Employ Corporate Social Responsibility Research Articles

How does Employee Education Affect Employer's Corporate Social Responsibility? Evidence from China

This paper explores how employee education affects the performance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). By investigating 1,358 Chinese firms, we find that employee educations are positively associated with the quality of CSR reporting. Moreover, highly-educated employees have a stronger impact on the improved CSR reporting quality than other employees with lower educations. Further tests confirm these findings by including the external influences of state-owned regulations and mandatory disclosure requirements.

Help yourself before helping others: When corporate social responsibility does not make a company more attractive to job seekers

AbstractThis paper explores the conditions under which job seekers may not respond positively to a potential employer's corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. We propose that the relationship between an organization's externally‐directed CSR activities and job seekers’ perceptions of the organization's attractiveness is moderated by whether the organization is also engaging in internally‐directed high‐investment human resource systems (HIHRS). Results from a combination of three studies—an archival study of Fortune 500 companies (Study 1), a survey study (Study 2), and an experiment (Study 3)—provide support for our hypotheses. When an organization has lower levels of internally‐directed HIHRS, the positive influence of externally‐directed CSR on attraction to an organization diminishes (Study 3) or disappears (Studies 1 and 2). Importantly, we identify perceptions of organizational authenticity as one key mechanism driving these effects (Studies 2 and 3).

CSR Initiatives of Controlling Shareholder in Share Pledge Firms: Sustainable Orientation or Interim Plan?

This paper investigates the effects of share pledge by controlling shareholder on corporate social responsibility and the mechanism through which stock pledge affects CSR. Using a sample of Chinese listed firms from 2008 to 2020, we find that firms with pledging controlling shareholders are more likely to invest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) than other firms. Their CSR also perform better even when all pledge funds are invested to shareholders themselves rather than to the company’s operation. We then provide evidence to show that the motivating effect of stock pledge by controlling shareholder on CSR is related to controlling shareholder’s incentives to improve corporate value to prevent loss of corporate control and reduce the risk of stock price crash. These results consistently suggest that controlling shareholders employ corporate social responsibility as an effective way to reduce the risk of controlling right transfer.

A conceptual model for understanding the relationships between sport stakeholder and authentic CSR

ABSTRACT Sport organizations employ corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives to stimulate support for their products orservices to capitalize on strategic approaches to enhance their business and social outcomes. Research question: Although themajority of previous studies in sport management have focused on the factors that lead professional sport organizations (PSOs) toengage in CSR activities and outcomes, little is known about the authenticity of the initiatives. Research Method: Building onstakeholder theory, this study puts forward a conceptual framework that considers perceived authentic CSR as a dynamic process thatrelies on effective communication between the sport organization and target stakeholders. As such, the framework specifies fourfundamental components – anticipating, planning, implementing, and evaluation – that jointly influence perceived authentic CSR in thePSOs context. Results and Findings: Thus, the proposed framework updates and extends the meaning of authentic CSR in the sportcontext, which, in turn, can influence social outcomes.

Employees’ Emotional and Behavioral Reactions to Corporate Social Irresponsibility

While the body of literature on employees’ reactions to their employer's corporate social responsibility (CSR) has grown rapidly over the last decade, little is known regarding employees’ reactions to corporate social irresponsibility (CSiR). Applying deonance theory, we conceptualize CSiR as a moral judgment that a specific action of the organization is intentional, violates a moral standard, and causes harm. Using a multimethod, multisample design (two experiments and one field study), we provide evidence that moral emotions—specifically anger, sympathy, and, to some extent, guilt—are important mechanisms explaining employees’ reactions to CSiR toward other stakeholders, which can take the form of punishing, as often discussed in organization-centric research, as well as the form of compensating the victim of the CSiR, a behavior rarely studied in the management literature. Regarding the role of pride, a well-studied emotion in the micro-CSR literature, in explaining employees’ responses to CSiR, we obtain mixed results. In addition to contributing to the micro-CSR field, we contribute to deonance theory by extending its scope to sympathy and guilt and to the literature on CSiR by offering a conceptualization and a measure of CSiR grounded in deonance theory.

The Hidden Benefits of Corporate Social Responsibility

Environmental activities, for instance actions against climate change, are an important part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This paper studies how a employer's environmental CSR activities affect the pro-environmental behavior of its employees. To do so, we conducted a large-scale field experiment on a crowd-working platform in which the employer's environmental CSR level varied exogenously. We find that employer CSR positively influenced workers' pro-environmental behavior outside the job. Workers who received information that their employer engaged in environmental CSR were more likely to contribute, and contributed higher amounts, to an environmental charity in a private donation decision. Our findings indicate that the impact of CSR may be farther reaching than directly observable by firm activities alone. By using CSR, employers have the potential to influence the behavior of their employees in non-work domains. Our findings have important implications for managers of organizations engaging (or planning to engage) in environmental CSR.

