Corporate Social Responsibility Leadership Research Articles

Strategic Corporate Purpose

ABSTRACTWe propose a theory of strategic corporate social responsibility (CSR). Value‐maximizing shareholders play an industry CSR game where they can opt for an objective function that extends beyond shareholder value, thus conditioning other strategic firm decisions. The theory provides a formalization of the “doing well by doing good” adage in an industry setting. We develop conditions such that the CSR game is a pure coordination game, which provides a natural and novel theory of strategic leadership in CSR: By committing to a CSR objective function, a first mover leads the industry to a Pareto superior equilibrium. The theory can rationalize recent evidence on correlated industry‐wide CSR adoption, and carries implications for competition policy.

A corporate social responsibility (CSR)-led competitiveness framework through a bibliometric analysis (2001–2023)

PurposeCorporate social responsibility (CSR) is viewed as a differentiating strategy that wins over stakeholders’ confidence. Due to the potential strategic and positive effects on businesses, the study of CSR and its relationship to competitiveness has gained relevance. While studies have examined the impact of CSR activities on firm competitiveness, the findings so far remain contradictory. Further research on the underlying processes/mechanisms that explain how CSR contributes to competitiveness remains scarce. Accordingly, this study aims to look into the link between CSR and competitiveness with a focus on Asian business and management studies.Design/methodology/approachBy using a bibliometric approach, this paper aims to provide a review of the state-of-the-art research on the linkage between CSR and competitiveness in Asian context. The sample for this research included all 538 studies from the period of 2001–2023 in the Scopus database. A bibliometric study included both co-occurrence and co-citation analysis.FindingsThe study’s findings made significant contributions by identifying seven distinct clusters of co-occurrences. Using co-citation, three journals-based co-citation clusters and another three authors-based co-citation clusters are identified. The findings show how processes/mechanisms such as – accountability, multi-stakeholder dialogue/engagement, resource generation, emphasizing sustainable development goals and emerging markets, redefining strategy, cultivating value/vision and CSR leadership – are increasing in importance.Practical implicationsOverall, the authors argue that CSR-led competitiveness is indeed one of the key drivers for improved sustainability performance of a firm.Originality/valueBased on findings, a conceptual framework has been proposed highlighting different processes and mechanisms that influence the CSR-led competitiveness – outcomes relationship.

Employees' reactions to CSR perception and disclosure in the presence of multilevel contingencies

PurposePrimarily, this research aims to examine how and when firm-level corporate social responsibility (CSR) translates into individual-level attitudes and behaviors of employees under cross-level boundary conditions of firm-level family ownership (FO) and group-level ethical leadership.Design/methodology/approachPhilosophically, the present research comes under the post-positivist paradigm, with a deductive approach. The multilevel, multisource and multimethod data for this research were collected by employing a time-lagged design through the survey strategy and from annual reports of 60 manufacturing firms in Pakistan. The multilevel path analysis was conducted using MPlus.FindingsThe authors found that organizational identification (OID) statistically and significantly mediates the impact of firms' CSR disclosure on employees' innovative job performance (EIJP). However, the partial mediation of OID between firm-level CSR perception and EIJP was noticed. Moreover, a firm-level contingency of FO and group-level ethical leadership further intensifies the impact of CSR disclosure and perception on EIJP through OID.Research limitations/implicationsTheoretically, this research widens the current understanding of employees' reactions to firms' CSR disclosure and perception by investigating the contingencies of firm-level FO and group-level ethical leadership. Practically, the managers can consider the underlying framework presented in this research in defining CSR as the antecedent of the OID and EIJP. For example, organizations must deliberately concentrate on not only their CSR initiatives and engagements but also immense attentiveness should be given to CSR disclosure because disclosing CSR will assist the top management in achieving the desired workplace attitudes and behaviors of employees. This research will also help business leaders to understand the integration of CSR and ethical leadership while making CSR-related strategic decisions.Originality/valueExisting research on CSR still needs advancement due to competing explanations, inconsistencies in the findings, and a lack of multilevel studies. Although few studies on CSR have considered multilevel aspects by devising and testing multilevel mechanisms but largely remained deficient concerning cross-level boundary conditions. Furthermore, the authors also noticed that the academic literature predominantly analyses the impact of perceived CSR either at the individual level or the firm aggregated level on employee attitudes and behaviors. However, research on the effect of organizational CSR disclosure on the behaviors and attitudes of employees remains scarce.

