Social Responsibility Strategies Research Articles

Corporate social responsibility practices: insights from North Mara gold mine, Tanzania

The CSR practices of privately owned mining businesses have the capacity to foster the development of communities residing in proximity to the mining operations. Nevertheless, there is limited knowledge regarding the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives undertaken by mining businesses in Tanzania that are partially owned by the government. The focus of this study was to analyze the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives implemented by the North Mara Gold Mine in Tanzania, which is partially controlled by the government. The primary aims of this study were to assess the level of community awareness regarding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and to analyze the CSR initiatives performed by North Mara Gold Mine among the surrounding regions. The research had a cross-sectional design and included a sample of 358 houses, which were chosen through the utilization of a systematic random selection method. The data collection process involved the utilization of many methods, including household surveys, key informant interviews, focus group talks, and documentary reviews. The data underwent examination through the utilization of descriptive statistics and content analysis techniques. The primary outcomes of the investigation indicated that a majority of the participants exhibited knowledge regarding corporate social responsibility (CSR), and demonstrated the ability to articulate and elucidate the CSR initiatives implemented by North Mara Gold Mine within their respective localities. The findings indicate that the key informants have the ability to articulate corporate social responsibility as the responsibilities of companies towards the local community residing in the vicinity of the mining operation, with the objective of enhancing the overall welfare of the community. Additionally, it was discovered that the North Mara Gold Mine has been actively engaging in the implementation of corporate social responsibility initiatives. These initiatives primarily involve providing support to the local populations residing in close proximity to the mine. The support encompasses several areas such as education, infrastructure development (including roads and sanitary facilities), healthcare, and employment opportunities. Hence, it is advisable for mining enterprises to include corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies into their business operations and establish a dedicated CSR Foundation to oversee and manage CSR initiatives.

The Reactive Strategy During the COVID-19 Crisis: A New String to the Bow of CSR

This study aims to study the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on stock market performance and determine whether firms with a reactive corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy (compared to those with a proactive and strategic strategy) were less affected. Focusing on a sample of 217 French firms, the event study approach is applied to examine change in the stock prices of socially responsible firms at the announcement of COVID-19 as a pandemic. The results show that stock prices dropped significantly as a reaction to the COVID-19 outbreak, particularly for the proactive CSR group compared to the reactive CSR group. The results also show that the reactive CSR group resisted more in the longer term. Furthermore, an investment strategy aiming at buying reactive CSR firms and or selling proactive ones would have earned abnormal returns. However, the investment strategy is not fruitful when we consider reactive CSR stocks and strategic firms.

Knowledge-Based Faultlines and Corporate Social Irresponsibility: Evidence from Chinese High-Polluting Companies

Government requests and societal expectations have pressured high-polluting companies to focus on corporate social responsibility strategies. Using the upper echelons theory as a theoretical framework, we investigated how top management team (TMT) faultlines influence corporate social performance (CSP) based on data from 212 high-polluting companies. The results showed that CSP can be improved by reducing corporate social irresponsibility (CSiR), knowledge-based faultlines have a U-shaped effect on CSiR, and there is a knowledge-based faultline critical point. This implies that knowledge-based faultlines can improve CSiR before reaching this critical point. Additionally, medium-strength knowledge-based faultlines are more conducive to improving irresponsible behavior. CEO power plays a significant moderating role in the relationship between TMT faultlines and CSiR and slows the U-shaped effect of knowledge-based faultlines on CSiR. These findings could help enterprises optimize team structures, adjust corporate social responsibility strategies, and maintain sustainable development in high-polluting sectors.