Communicating philanthropic CSR versus ethical and legal CSR to employees: empirical evidence in Turkey

PurposeThis study investigates the mechanism through which banks employ corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitment to engage in employees. The values of different types of CSR engagement (i.e. philanthropic CSR vs ethical and legal CSR) are distinguished and their influences on employee identification are analyzed. The moderation effect of CSR communication through corporate social media is examined in this context.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 254 respondents was collected through surveying the employees of one of the largest banks in Turkey.FindingsFindings suggest that ethical and legal CSR is perceived more importantly than philanthropic CSR by employees in the banking industry. In addition, the level of transparency and frequency of CSR communication through corporate social media moderates the CSR types–employee identification relationship distinctively.Practical implicationsSpecial attention should be paid to the conditions under which CSR communication takes place effectively, as skeptics toward certain types of CSR initiatives may occur along with the disclosure of information about them.Social implicationsIf organizations use social media communication in a way that would bring the CSR interests of their employees to light, it is likely that CSR initiatives will become more meaningful and have a greater societal impact.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the CSR literature through identifying the value of different types of CSR initiative and confirming the importance of transparent and proactive CSR communication on employee identification in the banking sector.

Exploring the relationship between employees’ CSR perceptions and intention to emigrate: Evidence from a developing country

AbstractThis study contributes to the burgeoning research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) at the individual level of analysis, in a hitherto largely neglected developing country context. Using survey information collected from 297 employees in public and private enterprises in Kosovo, this study examines how and to what extent employees’ perceptions of their employer's CSR activities are associated with their intention to emigrate. Applying a needs‐based framework, this research provides evidence that employees’ perceptions of CSR are positively related to the meaningfulness of their work and job satisfaction and negatively related to intention to emigrate. Additionally, results confirm that the association between CSR perceptions and emigration intention is mediated by the meaningfulness of work and job satisfaction. From a practical point of view, this research should encourage private and public enterprises in developing countries to enhance and extend their CSR engagement.

Corporate social responsibilityin shaping the media image of the company

Enterprises frequently employ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to create a positive brand image in the media. To further good relations with stakeholders, companies create an image before their customers by their participation in public campaigns and information in advertisements employing elements of CSR. Discussing this practice, I will highlight aspects of this phenomenon in the context of consumer opinion about advertisements. Some examples of companies show that Cause Related Marketing (CRM) and public campaigns are becoming more significant in the strategies of cause related companies. Enterprises at all costs want to buy their way into the favour of stakeholders, and through various marketing actions they try to build a strong brand and position in this way. In spite of the low evaluation of advertisements and the decline in confidence in them, enterprises aim to convince everyone that they are socially responsible companies.

Political Uncertainty Dynamics and Corporate Donations: A Study of Publicly Traded Firms in China

This study argues that firms strategically employ corporate social responsibility (CSR) to manage political uncertainty from a resource dependence perspective. I provided a nuanced distinction of p...

Corporate social responsibility and employee engagement: The moderating role of CSR‐specific relative autonomy and individualism

SummaryGrowing evidence suggests that employees' perceptions of their employer's corporate social responsibility (CSR) relate positively to employee work engagement. This is an important connection given the impact of work engagement on both employee health and organizational productivity, as well as the importance of CSR for society. In this paper, however, we argue that the CSR perceptions–work engagement relationship cannot be assumed to be universal and that both individual and contextual factors will place meaningful boundary conditions on this effect. Integrating motivation and cross‐cultural theories, we propose that the relationship between employees' CSR perceptions and their work engagement will be stronger among employees who perceive higher CSR‐specific relative autonomy (i.e., employees' contextualized motivation for complying with, advocating for, and/or participating in CSR activities) and that this amplification effect will be stronger among employees who are higher on individualism (studied at the individual‐level of analysis). These predictions were mostly supported among a sample of 673 working adults from five different regions (Canada, China [mainland], France, Hong Kong, and Singapore) and while controlling for first‐party justice perceptions, moral identity, employee demographics, and employer/nation characteristics. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The Environmental Responsibility of the World’s Largest Banks

