Earth Day 2013: The Present and Future of CSR Research

In anticipation of Earth Day tomorrow, we are pleased to highlight an article in Business & Society on the impact of Newsweek magazine’s 2009 Greenest Companies ratings on financial market outcomes. This large-scale environmental assessment evaluates the impact of sustainability ratings on 500 of the largest U.S. companies. Read “Environmental Disclosure: Evidence from Newsweek’s Green Companies Rankings,’” published by Thomas P. Lyon of University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and Jay P. Shimshack of Tulane University in Business & Society OnlineFirst, publish ahead of print, August 13, 2012.

In the journal Organization, a special issue on the current trajectory of Corporate Social Responsibility in both scholarly inquiry and business practice asks “Is there anything substantively useful in the area of CSR research when it comes to providing some ethical guidelines for the way business is done today, or should it be abandoned as just another piece of capitalist ideology? If there is an overriding feeling that we have all been some­how ‘duped’ by the premises and solutions of CSR, what might be the best way forward when its presence is more widespread now than ever?” Read “In Search of Corporate Social Responsibility: Introduction to Special Issue” published by Peter Fleming of Queen Mary College, UK, John Roberts, Sydney Business School, Australia and Christina Garsten of University of Stockholm, Sweden and the rest of the special issue in the Organization May 2013 issue.

The Political Standardizer

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In the just-released December 2012 issue of Business & Society, Christian Frankel and Erik Højbjerg, both of the Copenhagen Business School, published “The Political Standardizer.” BAS Editor Duane Windsor writes:

The article provides a framework for demonstrating that corporate technical activity and corporate political activity can overlap substantially or intertwine in ways that prove quite difficult to tease apart analytically. A “political standardizer” is a company that uses technical standardization as a political strategy. The article provides an interesting case study of Lego, the Danish toy producer.

An excerpt from the article:

Such an actor purposely seeks points of contact between technical standardization and government policy. Unlike more familiar forms of lobbying, this combination of technical and political activity is not necessarily done with the aim of blocking government policy, that is, avoiding regulation. Rather, technical standards are deliberately developed to anticipate the demands of policymakers in the hope of shaping policy to support rather than constrain the flexibility and uniformity of technical standardization. The political standardizer pursues a strategy that involves collective action by those active in technical standardization. It also pursues its own interest, of course; but to establish and maintain the coupling of technical standards and law, it needs to express itself in terms of collective interest and activity.

Click here to read on in Business & Society, and here to see the December 2012 Table of Contents.

Business & Society (BAS), peer-reviewed and published quarterly, is the official journal of the International Association for Business and Society, the only independent professional association dedicated to business and society teaching and research. BAS focuses on original research relating to business ethics, business-government relations, corporate governance, corporate social performance, and environmental-management issues. Get e-alerts about newly published research from BAS by clicking here.

The CSR Agenda: Part 5 of 5

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As we conclude this week’s series on corporate social responsibility, we bring you thought-provoking reflections from global business leaders and management scholars on motivation, obstacles, and what is needed to initiate change, along with a field study on CSR and leadership and further articles that provide clarity as the business world moves toward a more sustainable society. Stay tuned for more upcoming series on management topics, and let us know what issues you’d like to see covered on Management INK.

Part Five: CSR – An agenda for the future

Nancy B. Kurland and Deone Zell, both of Franklin & Marshall College, published “The Green in Entertainment: A conversation,” a ‘chat’ with five sustainability leaders in the entertainment industry, in the September 2010 issue of the Journal of Management Inquiry (JMI); Aarti Sharma of Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and Min-Dong Paul Lee of the University of South Florida published “Sustainable Global Enterprise: Perspectives of Stuart Hart, Ans Kolk, Sanjay Sharma, and Sandra Waddock” in the April 2010 issue of JMI.

Thomas N. Garavan of the University of Limerick and David McGuire of Queen Margaret University published “Human Resource Development and Society: Human Resource Development’s Role in Embedding Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainability, and Ethics in Organizations” in the October 2012 issue of Advances in Developing Human Resources.

