Abstract

This paper investigates whether and how emerging markets reward firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance. We focus on the socially responsible investment (SRI) index, which lists the top CSR performers and serves as a tool to help investors make investment decisions based on financial and social criteria. We empirically test the financial market responses to the announcements of pioneering SRI indices recently launched in Brazil, China, and South Africa. We find that inclusion on an SRI index in these markets is associated with positive abnormal returns. However, inclusion on an SRI index does not benefit all firms equally: the positive financial response is strengthened by R&D expenditures but weakened by advertising expenditures; it is stronger for firms that have expanded globally to developing countries than those to developed countries. Rajendra Srivastava and V. Kumar served as Special Issue Guest Editors for this article.

Keyword

Corporate social responsibility ;  Emerging markets ;  Event study ;  Socially responsible investment index

Abstract

This paper contributes to growing research exploring employee attitudinal and behavioral reactions to organizational corporate social responsibility initiatives focused on environmental and social responsibility and sustainability. Drawing on social identity theory, we develop and test a moderated-mediation model where employees’ organizational identification mediates the relationship between their perceptions of organizational CSR initiatives and their work engagement and organizational citizenship behaviors, but this relationship is positive only when employees value the role of organizations in supporting environmental and social causes. In a survey of 250 employees from a variety of German organizations, across a range of industry sectors, our hypotheses were fully supported. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Keyword

Corporate social responsibility ;  Organizational citizenship behavior ;  Organizational identification ;  Work engagement

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine how firms' corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies affect their innovation performance via two mediating variables, employee involvement and supplier collaboration, and compare how this mechanism works in the service and manufacturing industries. By analyzing and validating the direct and indirect effects of CSR on innovation performance in both the service and manufacturing industries, this study addressed the strategic benefit of CSR and extended research focused on the financial benefits of CSR. Therefore, its findings contribute to our understanding of sustainability and innovation issues. From a theoretical perspective, this study extended the RBV, SDL and stakeholder theory to the context of the CSR-innovation relationship, and showed that firms could align CSR and innovation initiatives to achieve strategic synergy. It also revealed the similarities and differences between service and manufacturing firms regarding the mechanism through which CSR affects innovation.

Keyword

Corporate social responsibility ;  Manufacturing innovation ;  Resource-based view ;  Service-dominant logic ;  Service innovation ;  Stakeholder theory

Abstract

How to enhance prosocial employees' commitment to their organizations is of both theoretical and practical importance. The present study argues that a high level of organizational commitment in prosocial employees is predicted by bipartite synergy between employees' prosocial motivations and their supervisors' prosocial motivations, between employees' prosocial motivations and their organizations' prosocial orientations, and tripartite synergy among all three. Polynomial regressions and hierarchical regression analyses are undertaken on data collected from a sample of 216 full-time employees in China. The results show that perceived fit between employees and supervisors' prosocial motivations (i.e., person-supervisor [PS] fit) is positively related to employees' organizational commitment (i.e., there is bipartite synergy between employees and supervisors' prosocial motivations). Perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) moderates the relationship between employees' prosocial motivations and their organizational commitment such that when employees' prosocial motivations and perceived CSR are both high (as opposed to when either or both are low), their organizational commitment is stronger (i.e., there is bipartite synergy between employees' prosocial motivations and CSR). Furthermore, perceived CSR moderates the relationship between PS fit in relation to prosocial motivations and organizational commitment. Notably, organizational commitment is strongest when there is a strong alignment among employees' prosocial motivations, supervisors' prosocial motivations, and CSR (i.e., there is tripartite synergy among employees' prosocial motivations, supervisors' prosocial motivations, and CSR). The theoretical contributions and practical implications of this study are discussed.

Keyword

Bipartite synergy ;  Corporate social responsibility ;  Organizational commitment ;  Person-supervisor fit ;  Prosocial motivation ;  Tripartite synergy

Abstract

Using multisource data and multilevel analysis, we propose that the ethical stance of supervisors influences subordinates’ perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) which in turn influences subordinates’ trust in the organization resulting in their taking increased personal social responsibility and engagement in organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) oriented toward both the organization and other individuals. Using a multilevel model, we assessed the extent to which ethical leadership and CSR at the work unit level impacts subordinates’ behaviors mediated by organizational trust at the individual level. We employed a sample of 71 work unit supervisors and 308 subordinates from five businesses of a conglomerate company located in mainland China. Subordinates were asked to rate supervisory ethical leadership practices, CSR, and their extent of organizational trust. Supervisors were asked to rate the personal social responsibility taking and OCB of their respective subordinates. A multilevel path analysis revealed that ethical leadership has a positive effect on CSR at the work unit level and that CSR has a positive cross-level effect on organizational trust at the individual level, which in turn significantly and positively impacts OCB through the mediating effect of taking personal social responsibility. Results are discussed in the context of China’s manufacturing sector.

Keyword

China ;  Corporate social responsibility ;  Ethical leadership ;  Manufacturing ;  Organizational citizenship behavior ;  Organizational trust

Abstract

Corporate executives managing some of the largest public companies in the U.S. are shaped by their daughters. When a firm’s chief executive officer (CEO) has a daughter, the corporate social responsibility rating (CSR) is about 9.1% higher, compared to a median firm. The results are robust to confronting several sources of endogeneity, e.g., examining first-born CEO daughters and CEO changes. The relation is strongest for diversity, but significant also for broader pro-social practices related to the environment and employee relations. Our study contributes to research on female socialization, heterogeneity in CSR policies, and plausibly exogenous determinants of CEOs’ styles.