Abstract Sustainability transition is changing the role and function of banks, specially their products and services also in relation to stakeholders. Banks are one of the main actors supporting the transition to sustainable economy. The purpose of this study is to emphasise the role of world’s largest banks in that process. Banks are slowly responding to the new demand of sustainability and responsibility, and they try to align with it. The paper is based on an overview of the world’s five largest banks that employ corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting standards, together with detailed enumeration of pro-environmental activities included in the reports. The first section of this paper presents the most popular approaches to the problem at hand, as reported in professional literature. Section two presents the characteristics of the CSR actions in banks. The third section discusses the environmental actions of the biggest banks in Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reporting the most popular standard for reporting non-financial information. And the last part of the paper presents the conclusions resulting from the article. The research was conducted using a variety of sources, such as scientific articles, statistical data, CSR reports of the world’s largest banks, as well reporting principles and standard disclosures. The basic method used in the process of writing was a critical analysis of literature and reports concerning the CSR reporting standards, environmental responsibilities of different kinds of entities, as well as own observations based on special reports of banks. In the article, also the analysis of financial market data, induction method and comparison method have been used. The main conclusions of the analysis of the CSR reports disclosed by the world’s largest banks confirm all three of the theses presented in the article. The findings suggest that the banks under study can be regarded as environmentally responsible entities. Their reports and disclosures are produced according to the internationally recognized standards. There are also critical opinions about the standards for reporting environmental information, but the weaknesses of reporting these aspects do not undermine the benefits of using the GRI guidelines.

Illuminating the Signals Job Seekers Receive from an Employer's Community Involvement and Environmental Sustainability Practices: Insights into Why Most Job Seekers Are Attracted, Others Are Indifferent, and a Few Are Repelled

Evidence shows that job seekers tend to be attracted to employers known for their corporate social responsibility (CSR), but relatively little is known about the underlying psychological processes. Moreover, the literature is silent about whether and why some job seekers are unaffected, or even repelled by, an employer's CSR. We conducted a substantive replication of recent empirical support for three signal-based mechanisms by adapting the experimental manipulation used in a prior study while employing an alternative approach to analyzing a distinctly different type of data. We also extended prior work by examining other possible explanatory mechanisms and exploring potentially negative reactions to CSR. Using signaling theory as an overarching framework, we assessed research questions and tested hypotheses grounded in theories of employee recruitment and the psychology of CSR, specifying how an employer's CSR practices send signals from which job seekers draw inferences about unknown working conditions, thereby affecting their attraction to the employer. Study participants (N = 108) reviewed the webpages of two hiring companies and responded to open-ended questions about each employer. We content-analyzed written responses pertaining to one employer's webpages in which we embedded an experimental manipulation of information about the employer's community involvement or its environmentally sustainable practices. The results supported hypotheses that corroborate prior evidence for the “perceived value fit” and “expected employee treatment” mechanisms, and provided some, but relatively limited, support for the “anticipated pride” mechanism. Assessment of research questions highlighted previously undiscovered signal-based mechanisms that might help explain job seekers' attraction to CSR (e.g., inferences about the employer's positive work environment and financial standing, and the nature of its employees). Results also showed that a few people were less attracted because of the employer's CSR practices. Analyses among those individuals, combined with one-third of the sample who reported their attraction was unaffected by the employer's CSR, provided insights about when and why CSR fails to enhance attraction, such as when job seekers focus on other priorities, or are deeply skeptical and cynical about the employer's CSR. We discuss the implications for advancing a signal-based theory of CSR and employee recruitment, and recruitment practice.

Corporate social responsibility as an employee governance tool: Evidence from a quasi‐experiment

Research summary: This study examines whether companies employ corporate social responsibility (CSR) to improve employee engagement and mitigate adverse behavior at the workplace (e.g., shirking, absenteeism). We exploit plausibly exogenous changes in state unemployment insurance (UI) benefits from 1991 to 2013. Higher UI benefits reduce the cost of being unemployed and hence increase employees' incentives to engage in adverse behavior. We find that higher UI benefits are associated with higher engagement in employee‐related CSR. This finding suggests that companies use CSR as a strategic management tool—specifically, an employee governance tool—to increase employee engagement and counter the possibility of adverse behavior. We further examine plausible mechanisms underlying this relationship.Managerial summary: This study examines whether companies employ corporate social responsibility (CSR) to improve employee engagement and mitigate adverse behavior at the workplace (e.g., shirking, absenteeism). We find that companies react to increased risk of adverse behavior by strategically increasing their investment in employee‐related CSR (e.g., work‐life balance benefits, health and safety policies). Our findings have important managerial implications. In particular, they suggest that CSR may help companies motivate and engage their employees. Hence, companies dealing with employees that are unmotivated, regularly absent, or engage in other forms of adverse behavior, may find it worthwhile to design and implement effective CSR practices. Further, our findings suggest that CSR can be used as employee governance tool. Accordingly, managers could benefit from integrating CSR considerations into their strategic planning. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Corporate Social Responsibility, Risk Diversification, and Firm Value: Does Corporate Social Responsibility Diversify Risk