Kevin S. Groves and Michael A. LaRocca, both of Pepperdine University, published “Does Transformational Leadership Facilitate Follower Beliefs in Corporate Social Responsibility? A Field Study of Leader Personal Values and Follower Outcomes” in the May 2012 issue of the Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies.

Marc H. Lavine of the University of Massachusetts Boston and Christopher J. Roussin of Suffolk University published “From Idea to Action: Promoting Responsible Management Education Through a Semester-Long Academic Integrity Learning Project” in the June 2012 issue of the Journal of Management Education.

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The CSR Agenda: Part 4 of 5

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On Tuesday, Forbes published a case study about a corporate social responsibility strategy that spelled the difference between life and death:

Around 2000, Xerox was in big trouble. According to Dr. Joseph Cahalan, Xerox’s Vice President of Communications and Social Responsibility, the company was literally “days” away from filing for bankruptcy. Still, employees didn’t defect en masse like rats from a sinking ship. On the contrary, they rallied around the Xerox banner, fighting tooth and nail to keep the company afloat as if the company was a local mom and pop shop, not a Fortune 500. Cahalan attributes this to the culture which attracted him to work for Xerox in the first place: “People stayed and made that fight to save the company, in large part because they feel that it’s a company worth saving.”

How did Xerox earn this kind of loyalty?

Click here to read the article in Forbes.

What corporate social responsibility strategies are playing out in your research or practice? In this fourth installment of our series on CSR, we present an assortment of articles that tackle the issues across the field. We also hope to hear from you: CSR-related papers are currently being sought by SAGE journals from the Journal of Marketing Education and  Organization & Environment to Cornell Hospitality Quarterly and Business & Society. You can view some of the latest Calls for Papers here.

Part Four: How are the current shifts in CSR strategy playing out?

Click here to read “A Social Connection Approach to Corporate Responsibility: The Case of the Fast-Food Industry and Obesity” by Judith Schrempf of University of Richmond, published on July 24, 2012 in Business & Society.

Click here to read “The Prospects and Limits of Eco-Consumerism: Shopping Our Way to Less Deforestation?” by Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister, both of the University of British Columbia, published in the June 2010 issue of Organization & Environment.

Click here to read “Organization-Based Social Marketing: An Alternative Approach for Organizations Adopting Sustainable Business Practices” by Mary Franks Papakosmas of the University of Wollongong and Gary Noble and John Glynn, both of the Sydney Business School and Faculty of Commerce, published in the June 2012 issue of Social Marketing Quarterly.

Click here to read “Societal Development Through Human Resource Development: Contexts and Key Change Agents” by Namhee Kim of Walden University, published in the August 2012 issue of Advances in Developing Human Resources.

Click here to read “Does Environmental Certification Help the Economic Performance of Hotels? Evidence from the Spanish Hotel Industry” by María-del-Val Segarra-Oña and Ángel Peiró-Signes of the Universitat Politècnica de València, Rohit Verma of Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, and Luis Miret-Pastor of the Universitat Politècnica de València, published in the August 2012 issue of Cornell Hospitality Quarterly.

Don’t miss tomorrow’s series finale, in which we’ll close with thoughts on constructing a CSR agenda for the future.

The CSR Agenda: Part 3 of 5

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Editor’s note: Today we continue our series on corporate social responsibility with top-tier research that answers key questions in the debate. Have a paper of your own to submit? Business & Society is now accepting papers on corporate sustainability, CSR in China, sustainable development and financial markets, and more.

Part Three: How does CSR impact the individual?

W. Randy Evans of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Walter D. Davis of the University of Mississippi published “An Examination of Perceived Corporate Citizenship, Job Applicant Attraction, and CSR Work Role Definition” in the September 2011 issue of Business & Society. The abstract:

Recent perspectives on corporate social responsibility (CSR) have called for increased research on how CSR affects individuals. Research is needed to examine whether individual differences affect the relationship between CSR and individual reactions to CSR. In response, this experimental study examined how perceptions of corporate citizenship influence job applicant attraction and work role definitions. Personal values and education concerning CSR are considered as interactive factors affecting the influence of perceptions of corporate citizenship. Results indicate that perceived corporate citizenship had a greater impact on job applicant attraction for those individuals who received prior education regarding CSR and for those who were higher in other-regarding value orientation. Furthermore, perceived corporate citizenship had a positive impact on the extent to which participants defined CSR as a personal work role responsibility. The authors also discuss the practical implications of these results for job applicant attraction and employee socialization.

