design/methodology/approachFollowing an interpretivist approach, the study uncovers fresh and context-rich insights through an analysis of a multiple case study consisting of retail banks in Ghana. Data consist of semi-structured interviews with senior managers and analysis of documents and archives.FindingsThe study uncovers three key CSR practices practised by the retail banks: giving, community and corporate reputation/brand with which their stakeholders are only to some extent involved. Banks not as yet drawing extensively on stakeholder resources for CSR practices.Research limitations/implicationsThe study uses an inductive and in-depth approach to explore contextual insights into CSR, but with subsequent limitations on how far the findings can be extended.Practical implicationsThe study offers outline for financial services marketing involving stakeholders in CSR.Social implicationsIt discovers that banks acquire social capital through their CSR activities in the community.Originality/valueThe study contributes to financial services marketing theory and practice through an evidence-based framework uncovering the development of CSR through practices that as yet draw on stakeholder resources to a limited extent. Research suggests that CSR practices are dynamic and subject to a range of situational conditions.

The progress of Corporate Social Responsibility from a Gender perspective through the Change Management

In recent years, one of the main priorities of companies has been to adapt their business activity and commercial strategy to be aligned with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established by the United Nations, in its “2030 Agenda”. To overcome this challenge, companies develop and implement Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies. One of the objectives that have generated the most interest is Goal 5 dedicated to promoting gender equality. This study analyzes the gender equality evolution in companies as part of CSR through Change Management (CM). To do this, a longitudinal study was carried in the last ten years with an analysis of the content of various reports from four of the most important banks in Spain. The results corroborate the growing interest of the largest Spanish financial institutions in gender equality. Being women's access to employment, salary gap information, and the presence of women on the board of directors a priority. Likewise, the CM appears as a lever for the achievement of the SDGs by the entities, gaining relevance in recent years, and being linked to the strategic approach and business objectives for the development of CSR.

Comparing International Communication of Corporate Social Responsibility by Chinese and Korean Firms on Social Media

Background: More and more multinational corporations (MNCs) based in East Asia are adopting international social media to communicate messages on corporate social responsibility (CSR), but little research has investigated their content qualitatively. Literature review: I reviewed the literature related to the convergence and divergence of corporate behaviors under the framework of the institutional theory. Comparative studies on web-based CSR communication (CSRC) were also addressed, and CSR development in China and Korea was described as the research context to develop hypotheses and research questions. Research questions: 1. How do Chinese and Korean CSRCs resemble each other in international social media? 2. What are the differences between Chinese and Korean CSRCs in international social media? Research methodology: I selected six Chinese companies and six Korean firms from the 2019 Forbes 2000 world's-largest-corporations ranking, and analyzed the content of their English-language Facebook accounts using “Leximancer,” a powerful textual analysis software package. Results: Results indicated that the CSR messages of Chinese and Korean firms resembled each other at a macrolevel but differed at a microlevel. In addition, the CSR messages of Chinese companies were more likely to reflect national strategic agendas, while Korean firms placed greater emphasis on short-term events and legal compliance. Conclusions: Chinese and Korean corporations have adopted an approach of “global topics, native framing” in their CSRCs to achieve a balance between internal and external legitimacy.

The Relationship between Human Resource Management and Corporate Social Responsibility: A Critical Review

An increasing number of organizations are focusing not only on creating value but also on ethical, social, and environmental perspectives. Traditionally, organizations mostly encompassed corporate social responsibility as their activities only in an economically favorable situation. However, corporate social responsibility can be incorporated in organizations with human resource management as a strategic process to recover and sustain the organization's development. Therefore, the study aims to analyze the relation between corporate social responsibility and human resource management and the role of human resource practices with corporate social responsibility in organizational development. From this standpoint, this study provides a systematic review of the concepts of corporate social responsibility, the relation between corporate social responsibility and human resource management, and their effect on the organization's success. Fifty-six articles published during 2004–2020 are selected for review from a descriptive and content perspective to propose a future research direction on a selected topic. The findings of the reviewed literature indicated that a triple bottom line (economic, social, and environmental) attainment is essentially a high-level management-driven operation in the absence of employee participation. Besides, this paper described the importance of corporate social responsibility, the linkage between human resource and corporate social responsibility in the organization, and promoting corporate social responsibility to the organizations and various stakeholders. Finally, this study asserted the connection between these two concepts and inquired management to treat the link as a strategic business decision to control the organization's human capital.