The influence of status consumption and social media marketing strategies on consumers’ perceptions of green and CSR strategies: How the effects link to emotional attachment to restaurants

Due to the rise of environmental consciousness amongst consumers, this study explores how consumer perceptions of green and corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies influence consumers' emotional attachment resulting in their advocacy and willingness to pay premium prices (WTP) at green restaurants. The moderating roles of perceived seriousness of environmental problems (PSEP) and ascription of responsibility (AR) were examined between the effects of green and CSR strategies on emotional attachment. To have a better understanding of green consumption, this research further explores if social status and social media marketing have an effect on consumers’ perceptions of green strategies, which in turn influence how they perceive the image of eco-friendly restaurants. Therefore, two studies were designed to collect data, and covariance-based structural equation modelling was adopted for data analysis.Study 1 shows that green and CSR strategies lead to consumers' emotional attachment to restaurants, influencing their advocacy and WTP. Furthermore, PSEP and AR significantly moderate the effect of green strategies on consumers' emotional attachment. Study 2 shows that status consumption and social media strategies affect consumers' perceptions of green strategies at restaurants, which in turn, influence restaurant image. Uniqueness was tested as a moderating effect of social media on consumers’ perceptions of green strategies. The results suggest that consumers with high levels of uniqueness are more likely to be aware of eco-friendly strategies applied by restaurants than those with low levels. Our study contributes extensively to the literature by explaining the results through customer value, social identification, and signalling theories.

How do corporate social responsibility and green finance strategies impact sustainable development in China's renewable energy sector?

As the globe transitions to a low-carbon economy, China's renewable energy (RE) sector is crucial to attaining sustainable growth. Green financing and corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies have become increasingly important in promoting the growth and sustainability of the RE sector. In order to evaluate CSR factors and green finance strategies for effective integration in supporting the RE industry, this research employs hybrid Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and Fuzzy VIekriterijumsko KOmpromisno Rangiranje (FVIKOR) approaches in the context of China. The FAHP method is used to determine the various CSR factors and subfactors, while the FVIKOR method is employed to prioritize the key green finance strategies. The findings of the FAHP method highlight the importance of socioeconomic development, environmental protection, and stakeholder engagement as critical CSR factors for RE sectors. Moreover, the results of the FVIKOR method reveal that innovative financing mechanisms, green bonds, and green banks emerged as significant green finance strategies for mobilizing capital and resources for RE projects. The study highlights the value of aspects of CSR and green financing techniques in fostering sustainable development in the RE industry. The results can aid in the promotion of sustainable practices and the assistance of China's transition to a more resource- and environment-wise economy by firms, investors, governments, and other stakeholders.

Green colonialism and decolonial feminism: A study of Wayúu women’s resistance in La Guajira

This qualitative study scrutinises how green energy investment affects Indigenous Wayúu people in Colombia’s La Guajira region. Employing coloniality of power and decolonial feminism frameworks, we delve into Wayúu women’s struggles and resilience in defending territories against large-scale wind energy projects. Our findings suggest that governments and businesses are ‘tuned in’ to the economic benefits of these projects, yet ‘tuned out’ from Indigenous peoples’ ontologies, concerns, needs and cosmovisions. This dynamic prompts questions about the unintended consequences of organisations’ engagement with Indigenous peoples through corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies. Despite good intentions, CSR practices that are ‘tuned out’ from Indigenous peoples’ cosmovisions may inadvertently reinforce power imbalances and further marginalise Indigenous communities. Our study highlights the need to honour Indigenous territories and protect Indigenous women’s rights in long-term investments. Clean energy focus can mask green colonialism, which Wayúu women actively safeguard, upholding Indigenous worldviews via feminist decoloniality. We advocate for businesses to incorporate diverse perspectives beyond the dominant western worldview into their climate change mitigation actions and CSR strategies, and for public policies to balance decarbonisation efforts with Indigenous rights to contribute to sustainable and equitable energy transitions.

Corporate social responsibility strategies in competition and their implications

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is very important for society, and the public now monitors firms’ CSR strategies. In this paper, we develop a game-theoretical model with two firms engaged in Cournot competition to investigate their incentives for CSR operations and how such incentives are contingent on exposure probability, demand sensitivity and the cost premium. We find that high violation exposure risk (which is proportional to both exposure probability and demand sensitivity) drives firms to exert more CSR effort, while a high cost premium discourages them from doing so. We also study how competition impacts firms’ CSR strategy. In particular, in a special case where firms can choose either CSR or non-CSR strategies, we find that mandatory requirements on firms’ CSR strategy may lead to win–win or lose–lose situations. Moreover, we extend our model to the case in which the product price is impacted by customer demand and the case in which firms additionally produce to capture shifted demand. Our findings have practical implications for policymakers to promote CSR operations. They can take various actions to encourage firms to exert more CSR effort and should further quantify firms’ effort levels. In addition, policymakers must be careful in promoting CSR operations, as mandatory requirements on firms’ CSR operations serve as a double-edged sword.

