Employee Volunteering Research Articles

Effects of corporate social responsibility on consumer credibility perception and attitude toward luxury brands

We examined the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on consumer behavior in relation to luxury brands. We adopted a 2 × 3 factorial design to examine 2 product types (rational and emotional) and 3 types of CSR activities (donations, employee volunteering, and nonperformance of CSR) to examine the effects of the CSR activities of a company manufacturing a luxury brand on consumers' perceptions of that company's credibility and the consumers' brand attitudes. The results showed that after CSR exposure there was no significant difference for the three measures, regardless of product type or CSR activity. However, we found statistically significant differences in brand attitude and perception of credibility when companies did not engage in CSR activities.

Commitment through Employee Volunteering: Accounting for the Motives of Inter‐Organisational Volunteers

This study investigated whether participating in inter‐organisational (i.e. self‐directed, non‐strategic) employee volunteering, which is common but rarely studied, is associated with increased organisational commitment. We find evidence for this relation in a sample (N = 385) of employee volunteers and their non‐volunteering co‐workers. We statistically account for self‐selection into the volunteering program by incorporating individual motives for volunteering. Volunteers compared to non‐volunteers exhibited relatively stronger motives of expressing altruistic values and avoiding negative affect, but a weaker motive of attaining career advancement. Our findings point to an efficient way of increasing organisational commitment that is relatively inexpensive to implement. They also complement existing research from other employee volunteering contexts, pointing to a possible trade‐off between the desired outcomes of effectively managing volunteering programs.

Management of Corporate Volunteers and the Effects of Volunteering on the Well-Being and Engagement of Employees: A Review and Framework for Future Research

Employee volunteering is a topic of growing importance in workplaces around the globe. Similarly, growing research on this phenomenon has seen a significant increase over the past decade, most significantly in different manufacturing and service oriented firms. Nevertheless, the increased visibility of this notion, not much is written on this burning question and the direction for future research is also unclear. In addition, research is currently based on a variety of different definitions but nothing is said about the practices and the propositions which managers should acclimatize to foster enhanced volunteering initiatives within the organization. In order to advance management research on employee volunteering, this literature hinges upon on four contributions: (1) clarifying the theoretical background on corporate volunteering, (2) best practices which managers should adapt to foster corporate volunteering, (3) effects of volunteering on the well-being and engagement of employees, and (4) providing a future research agenda for the role of volunteering and its motives.

Corporate social responsibility and employee volunteerism: What do the best companies do?

Employee volunteerism as a practice of corporate social responsibility aids corporations by strengthening employee satisfaction and retention internally and by strengthening corporate reputations and connections with stakeholders externally. Of particular interest are the specific practices and procedures used by companies to encourage and support volunteer activities of their employees. We reviewed publicly available documents of Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For ranking to gain insight into how these best companies practice employee volunteerism and whether they link employee volunteerism to their corporate social responsibility strategy. We propose a connection of the position and importance of employee volunteerism in the corporate practices of social responsibility. Our findings suggest that many highly regarded companies specifically link employee volunteerism to their corporate social responsibility strategy. These companies also utilize similar practices to encourage and support employee volunteerism. We highlight the practices that managers could consider to support their corporate social responsibility efforts and offer several suggestions for future consideration.

VolunteerMatch partners with Causecast on employee volunteerism platform

San Francisco–based corporate giving and volunteer software firm Causecast has launched a new partnership with VolunteerMatch, the nation's largest online volunteer engagement network, that will integrate VolunteerMatch functionality into the Causecast software—making thousands of locally relevant volunteer opportunities from over 100,000 nonprofits available to employees all over the world, the groups said. By bringing VolunteerMatch opportunities into Causecast, companies of all sizes can diversify their existing volunteer programs to feature volunteer opportunities sourced through VolunteerMatch, Causecast for Nonprofits and company exclusive opportunities, VolunteerMatch said in a statement.

A case study in self-construction of volunteering employees as a mechanism of managerial control

This article is based on a case study at an Israeli banking corporation, spanning more than two decades from the early 1960s to the 1980s. The article demonstrates the self-construction process of employees who volunteered in the community over three periods, corresponding to three marketing campaigns initiated by the management that were aimed at expanding sales and intensifying its employees' identification with the bank. The managerial literature views employee volunteering as a strategic tool for human resource management. In contrast, the current study offers a critical perspective on employee volunteering, viewing it as part of a managerial control mechanism that regulates employee behaviour and feelings by shaping their 'self'. I argue that managerial control of the employee's 'self' has intensified parallel to the individualisation processes that established him or her as an employee who volunteers in the community. Instead of a service provider at the bank, towards the end of the 1970s his or her identity was established as a 'humane' and creative individual motivated to sell banking services by means of proactive volunteering activities in the community.