Female CEO succession and corporate social disclosure in China: unveiling the significance of ownership status and firm performance.

This study intends to examine the effect of CEO succession with gender change from male to female (i.e., female CEO succession) on corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting. Based on insights from upper echelons theory, it is proposed that female CEO successors are more likely than male CEO successors to improve the firm's CSR reporting level due to variations in their traits, values, and preferences regarding green issues, especially CSR. The study also explores the influence of the firm's ownership status (i.e., SOEs vs. non-SOEs) and performance (high-performance firms vs. low-performance firms) on the relationship between female CEO succession and CSR reporting. Using data from Chinese publicly traded firms from 2010 to 2020, this study employs the logistic regression technique to examine the proposed relationship between female CEO succession and CSR reporting and presents robust evidence that female CEO succession has a positive effect on firm CSR reporting, and that this effect is more prevalent in non-SOEs and high-performance firms than in SOEs and low-performance firms, respectively. The study adds fresh insights to the extant literature on CSR and corporate leadership and offers useful policy recommendations for corporate decision-makers and policymakers while considering women's involvement in succession plans for top leadership positions like CEO to tackle the strategic management of CSR disclosure in China.

Navigate Employees’ CSR Perceptions and Leadership Roles: An Individual-level Study

This study evaluates the mediational role of employee perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) between two leadership styles and employee outcomes. Data was collected from 348 front-line employees of hotels in Pakistan. Structural equation modeling was used to test the data in AMOS. Results reveal that employees’ perception of organizations' CSR is shaped by its leader’s moral conduct and helps to enhance their commitment and engagement towards the organization. Findings reveal that partial mediation yields better results than full mediation and CSR mediates the relation between ethical, participative leadership and employees’ outcomes that leads toward higher engagement and commitment. The study is unique in its nature by investigating employees' perceived CSR as a mediator to explore the underlying mechanism between leadership roles and employees’ outcomes. The study holds valuable implications for managers and organizations especially for enhancing employee engagement and commitment.

The Power of Purpose: How Perceptions of Purpose Influence Individual Outcomes

Aligning human and financial resources to a compelling purpose can produce benefits for organizations and society. Thus, increased attention in the popular business press has focused on becoming a “purpose-driven” organization. Yet surprisingly, there is a notable absence of academic research on organizational purpose. We begin to address this gap by presenting the results of three studies focusing specifically on micro employee-level perceptions of organizational purpose. The first study improves upon previously unvalidated approaches to employee-level measurement of purpose. The second study demonstrates how corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts influence purpose, making organizations more attractive to prospective employees. In the third study, we test a moderated mediation model with existing employees, emphasizing controllable ways organizations can instill purpose and demonstrating meaningful influences on individual outcomes. Using cross-sectional, experimental, and longitudinal methodologies, we establish organizational purpose as a central mediating construct through which antecedent forces like CSR and transformational leadership translate into positive employee outcomes, including organizational attractiveness, commitment, and decreased turnover intentions. We make several contributions to the organizational behavior and leadership literatures, advancing an emergent empirical focus on the power of purpose in organizations.

Fostering Individual Ethical Behaviour through Integrated Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethical Leadership

The research aimed to understand the effects of integrated corporate social responsibility (CSR) combined with ethical leadership on individual?s ethical behaviour. While there have been rich literatures on organisational behavioural effects of CSR, the concept of integrated CSR remains unexplored. Integrated CSR activities incorporate ethical and responsible decision-making into core business operations, unlike conventional CSR activities which were managed peripherally from the businesses. The research also explored the mediating effect of perceived corporate ethics between integrated CSR and ethical leadership with individual ethical behaviour, as well as the moderating effect of perceived CSR-Fit between integrated CSR and perceived corporate ethics. The research adopted quantitative research approach and data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences software. The outcomes of the study confirmed the relationships between integrated CSR and ethical leadership with individual ethical behaviour, and perceived corporate ethics fully mediated the relationships between integrated CSR and individual ethical behaviour but only partially mediated the relationships between ethical leadership and individual ethical behaviour. The outcome did not support the moderating effect of perceived CSR-fit between integrated CSR and perceived corporate ethics. The research findings offer insights to businesses on the important elements in fostering individual ethical behaviour at workplaces and the roles of integrated CSR and ethical leadership in supporting the initiative. By integrating ethical behaviours and decision-making into core operations will directly support United Nation?s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG12 on Responsible Consumption and Production.