Environmental protection in Madagascar: Biodiversity offsetting in the mining sector as a corporate social responsibility strategy

Drawing on the example of industrial mining in Madagascar, this article explores the emergence of biodiversity offsets as a corporate social responsibility strategy (CSR) put forward by companies and their implications for environmental protection. It adopts the notion of the State's “selective absence” to frame an analysis of how reforms to regulatory frameworks in the 1990s resulted in the State's retreat and transfer of what were formerly considered State functions to private operators. The article examines specific mine sites in Madagascar and continuity with past trends to document the nature and extent of mining's environmental impacts and the implications of such strategies for the rich biodiversity that characterises the island. To illustrate certain responses mining companies have had to these impacts, the article draws attention to biodiversity offsets companies have voluntarily implemented to achieve no net loss or net gain of biodiversity to compensate for residual biodiversity loss from their activities. It documents the evolution of the discourse that legitimises such practices of environmental protection and their consequences, including the violation of local communities’ rights. It concludes that the nature of this type of CSR initiative in Madagascar is characterised by important shortcomings and cannot be considered as providing longer-term, or environmentally sustainable, solutions to the issues at hand.

Business Concepts, Tactics, and Strategies for Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development Goal

Business Concepts, Tactics, and Strategies for Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development Goal

Board cultural diversity and bank social performance: The mediating role of corporate social responsibility strategy

AbstractThe study investigates how board cultural diversity (BCD) affects bank stakeholder engagement through improved corporate social performance (CSP) and whether banks' corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy mediates the relationship between BCD and banks' social performance. Adopting an international sample of 379 banks from 2010 to 2019, we found that BCD improves engagement in socially responsible issues in the banking sector. Moreover, we show a mediating role of strategic CSR on the relationship between BCD and banks' social performance. Hence, we contribute to the research on the role of corporate governance mechanisms as drivers of CSR engagement. Furthermore, based on the mediation effect of strategic CSR, we advance the discussion on the link between BCD and banks' social performance. Our findings provide implications for banks and policy‐makers, indicating the opportunity to promote cultural diversity, which supports socially responsible banking, while a CSR strategy positively impacts the stakeholder approach in the banking industry.

Key aspects of corporate responsibility of aviation enterprises

This scientific article is devoted to the study of corporate responsibility of aviation enterprises and their impact on the general social space. The growing attention to environmental issues puts the reputation of aviation companies at risk and forces them to improve their corporate responsibility. This article proposes to analyze various aspects of corporate responsibility of aviation enterprises and considers prospects for their further development. In conditions of increased awareness of investors and financial institutions, the latter prefer more sustainable business from the point of view of financial, social and economic indicators. In this regard, the importance of intangible factors of economic growth of the enterprise, such as the development of labor potential, promotion of employment, compliance with social protection standards and human rights, implementation of environmental aspects of activity, is increasing. In such conditions, the analysis of the company's social policy, which is implemented by the mechanism of corporate social responsibility, becomes relevant. Under modern conditions of increasing global instability, enterprises are interested in increasing the level of predictability of the process of social and economic development, the institutional environment, the achievement of political and economic stability from local to global levels, the sustainable development of social and labor relations, the absence of social conflicts and economic crises, which is necessary for effective activity Therefore, the formation of a strategy of corporate social responsibility in the practice of domestic enterprises at the level of modern business entities is of great importance, which will ensure their sustainable development.

Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy: Resource Conservation or Relationship Preservation?

Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy: Resource Conservation or Relationship Preservation?