The Development of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Context of Overcoming a Welfare State Crisis: a Theoretical and Empirical Analysis

The current social crisis, caused by the negative consequences of globalization, labor migration, and an aging population, requires the state’s role in economic and social spheres to be reconsidered. In order to achieve and maintain sustainable economic growth, the pressing social problems, such as poverty, hunger, discrimination, and the unequal distribution of income, should be solved. Under these circumstances, the paper investigates the process of forming a welfare state to evaluate the role of current states in this period of social crisis. To achieve the aim, the following methods were used: historical and systematic analysis of the scientific literature and socio-economic conditions of the evolution of theoretical approaches of the welfare state, and the causes and characteristics of the present social crisis; cluster analysis of European countries to find similar patterns based on the level of corporate social responsibility (CSR) development, state social expenditures, and the government budget balance. The paper contains a detailed analysis and discussion of the formation of a welfare state. The study concludes that the process of delegating some state social services to the private sector in the form of CSR can be considered an efficient mechanism to eliminate and overcome the current social crisis through the accumulation of social capital. At the same time, the results of the cluster analysis of European countries demonstrated the importance of CSR development as a compensator for the negative effects of a public welfare crisis and for solving pressing social problems in most European countries. Specific features of post-socialist countries in the context of social orientation of state policy and the development of CSR are highlighted.

Design of Evaluation Scheme for Social Responsibility of China’s Transportation Enterprises from the Perspective of Green Supply Chain Management

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the supply chain has become an increasingly popular research topic, but there are little researches on developing countries or emerging market economies as the research object, let alone providing a framework for assessing CSR in sustainable supply chains in the context of these countries. This paper will make up for these literature gaps. From the perspective of the green supply chain management, this paper integrates various authoritative standards and adopts two methods, “R clustering” and “variation coefficient analysis”, to establish a CSR performance evaluation system of China’s transportation industry. Applying the mean square error index weighting method analyzes the performance of 74 companies in China’s transportation industry in 2018 to verify the rationality of the evaluation system. The results find that this industry generally scores low and the performance of responsibilities of different sub-sectors in this industry is different, but the overall performance trend is improving. This research has implications for China’s transportation industry to improve CSR levels from the perspective of green supply chain management, for managers and stakeholders who are committed to improving China’s CSR green and sustainable development, and for the development of CSR in developing countries and emerging markets.

Does a Company’s Profitability Influence the Level of CSR Development?

The objective of this paper is to analyze the effect of economic and financial performance on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). For this reason, we have used the data from a sample made up of 662 companies, 146 registered as medium-sized or large and 516 as small or micro, highlighting the significant weight of small companies in the sample. CSR has been measured using an indicator estimated from the data gathered by way of a questionnaire containing information related with the economic, environmental, and social dimensions. The analysis has been conducted by estimating panel regression models with robust errors. The results show a negative relationship between economic performance and more CSR activities implemented, supporting the Managerial Opportunism Hypothesis. Furthermore, large companies under the pressure of stakeholders are more prone to implementing certain CSR actions than small ones, meaning that a minimum size is essential according to this research.

What Does Entrepreneurship Add to the Understanding of Corporate Social Responsibility Management in Sport?

Despite the widespread growth of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in sport, the majority of professional sport teams still manage social engagement in an opportunistic manner. Tactical attempts toward CSR management can provide discrete and short-term benefits, but lack the ability to create lasting social and economic impacts. This study uses an entrepreneurship perspective to study CSR management in sport. More specifically, it builds on the concept of corporate social entrepreneurship (CSE) to study the transition toward more strategic CSR approaches. Through an in-depth study of a single professional soccer case in Belgium, the drivers of CSE and their relation to strategic CSR development and implementation were explored. The findings indicate the importance of having an intrapreneur, an enabling organization, and, to some extent, stakeholder alliances. Challenges, however, arise at the level of organizational culture and aiming for shared value creation.

The role of corporate social responsibility in development of communication with external stakeholders and environmental protection – an example of a telecommunications company

10.29119/1641-3466.2021.152.16