The purpose of this study is to explore whether firms that employ corporate social responsibility tactics see bottom-line improvements to their firm’s performance through risk diversification. The literature review of this topic shows that “internal firm diversification” contributes positively to the reduction of idiosyncratic risk which in turn contributes to positive financial performance, and as such, this paper posits that investing in corporate social responsibility is a form of “internal firm diversification.” Using a corporate social responsibility rating as well as its lagged value as independent variables (Li, Class, 2016) and control variables for idiosyncratic risk (Mishra, and Modi, 2012) we observe that corporate social responsibility contributes positively to a firm’s financial performance in a variety of measures.

The Olympic Effect: Employee Reactions to Their Employer's Sponsorship of a High‐Profile Global Sporting Event

With companies investing vast sums of money on sponsoring high‐profile sports events, it is surprising that very little research exists to examine the possible impact that this has on the sponsors’ employees. This two‐wave panel study explores the indirect role that Olympic sponsorship and employee support for this sponsorship has on increases in organizational identification and discretionary effort—via, that is, pride and employee assessments of their employer's corporate social responsibility (CSR) credentials. The current study surveyed 241 employees (from three countries) in two phases across a 12‐month period in the run‐up to the 2012 London Olympics. Olympic sponsorship support was found to be positively associated with organizational pride and CSR perceptions, which both predict increases in organizational identification and discretionary effort (controlling for earlier baseline levels of these outcomes). In addition, there is also evidence of an indirect positive effect (through CSR perceptions and pride) of Olympic sponsorship support on increases in organizational identification and discretionary effort. The implications of these findings for decision makers considering sponsoring major sporting events are discussed; the findings provide interesting insights that can help HR functions to understand the consequences of sports sponsorship and processes involved that explain positive employee responses. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Corporate Social Responsibility as a Remedy for Moral Hazard?

This study examines whether companies employ corporate social responsibility (CSR) to improve employee engagement and mitigate adverse behavior at the workplace (e.g., shirking, absenteeism, etc.). We exploit plausibly exogenous changes in state unemployment insurance (UI) benefits from 1991 to 2013. Higher UI benefits reduce the cost of being unemployed and hence increase employees' incentives to engage in adverse behavior. We find that higher UI benefits are associated with higher engagement in employee-related CSR. This finding suggests that companies use CSR as a strategic management tool -- specifically, an employee governance tool -- to increase employee engagement and counter the possibility of adverse behavior. We further examine plausible mechanisms underlying this relationship.

Pride or Embarrassment? Employees’ Emotions and Corporate Social Responsibility

AbstractThis study explores how the employees of a financial firm use emotional arguments to construct different views of their employer's corporate social responsibility (CSR). It is theoretically based on the recent literature regarding employee perspectives of CSR, and especially on the role of emotions in CSR. Furthermore, the study utilizes rhetorical theory as a framework for data analysis. A qualitative study, based on face‐to‐face interviews, was conducted among 27 employees in a Finnish financial firm. The study identifies six categories of emotional arguments the employees used to construct views of where their employing organization's CSR is derived from. These categories relate positive emotions to satisfaction with the employing organization's CSR and negative emotions to dissatisfaction. The results show that employees also experience external pressures for CSR, but only implicitly, because they do not wish be embarrassed by their employer. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Drivers of Socially Responsible Purchasing Behavior

Retailers and companies increasingly employ corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a global management strategy. They are motivated to act in a socially responsive manner to their global customers not only to fulfill their ethical obligations as a social entity but also due to the marketing and financial benefits resulting from consumer responses to CSR initiatives. Therefore, many retailers develop or participate in CSR activities and hope their actions can be recognized by others. Further, CSR activities are more likely to be perceived and accepted by consumers who show ethical purchasing behavior while shopping. Ethical purchasing behavior or socially responsible purchasing behavior is formed by their beliefs and norms which are influenced significantly by the culture they belong to. This study examined the differences between two countries with opposite cultures (i.e., the U.S. and South Korea) by considering the drivers (i.e., perceived consumer effectiveness, awareness, collectivism) and a consequence (i.e., satisfaction) of ethical purchase behavior. The findings suggested that perceived consumer effectiveness and awareness are important drivers to generate consumers’ commitment to companies’ CSR initiatives in general and the effectiveness is stronger in Korea than in United States. Implications and limitations were discussed.