The Effects of Employee Volunteering: The Moderating Role of Authenticity

The Effects of Employee Volunteering: The Moderating Role of Authenticity

Employee Volunteering

Employee volunteering is a topic of growing importance in workplaces around the globe. Likewise, research on employee volunteering has seen a marked increase over the past decade, particularly in leading management and psychology outlets. Despite this increasing visibility, there is little consensus on the state of the literature or directions for the future. In particular, research is currently based on a variety of different definitions and operationalizations and is spread across several disciplines. In order to advance management research on employee volunteering, this review focuses on three contributions: (1) clarifying the definition and various forms of employee volunteering, (2) reviewing the current body of knowledge on employee volunteering, and (3) providing a future research agenda for the role of employee volunteering in the workplace.

Relationship between perceptions of corporate social responsibility and organizational cynicism: the role of employee volunteering

This study explores the role of positive corporate social responsibility (CSR) perceptions of employees in reducing cynicism toward the organization. As employee involvement in CSR activities through volunteering could influence the perceptions of CSR among employees, the moderating impact of employee volunteering on the relationship between CSR perceptions and cynicism is also tested. Considering that managers and non-managers can have different perceptions of CSR and organizational realities, the relationship between CSR and organizational cynicism is compared among managerial and non-managerial staff working in large organizations. The analysis of 348 questionnaires collected from 191 managers and 157 non-managers showed that positive perceptions of CSR were negatively correlated with organizational cynicism for both managers and non-managers, with significantly stronger negative correlations among managers. Employee volunteering did not significantly moderate the relationship between CSR and organizational cynicism in both groups. The implications of these results on human resource management theory and practice are discussed.

Perceptions of Employee Volunteering: Is It “Credited” or “Stigmatized” by Colleagues?

As research begins to accumulate on employee volunteering, it appears that this behavior is largely beneficial to employee performance and commitment. It is less clear, however, how employee volunt...

Understanding the role of the broker in business non-profit collaboration

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the contribution of brokers to business non-profit collaborations, in the context of employee volunteering. It investigates the roles brokers play and ways they contribute to value creation within social alliances. Design/methodology/approach – This research focusses on a case study of a UK employee volunteering broker programme run by a local volunteer centre. A combined qualitative methodology involved document analysis and interviews, with brokers and business, community and government partners involved in employee volunteering collaborations. Findings – Brokers play three key roles in business non-profit collaboration as connectors, facilitators/co-designers and learning catalysts. These roles help stimulate manifestations of associational value, transferred resource value, interaction value and synergistic value. Research limitations/implications – Results indicate brokers play an important part in nurturing conditions underpinning innovation and value co-creation, key characteristics of transformational forms of business non-profit collaboration. This study was based on a single case study. Future research could explore broker contributions within a variety of business non-profit settings. Practical implications – For managers implementing business non-profit collaborations, this paper provides a framework depicting key broker roles and ways brokers enable collaborative value that may be useful when assessing whether to use the services of a broker. Originality/value – This paper enriches the understanding of business non-profit collaboration and the role of individual actors in affecting value creation, an under-researched area in the social alliance literature. It provides a framework for assessing broker contributions in business non-profit collaborations.

A Dimensional Construct for Employee Volunteering in Corporate Community Investment Strategies

Borrowing its title from Caroll (1991), this empirical paper determines dimensions and structure of employee volunteering practices (EVP) and places these in the context of other Corporate Community Investment. In particular it considers whether certain CCI practices (within the suite of strategies available to the firm), may be aligned, or whether distinctions appear. This paper seeks to understand how different practices of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Corporate Community Investment (CCI) interact and identifies common dimensions (or factors) that underpin these practices. This research seeks to enhance understanding of employee volunteering by providing a theoretical structure for employee volunteering and a measurement tool for expressing levels of practice. Using data from annual reports of 333 UK firms contributes a stringently developed dimensional structure and a potential measurement tool for expressing levels of practice for employee volunteering and CCI. Results provide significant evidence for distinct factors relating to: communication, engagement, and resource commitment, which differ between volunteering and other CCI practices. Further, a lack of strategic embeddedness can be observed between the some CCI practices and public CSR declarations seen in mission statements of leading firms.

The transformed identity of a banking corporation's employees, 1960s-1980s

The current paper discusses one aspect of corporate social responsibility—employee community volunteering—as implemented at an Israeli banking corporation. The literature on corporate social responsibility as a feature of global capitalism has largely ignored the history of corporate philanthropy and its relation to the current model of social responsibility. Moreover, to date, no studies have addressed the relationship between models of corporate social responsibility, on the one hand, and management approaches, on the other. In this historical–ethnographic study, we examine a case in which, we argue, normative management models and advanced marketing approaches combined to shape new conceptions and practices of employee volunteering. We examine how the process evolved over the course of three marketing campaigns initiated by the bank's management between the early 1960s and the early 1980s. In the early 1960s, the models in question helped refashion the employees' identity as service providers ‘empathic’ toward clients. By the late 1970s, their identity was transformed once again, this time to incorporate a ‘humane’ orientation toward the ‘community’. In the process—the results of which are still felt today—the employees became the carriers and disseminators of an organizational culture that emphasized values of philanthropy and social commitment. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