Exploring the mediating role of environmental strategy, green innovations, and transformational leadership: the impact of corporate social responsibility on environmental performance.

This study examines the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on environmental performance by utilizing data collected from ten big industrial organizations operating in Lahore, Pakistan. The research data was organized using the cross-sectional process. Of the 316 questionnaires completed by employees, 226 were considered valid, and these responses were used for further PLS analysis. The findings of the research indicate CSR has a moderate impact on environmental performance. Furthermore, the result revealed that green innovation, green capability, environmental strategy, and green transformational leadership are a better ecological performance example that could mediate CSR and environmental performance. This research study postulates the existing resource-based view (RBV) theory for overall directors of industrial organizations and representatives to achieve and manage CSR, green innovation, green capability, environmental strategy, and green transformational leadership to find optimal environmental performance. Thorough study will provide valuable inputs to the overall directors and managers of the enormous industrial sector to support their internal strategies such as CSR, green innovation, green capability, environmental strategy, and green transformational leadership to expand the environmental performance (to help directors, managers, policymakers, and executives to take appropriate/profitable decisions in the future).

The Role of CSR and Ethical Leadership to Shape Employees’ Pro-Environmental Behavior in the Era of Industry 4.0. A Case of the Banking Sector

The phenomenon of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an ever-evolving concept due to its multidimensionality. However, a plethora of studies have investigated CSR to achieve different organizational-related objectives, and its potential link to shape employee’s extra-role behavior, especially employee pro-environmental behavior (EB) in the era of Industry 4.0, is underexplored in the literature. To bridge this gap, the current study aims to explain the relationship between CSR and EB with the mediating role of ethical leadership (EL) in the banking sector of Pakistan. The data of the current survey were collected (n = 459) from different banking employees within the city of Lahore through a self-administered questionnaire (paper–pencil technique). The hypotheses were validated through the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique in AMOS. The empirical results of the current study confirmed that CSR positively relates to EB, and EL partially mediates this relationship. These findings are helpful for professionals to realize the significance of CSR and EL to shape EB in order to mitigate the environmental footprint of an organization.

Fostering Workplace Innovation through CSR and Authentic Leadership: Evidence from SME Sector

The cut-throat situation of competitiveness in almost every business sector, followed by globalization, shortened product life cycles, and rapid technological changes have raised the importance of innovation to overrun the rivals. Scholars have established that appropriate leadership style is a key enabler for organizational success. However, it is not clear in existing literature how the concept of authentic leadership is related to innovative work behavior (IWB). Likewise, the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to induce IWB is also vague in current literature. Thus, the basic purpose of the current study was to test the relationship of CSR and IWB with the mediating effect of authentic leadership. The proposed model was tested in the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) sector of China. The data were collected through a questionnaire that was distributed among different respondents of the current survey. The data were obtained from a dyad of supervisor and subordinate serving in different SMEs in Wuhan city of China. The study used the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique to validate different hypotheses. The empirical results confirm that CSR positively relates to IWB while authentic leadership partially mediates this relationship. The findings of the current survey will be helpful for policymakers to recognize employees as a source of innovation through CSR and authentic leadership.

The Role of Leadership in Corporate Social Responsibility as a Manifestation of Organization’s Intellectual Capital: A Conceptual Framework

Purpose: The main concept of the work is to learn, understand, describe and explain the importance of leaders characterized by special moral competences giving them a rational direction to their behaviors and thus to the development of the socially responsible organization in the context of constituting intellectual capital within the process of corporate social responsibility. Design/Methodology/Approach: The paper constitutes the conceptual research framework for further investigations on the position of the leadership in socially responsible organizations which contributes to the increasing role of intellectual capital in the above organizations. The hypotheses summarizing the deliberation based on the critical review of the literature were formulated in the paper. Findings: The preliminary results of the conceptual work carried out indicate that the higher the level of intellectual capital, the higher is the level of excellence in social responsibility. It was also assumed that the key factor shaping intellectual capital of the organization is the emotional intelligence of the leader and the emotional intelligence of the leader positively shapes interpersonal trust in the organization as well as inter-organizational trust. Practical Implications: Presented outcomes may be useful in formulating management strategies of contemporary enterprises based on the specific role of the responsible leader which then may turn into a new paradigm of managing socially responsible organization operating at higher level of responsibility awarness. Originality/value: The results of the research contribute in the cognitive sense to the enrichment of knowledge in terms of responsible leadership and developing intellectual capital of the organizations.