Click here to read on.

Tracy A. Jenkin, Lindsay McShane, and Jane Webster, all of Queen’s University, published “Green Information Technologies and Systems: Employees’ Perceptions of Organizational Practices” in the June 2011 issue of BAS. The abstract:

In this study, we examine the extent to which employees recognize the importance of information technologies and systems (IT/S) in developing and implementing environmental initiatives. To address this question, we first review past research on this topic and draw on a framework for examining environmental motivating forces, strategies, and employee environmental orientations. We then analyze qualitative data based on in-depth interviews with employees in financial services organizations. Our aim is to develop a richer understanding of how employees currently view IT/S issues in relation to environmental sustainability and if similarities exist between different types of financial institutions. We also assess the extent to which these employee perceptions align with both actual organizational practices, as captured in interviews with information technology managers, and practices espoused by organizations, as reflected on their corporate websites. Our findings suggest that organizations are still in the infancy stage of awareness and adoption of “Green” IT/S. As a result, we identify four types of gaps: knowledge gaps, practice gaps, opportunity gaps, and knowing–doing gaps. We suggest that future research should draw on absorptive capacity, organizational learning, and social marketing theories to help align employees’ attitudes, cognitions, and behaviors and to drive environmental changes.

Click here to read the article in Business & Society and here to learn more about the journal.

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Up next in the series: How are the current shifts in CSR strategy playing out?

The CSR Agenda: Part 2 of 5

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Editor’s note: Today we continue our series on corporate social responsibility, presenting top-tier research that answers key questions in the debate. Be sure to check out the JOM Editor’s Choice Collections below for additional resources.

***

Part Two: Is CSR good for business?

Jonathan P. Doh, Shawn D. Howton, and Shelly W. Howton, all of Villanova University, and Donald S. Siegel of the University of Albany-SUNY published “Does the Market Respond to an Endorsement of Social Responsibility? The Role of Institutions, Information, and Legitimacy” in the November 2010 issue of the Journal of Management (JOM). From the abstract:

A consensus has emerged in the burgeoning literature on corporate social responsibility (CSR) that “virtuous” firms are often rewarded by the marketplace. Unfortunately, the mechanisms through which those rewards materialize are not well understood. Furthermore, it is difficult for managers and investors to know whether a company is actually engaged in responsible behavior….In this article, we draw on institutional theory and research on reputation and legitimacy to investigate the relationship between institutional endorsements (and repudiation) of CSR and firm financial performance.

Click here to read on.

Abagail McWilliams of the University of Illinois–Chicago and Donald S. Siegel of the University at Albany published “Creating and Capturing Value: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility, Resource-Based Theory, and Sustainable Competitive Advantage” in the September 2011 issue of JOM. The abstract:

The authors analyze the creation and capture of private and social value by firms that adopt corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies. Strategic CSR is defined as any “responsible” activity that allows a firm to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage, regardless of motive. To provide a roadmap for managers to accomplish this objective, the authors integrate the resource-based theory (RBT) framework with concepts and tools from economics, such as hedonic pricing, contingent valuation, and the new literature on the economics of industrial organization, where CSR is referred to as “the private provision of public goods.” By linking CSR, RBT, economic models of private provision of public goods, and pricing models, the authors demonstrate how RBT can provide a structure for determining the strategic value of CSR. They then discuss the conditions under which CSR can contribute to sustainable competitive advantage.

Click here to continue. Do you like what you’re reading? Get more by visiting the Journal of Management Editor’s Choice collection on corporate social responsibility/sustainability. You can also learn more about the journal by clicking here.