(Mis)Using employee volunteering for public relations: Implications for corporate volunteers' organizational commitment

This study examines the conditions under which corporate volunteering initiatives can result in work outcomes. We posit that employees participating in company-supported volunteering activities (corporate volunteers) respond attitudinally to company support for employee volunteering (CSEV) based on the attributions they make about the company's purpose in implementing the volunteering program. Specifically, we examine the moderating role of corporate volunteers' attributions concerning the public relations motives underlying companies' employee volunteering programs. A sequential mixed methodology design is used for this study, consisting of two distinct phases: qualitative followed by quantitative. Results show that attributions of public relations motives undermine the positive effects of CSEV on corporate volunteers' perceptions of company prosocial identity, and subsequently, on corporate volunteers' affective company commitment. We discuss implications for theory and practice.

Multi‐level Antecedents of Company Support for Employee Volunteering

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to identify multi‐level determinants of company support for employee volunteering (CSEV). This study surveyed 251 senior managers in firms operating in the USA. Multiple regression analysis was used to uncover multi‐level antecedents of CSEV. In addition, we conducted logistic regression to identify which factors predict whether employees in general and executive managers participate in volunteering. The results of this study showed that humanistic culture and stakeholder pressure on corporate social responsibility (CSR) were significantly related to CSEV. Findings from logistic regression indicated that employees volunteered more when a company had higher levels of humanistic culture and perceived more pressure on CSR from stakeholders. For a corporation to successfully implement CSR initiatives through employee volunteering, this study suggests that a senior manager should recognize two major determinants of CSEV: humanistic culture and stakeholder pressure on CSR. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

What motivates individuals to participate in employee volunteering programs?

Employee volunteering programs are unique among other corporate social responsibility initiatives as their success entirely depends on the decisions of individual employees. Yet little research has examined when and why employees participate. Integrating a motivational perspective on volunteering with theories in boundary management, cognition, institutional theory, and behavioral reasoning theory, I introduce a model that explains how individuals' boundary management preferences, the type of volunteering programs offered, perceived interpersonal expectation on volunteering roles or organizational culture, and the content of reasons for volunteering given by the corporation are likely to influence employees' decisions to volunteer. I propose that individuals are more likely to volunteer when they prefer integration of their work and volunteer roles, perceive that programs align with their boundary management preferences and/or functional motives, perceived interpersonal expectations for volunteering at wo...

2012 Presidential Address—On Compassion In Scholarship: Why Should We Care?

2012 Presidential Address—On Compassion In Scholarship: Why Should We Care?

(Mis)Using Employee Volunteering for Public Relations: Implications for Organizational Commitment

This study examines the conditions under which corporate volunteering initiatives can result in work outcomes. We posit that employees participating in company-supported volunteering activities (co...

APLIKASI STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODEL (SEM) DALAM PENENTUAN ALTERNATIF PENGELOLAAN LINGKUNGAN INDUSTRI KOMPONEN ALAT BERAT BERBASIS PARTISIPASI DAN KEMITRAAN MASYARAKAT

As a company engaged in the industrial sector by producing certain components and localized in an industrial area, there will be an impact on the environment. These impacts can be positive in the form of employment, reducing dependence on imported heavy equipment, increase in foreign exchange due to reduced imports and increased exports, increased government revenue from taxes, public facilities improvement and supporting infrastructure, and opening up opportunities for other related industries. These impacts can also be negative in the form of environmental degradation such as noise disturbance, dust, and micro climate change, and changes in social and cultural conditions surrounding the industry. Data analysis was performed descriptively and with the Structural Equation Model (SEM). SEM is a multivariate statistical technique which is a combination of factor analysis and regression analysis (correlation), which aims to test the connections between existing variables in a model, whether it is between the indicator with the construct, or the connections between constructs. SEM model consists of two parts, which is the latent variable model and the observed variable model. In contrast to ordinary regression linking the causality between the observed variables, it is also possible in SEM to identify the causality between latent variables. The results of SEM analysis showed that the developed model has a fairly high level of validity that is shown by the minimum fit chi-square value of 93.15 (P = 0.00029). Based on said model, it shows that the company's performance in waste management is largely determined by employee integrity and objectivity of the new employees followed later by the independence of the employees in waste management. The most important factor that determines the employee integrity in waste management in the model is honesty, individual wisdom, and a sense of responsibility. The most important factor in the employee objectivity in waste management is the support of accurate data in each report of waste management by the company and transparency on reports of the company’s activity. While the factors that determine the employee independency is the company's interests, a sense of employee volunteering, and openness between the company and employees. Keywords : heavy equipment industry, management, environment, Structural Equation Model (SEM)

Helping Makes a Difference: Employee Volunteering, Identity and the Meaning of Work

As employees express a broad and persistent desire for work that makes a positive impact on others and on society, organizations are increasingly implementing employee volunteer programs to make su...