Zebras showing their stripes: a critical sense-making study of women CSR leaders

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to reveal the gendered nature of social arrangements in order to bring to the surface the hidden discourses that mediate the opportunities of women leaders in the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability.Design/methodology/approachThe author uses critical sense-making (CSM) to analyze interviews with CSR leaders toward understanding the interconnected layers of influences they draw from as they make sense of their experiences.FindingsDespite the positioning of women as being untapped resources within CSR, the reality within CSR leadership indicates that resilient, stereotypical social constructions of gender are being (re)created. However, cues can disrupt the ongoing process of sense-making and create shocks that represent opportunities for resistance as discriminatory practices are revealed.Research limitations/implicationsApplying CSM as a methodology and to the field of CSR adds a component to CSR and gender scholarship that is currently missing. CSM as a methodology bridges broader sociocultural discourses and the local site of sense-making, making visible the structures and processes that enable some narratives to become legitimized by the formative context and protect the status quo.Social implicationsIf these leaders are able to use their discursive power to establish an alternate, dominant narrative throughout their organizations – a culture of emotional empathy within CSR – alternate meanings about the nature and purpose of CSR may emerge while highlighting the need for change.Originality/valueApplying CSM as a methodology and to the field of CSR adds a component to CSR and gender scholarship that is currently missing. CSM as a methodology bridges broader sociocultural discourses and the local site of sense-making, making visible the structures and processes that enable some narratives to become legitimized by the formative context and protect the status quo.

Strategic Leadership in Corporate Social Responsibility

We propose a strategic theory of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Shareholder maximizers commit to a mission statement that extends beyond firm value maximiza- tion. This commitment leads firms (either product market competitors or complementors along the value chain) to change their actions in ways that ultimately favor shareholders. We thus provide a formal analysis of the well by doing good adage. We also pro- vide conditions such that the mission statement game has the nature of a pure coordination game. Our framework thus provides a natural theory of firm leadership in a CSR context: by selecting a CSR mission statement, a first mover effectively leads the industry to a Pareto optimal equilibrium.

Being sustainable: The three‐way interactive effects of CSR, green human resource management, and responsible leadership on employee green behavior and task performance

AbstractThe main goal of this research was to analyze the three‐way interactive effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR), green human resource management (GHRM), and responsible leadership on employee green behavior and task performance. Social cognition theory was adopted to explore the context‐behavior‐performance framework. The research hypotheses were tested using data from a survey of 261 Millennial employees in five‐star hotels in China. The results indicated that the three‐way interactive effect of CSR, GHRM, and responsible leadership on employee green behavior and performance was significant and positive. In addition, green behavior played a mediation role in this relationship after controlling the effect of organizational identity. This suggests that behavioral improvements are a better predictor of performance than perceptions of organizational identity. The analysis enriches the context‐behavior‐performance framework literature and highlights that organizations can enhance sustainability by implementing CSR, GHRM, and responsible leadership.

Female leadership in corporate social responsibility reporting: Effects on writing, readability and future social performance

This study examines how the gender of corporate social responsibility (CSR) leaders (as signers of the CSR reports) could affect two psychometric properties (i.e., solidarity and certainty) and the readability of the reports. We also investigate how these gender-based differences are associated with firms' future perceived social performance. We conduct textual analyses on a sample of 346 firms in the S&P500 index that issued annual CSR reports during the period of 2006 to 2015. Our findings show that CSR reports with a female (vis-à-vis male) executive as the signer or co-signer are more readable, show more solidarity with readers, but express less certainty in the narratives. In examining their impacts, we find that readability and solidarity, but not certainty, are positively associated with firms' future social performance. Our results suggest the value relevance of leveraging greater female representation in firms' CSR reporting leadership teams so as to help firms enhance their social objectives and signal their future social performance.