Luxury brands and corporate social responsibility (CSR): exploring the differences between traditional and new luxury

Purpose This study aims to comprehend luxury brands' corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies. In addition to facing a demand for new CSR strategies (consumer-centric CSR), changes in CSR discourse among luxury brands are observed. This study examines how CSR-related and luxury-related agendas relate in the news media, especially concerning the difference between traditional and new luxury brands.Design/methodology/approach A total of 117,171 fashion-related news articles were collected from January 2016 to December 2020. The word2vec method was used to determine the relationship between CSR and luxury agendas.FindingsThe results indicate that company-centric CSR is more prominent with traditional luxury brands, while consumer-centric CSR is more relevant for new luxury brands. In addition, specific CSR attributes and luxury-related attributes are associated with media discourse, which means that CSR and luxury are compatible.Originality/valueStudies on CSR in the luxury industry are not extensive in the literature. This study addresses this gap through a unique framework that combines agenda-setting theory and existing CSR literature and applies them to the luxury industry. Specifically, this study captures the development of each construct (company-centric CSR to consumer-centric CSR and traditional luxury to new luxury) and identifies the specific relationships between them. This result provides a novel view of the luxury industry indicating that it has evolved to encompass CSR-related values. The empirical results also offer practical implications for luxury marketing.

A Corpus-Based Study on the Identity Discourse of Chinese and American New Energy Vehicle Companies

This paper uses the 2020-2021 social responsibility reports and influence reports of BYD and Tesla respectively, two leading companies in the world’s electric vehicle production field, which rank among the world’s top 500 companies, as data. Starting from the identity of social constructivism, combined with the discourse-historical approach, and with the help of the corpus tool Wmatrix, the corporate responsibility reports and impacts of Chinese and American new energy vehicle companies are compared from the three dimensions of macro themes, meso communication strategies and micro language characteristics. Individuality and commonality in the construction of identity discourse in power reports. The study found that Chinese companies highlight themes such as industry rankings, development history, fairness and justice; they focus on corporate capability communication strategies, use quantitative markers and advanced adjectives to highlight the company’s strong strength, and actively construct industry leaders; while American companies emphasize employee care, global vision and sustainable development concepts, tend to communicate corporate social responsibility strategies, and use active verbs to present specific corporate activities and construct the identity of social contributors. This study has reference value for improving the ability of Chinese enterprises to construct international discourse.

Barriers to Social Responsibility Implementation in Belt and Road Mega Infrastructure Projects: A Hybrid Fuzzy DEMATEL-ISM-MICMAC Approach

Social responsibility strategies are indispensable for the sustainable development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Nonetheless, the application of social responsibility (SR) policies in such mega infrastructure projects remains a pressing concern since a number of barriers impede the effective integration of SR practices. Therefore, this paper seeks to identify these barriers and determine the interrelationships among them. A list of barriers was first identified from a literature review and expert consultation. Subsequently, a survey was designed to collect experts’ views on the interrelations among these barriers. The Fuzzy DEMATEL method was employed to analyze these barriers’ causal relationships and interdependencies. Subsequently, the ISM approach was used to develop a hierarchical structure and establish the driving and dependence relationships among them. The classification of barriers, based on driving power and dependence power, was accomplished using the MICMAC analysis. The results reveal that barriers such as “The diverse institutions, cultures, and social conditions among BRI countries”, “Lack of robust social responsibility laws and regulations in the host countries”, “Lack of stringent and legally binding BRI policies and guidelines governing social responsibility”, “The diverse environmental and social frameworks and standards among BRI countries”, “The diverse international, national, and private funds for BRI projects”, and “Lack of customer awareness and knowledge of CSR” are the most critical barriers and have the greatest influence on social responsibility implementation. Identifying these key barriers and their interrelationships will assist decision-makers, policymakers, and other stakeholders involved in BRI mega infrastructure projects in minimizing or overcoming them, hence increasing the chances of successfully integrating social responsibility practices within these projects.

Can CSR strategy mediate conflict over extraction? Evidence from two mines in Peru

We argue that corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies can shape political contexts to mediate or exacerbate the resource curse. Using a relational pragmatic approach—one that recognizes actors are dynamic and focuses on the interactions that shape how they see their interests—we develop expectations about two ideal type CSR strategies: transformational and transactional and their relational implications. We demonstrate the usefulness of this approach through the examination of two mines in Peru. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in 2017 and 2018 and secondary research, we show how one mine’s transformational strategy connected the company to common, or public, concerns in ways that rearticulated politics to dampen curse dynamics. The second mine’s transactional strategy narrowed its local engagement in ways that reduced its influence and played into curse dynamics. This research illustrates both the value of pragmatic approaches for integrating CSR into governance and the way in which CSR strategies can help mitigate the resource curse.