Keyword

CEOs ;  Corporate social responsibility ;  Family environment ;  Female socialization

Abstract

Purpose - While firms have widely adopted corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in their supply chains, there is little work simultaneously examining the drivers and outcomes of such initiatives. Specifically, it is not clear how different institutional contexts may shape them. The purpose of this paper is to examine the drivers and performance outcomes of CSR in supply chains in two different institutional contexts: Mainland China (a transition economy) and Taiwan (a market economy). Design/methodology/ approach - Data were collected from Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturing factories engaging in CSR in supply chains. Relationships are examined using "soft-modeling" partial least squares analysis. Findings - The findings suggest that CSR in supply chains positively impact on customer satisfaction in both Mainland China and Taiwan. Yet, the influence on CSR in supply chains of different drivers differs according to institutional context. In the transition economy of China, CSR initiatives are driven by regulatory and efficiency forces but not by the competitive advantage force. In contrast, in the market economy of Taiwan, CSR initiatives are driven by the competitive advantage force but not by the other two. Research limitations/implications - This paper provides some empirical evidence of the influence of different institutional contexts on CSR initiatives and their impact on customer satisfaction. The research contributes to the emerging theme of institutional theory in international marketing. Practical implications - Managers should be aware that different institutional contexts may shape firms' CSR in supply chains. However, CSR in supply chains does matter in terms of enhancing customer satisfaction in all institutional contexts. Originality/value - The authors develop and test a framework of drivers and customer satisfaction outcomes of CSR in supply chains in both a transition and a market economy.

Keyword

Corporate social responsibility ;  Supply chain management ;  Taiwan ;  Transition economy ;  Customer satisfaction ;  Market economy ;  Institutional difference ;  CORPORATE SOCIAL-RESPONSIBILITY ;  COMMON METHOD VARIANCE ;  INTERNATIONAL-BUSINESS ;  FIRM PERFORMANCE ;  PERSPECTIVE ;  ANTECEDENTS ;  RESOURCES ;  STRATEGY ;  BEHAVIOR ;  MARKETS

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to focus on the unique goal of understanding how marketing spending, a proxy for firm visibility, moderates the effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) strengths and concerns on stock returns in the short and long terms. In contrast to the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm, the visibility theory, based on stakeholder awareness and expectations, offers asymmetric predictions on the moderation effects of marketing spending. Design/methodology/approach The predictions are tested based on data from KLD, Compustat and Center for Research in Security Prices from 2001-2010 and panel data based regression models. Findings Two results support the predictions of the visibility theory over those of the RBV. First, strengths are associated with higher stock returns, for low marketing spending firms, and only in the long term. Second, concerns are associated with lower stock returns, for high marketing spending firms, also only in the long term. A profiling analysis indicates that high marketing spending firms have high R&D spending and are more likely to operate in business-to-customer than business-to-business industries. Practical implications The two findings highlight the importance of coordination among chief marketing, sustainability and finance officers investing in CSR and marketing for stock returns, contingent on the firm’s marketing and R&D spending and industry characteristics. Originality/value This paper identifies conditions under which CSR is and is not related to stock returns, by uniquely considering three variables omitted in most past studies: marketing spending, CSR strengths and concerns and short- and long-term stock returns, all in the same study.

Keyword

Corporate social responsibility ;  Marketing spending ;  Stock market returns

Abstract

Most multinationals have a presence in the East Asian region and target the urban Chinese population. In an effort to win over the loyalty of consumers, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been used increasingly as a marketing strategy. This paper explores how personal values influence the attitude and behavior towards CSR among Chinese consumers. By collecting data from three major East Asian cities — Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore, and employing factor, cluster, conjoint and correspondence analyses, the authors demonstrate that Confucian value orientation can be a powerful antecedent of CSR support.

Keyword

Chinese consumers ;  Confucian values ;  Corporate social responsibility ;  CSR support ;  Value orientation

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the potential for management development in non‐governmental organization (NGO)‐private sector partnerships. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is an in‐depth case study of a program run by the British subsidiary of a large European financial services company that had sent 60 middle and senior managers and two external consultants over a ten‐year period (1994‐2004) on capacity building assignments to nine NGO partners in southern India. Questionnaires, interviews and archives of the program were the sources of data. Findings – The study finds that assignees described the effect of the assignments on them as profound, some as transformational. Managers completed the capacity building assignments successfully and returned with greater self‐awareness and enhanced self‐confidence, and with a greater ability to handle ambiguity and uncertainty. Based on the input provided by the NGO partners, they also benefited from the assignments. However, the benefits to the private sector company (financial services organization) are not clear from the study. Research limitations/implications – This theoretical contribution is situated in the literature on self‐awareness and proposes management development as a viable objective in NGO‐private sector partnerships. Limitations of generalizing from a single case study are acknowledged and future research avenues identified. Practical implications – The ten‐year experience of a large European multi‐national organization of partnering with nine Indian NGOs highlights rich potential for management development in such partnerships, through the development of self‐awareness and self‐confidence of key managerial talent. The circumstances under which such interventions might be appropriate are suggested. Originality/value – To the authors' knowledge, the potential for management development in NGO‐private sector partnerships has been under‐studied in the academic literature. The authors believe that the paper offers interesting insights and suggests further avenues for exploration.

Keyword

Corporate social responsibility ;  India ;  Management development ;  Non‐governmental organizations ;  Partnership ;  Private sector organizations