Strengthening knowledge sharing and job dedication

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose a moderated mediation model to explain how corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ethical leadership influence knowledge sharing and job dedication through the mediating mechanism of positive affective tone and cognitive meaningfulness.Design/methodology/approachThe research hypotheses were empirically tested using a survey of employees from the high-tech industry in Taiwan. The research constructs in this study were measured using five-point Likert scales modified from existing literature. The survey data were empirically analyzed with two-step structural equation modeling (SEM) and regression analysis.FindingsThe empirical results of this study reveal that CSR and ethical leadership positively relate to positive affective tone and cognitive meaningfulness. Knowledge sharing is positively affected by positive affective tone whereas job dedication is positively affected by positive affective tone and cognitive meaningfulness. While the relationship between positive affective tone and job dedication is positively moderated by job demand, the relationship between cognitive meaningfulness and job dedication is negatively moderated by job demand.Originality/valueThis study elucidates the ethical influences from organizations (i.e. CSR) and leaders (i.e. ethical leadership) respectively to explain affective and cognitive processes involved in work situations. At the same time, by clarifying the moderating role of job demand, this study provides valuable implications for managers to effectively leverage job demand for increasing employees’ job dedication.

A Study on Determining the Relationships Among Corporate Social Responsibility, Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Ethical Leadership

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has emerged as a prominent term in management literature. CSR refers to the extent to which businesses meet the economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary responsibilities imposed on them by their stakeholders. CSR is suggested to have a positive effect on employees’ organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Also, managers are likely to perform ethical behaviors in their leadership roles when management supports CSR initiatives. In this study, we examined the relationship among CSR, OCB and ethical leadership using a sample of 60 employees from Nevşehir(Cappadocia-Turkey). Our findings indicate a significant and positive relationship between CSR and ethical leadership. However, no significant relationship was found either between OCB and CSR, nor OCB and ethical leadership.

Transformational leadership, corporate social responsibility, organizational innovation, and organizational performance: Symmetrical and asymmetrical analytical approaches

AbstractThis study examines the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational performance by evaluating the mediatory role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and organizational innovation which has received considerably less attention in the literature. This study introduces CSR and organizational innovation as potential mediators of relationships between the key constructs of transformational leadership and organizational performance. Sufficient direct and mediation effects of predictors were tested using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS‐SEM) with data from 396 French firms. Sufficient configurations of the predictors indicating high and low scores of performance were explored using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The PLS‐SEM results show that both direct and indirect effects of transformational leadership on performance are significant. The fsQCA results reveal that a combination of CSR and transformational leadership leads to high performance. Alternately, high performance results from high innovation. This empirical study contributes to the current knowledge by applying both symmetrical and asymmetrical approaches to indicate performance at an organizational level. This study discusses the findings and provides theoretical, managerial, and research implications.

Leadership and the Creation of Corporate Social Responsibility: An Introduction to the Special Issue

An introduction is presented in which the author comments on the articles in this issue, including one on leadership in corporate social responsibility, one on employee cynicism, and one on ethical leadership.

A Falling of the Veils: Turning Points and Momentous Turning Points in Leadership and the Creation of CSR

This article uses the life stories approach to leadership and leadership development. Using exploratory, qualitative data from a Forbes Global 2000 and FTSE 100 company, we discuss the role of the turning point (TP) as an important antecedent of leadership in corporate social responsibility. We argue that TPs are causally efficacious, linking them to the development of life narratives concerned with an evolving sense of personal identity. Using both a multi-disciplinary perspective and a multi-level focus on CSR leadership, we identify four narrative cases. We propose that they helped to re-define individuals’ sense of self and in some extreme cases completely transformed their self-identity as leaders of CSR. Hence, we also distinguish the momentous turning point (MTP) that created a seismic shift in personality, through re-evaluation of the individuals’ personal values. We argue that whilst TPs are developmental experiences that can produce responsible leadership, the MTP changes the individuals’ personal priorities in life to produce responsible leadership that perhaps did not exist previously. Thus, we appropriate Maslow’s (Religions, values and peak experiences, Penguin, New York, 1976, p 77) metaphorical phrase ‘A falling of the veils’ from his discussion of peak and desolation experiences that produce personal growth. Using a multi-disciplinary literature from social theory (Archer in The reflexive imperative in late modernity, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2012) moral psychology (Narvaez, in: Narvaez, Lapsley (eds) Personality, identity and character: explorations in moral psychology, Cambridge University Press, New York, 2009) and social psychology (Schwartz, in: Mikulincer, Shaver (eds) Prosocial motives, emotions, and behaviour: the better angels of our nature, American Psychological Association, Washington, 2010), we present a theoretical model that illustrates the psychological process of the (M)TP, thus contributing to the growing literature on the microfoundations of CSR.