Intelligent automation implementation and corporate sustainability performance: The enabling role of corporate social responsibility strategy

Although Intelligent Automation (IA) represents the future of business automation, the organizational implementation and sustainability performance of this emerging technological innovation is vastly understudied. Understanding the implications of IA for sustainability is critical since leveraging these technologies shapes operations and policies that can promote sustainable digitalization and automation practices. We study how firms' technological, organizational, environmental, and human resource contexts impact IA implementation. The study further explains how IA may associate with the firm's triple bottom line while accounting for the moderating role of corporate social responsibility strategy. The study surveyed 207 multinational firms in 2022 and used partial least square-structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized relationships. Results showed that IA implementation is mainly determined by the characteristics of the firm's internal environment, such as absorptive capacity, employee socio-behavioral concerns, and social capital competency. IA may offer valuable opportunities for boosting the firm's economic and environmental sustainability performance. Nonetheless, IA is a double-edged sword for social sustainability, harming social values in implementing firms with informal corporate social sustainability strategies. Conversely, firms with formal corporate social sustainability strategy have a significantly higher opportunity to transform the value of IA into social sustainability performance. Findings are expected to assist managers and decision-makers with streamlining an impartial and sustainable transition of organizations toward automation.

Achieving sustainable business: The nexus between external sustainability assurance, CSR strategy and emission reduction

AbstractThis study investigates the relationship between firm's emissions reduction initiative and external assurance of sustainability performance, as well as the moderating effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy. The study uses a sample of non‐financial firms listed on the STOXX Europe 600 index from 2006 to 2021. The findings suggest that external assurance of sustainability has a positive and significant impact on a firm's emissions reduction initiative. Additionally, the study finds that CSR strategy positively moderates the relationship between firm's emissions reduction initiative and external assurance of sustainability. The study's results have implications for managers, regulators, and stakeholders, indicating that external auditing for sustainability can enhance a firm's legitimacy and reputation and that strong CSR strategies can enhance the effectiveness of environmental initiatives. Our results demonstrate resilience to various econometric methods, sub‐sample analyses, propensity score matching, and generalized method of moments (GMM).

CSR and stakeholder salience in MNE subsidiaries in emerging markets

The purpose of this study is to identify the key stakeholder groups pressuring multinational enterprises (MNEs) in emerging markets (EMs), also if the pressure is global or local, to develop corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies. Drawing on stakeholder salience and institutional theories, all the stakeholder groups acknowledged and analysed in the literature were identified and examined to understand if they were perceived by MNEs in China as effective in pressuring them to engage in CSR strategies and activities. Results demonstrate that only stakeholder groups with power – government power or voting power – are perceived as having enough pressure to make MNEs’ Chinese subsidiaries engage in CSR, which is contrary to current theories. Our results allow us to theorise on an extension of the concept of utilitarian power and political power when analysing stakeholder salience in EMs. This research has important implications for managers as balancing and working with limited resources and correctly identifying and prioritising key stakeholders are vital to successfully improving performance.

Corporate green innovation behaviour and investment efficiency: evidence from China

ABSTRACT Corporate green innovation has aroused attention from academics and practitioners in recent years, but the green innovation-investment decision nexus is less explored. Using Chinese-listed firms in the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchange from 2007 to 2019 as a sample, our research finds that green innovation significantly improves investment efficiency by mitigating over-investment. This finding still holds after addressing endogeneity tests and conducting additional robustness checks. Channel analysis shows that research and development expenditure is an underlying mechanism. Further examinations reveal that green innovation’s influence is more significant in non-politically connected, low-financing-constrained firms and firms with many independent directors. Our paper offers new insights into the influence at firm-level of concrete corporate social responsibility strategies, and the green innovation-investment decision nexus, and presents important policy implications for sustainable development.