Are you interested in receiving newly published management research in your inbox? Follow this link to sign up for e-alerts!

Up next in the series: How does CSR impact the individual?

The CSR Agenda: Part 1 of 5

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As organizations the world over tune in to corporate social responsibility, there’s no time like the present to take a clear-eyed approach to this hotly debated topic and look toward an agenda for the future. This week in a five-part series on CSR, we bring you key articles that answer big questions: Is CSR good for business or not? In what ways does it impact individuals? How are the current shifts in strategy playing out? We begin with two studies that provide much-needed perspective on the state of the CSR literature.

Part One: What do we know about CSR?

Herman Aguinis of Indiana University and Ante Glavas of the University of Notre Dame published “What We Know and Don’t Know About Corporate Social Responsibility: A Review and Research Agenda” in the July 2012 issue of the Journal of Management. From the abstract:

The authors review the corporate social responsibility (CSR) literature based on 588 journal articles and 102 books and book chapters. They offer a multilevel and multidisciplinary theoretical framework that synthesizes and integrates the literature at the institutional, organizational, and individual levels of analysis. …The authors also provide specific suggestions regarding research design, measurement, and data-analytic approaches that will be instrumental in carrying out their proposed research agenda.

Click here to read the full article in the Journal of Management and here to find out more about the journal.

Aurélien Acquier of ESCP Europe, Jean-Pascal Gond of HEC Montréal, and Jean Pasquero of Université du Québec à Montréal published “Rediscovering Howard R. Bowen’s Legacy: The Unachieved Agenda and Continuing Relevance of Social Responsibilities of the Businessman” in the December 2011 issue of Business & Society. The abstract:

Many business and society scholars hail Howard R. Bowen as the founding father of the academic conception and study of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Yet little is known widely about his life and the true agenda of Social Responsibilities of the Businessman (Bowen), his landmark book. This article explores the historical and current significance of Bowen’s seminal work. The authors contend that the analytical perspective Bowen proposed nearly 60 years ago, although regrettably underappreciated in past decades, is more relevant than ever to stimulating future research on CSR and to revitalizing business and society scholarship.

Click here to read the full article in Business & Society and here to find out more about the journal.

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Up next in the series: Is CSR good for business?

Educating Our Future Business Leaders

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Do you have a paper to submit? The Journal of Marketing Education is now accepting research on ethics, corporate social responsibility, sustainability and numerous other topics, welcoming cross-functional submissions about educating our future business leaders.

About the Journal

The Journal of Marketing Education (JME) is the leading international scholarly journal devoted to contemporary issues in marketing education. Its mission is to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas, information, and experiences related to the process of educating students in marketing and its subfields. Its audience is largely composed of marketing faculty members at institutions of higher education where teaching is an integral component of their overall responsibilities.

The main function of the Journal of Marketing Education is to publish articles focusing on the latest teaching/learning strategies and tactics in marketing education. JME also publishes articles that address various professional issues of importance to marketing faculty members. The journal’s readership is international in scope with significant representation in university libraries.

Submit Papers in these Areas

JME is accepting bylined articles from experts and practitioners on a wide range of topics related to marketing education, including:

• Evaluating teaching effectiveness
• Experiential exercises
• Marketing in developing economies
• Ethics
• Student team projects

JME also plans to publish a special issue on ethics, corporate social responsibility, and sustainability in marketing education, with guest editors Victoria Crittenden and Linda Ferrell. The deadline for submissions is November 1, 2012. Please visit jmd.sagepub.com to view the special issue call for papers.

Manuscripts should be submitted electronically to the Editor, Donald R. Bacon, at mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jmed. Authors are expected to review and conform with manuscript submission guidelines prior to making a submission. Questions about the submission process should be forwarded to the Editor at dbacon@du.edu. For more information, please visit jmd.sagepub.com and click “Manuscript Submission.”

CSR: Institutional Models

Bjørn-Tore Blindheim of the University of Stavanger published “Institutional Models of Corporate Social
Responsibility: A Proposed Refinement of the Explicit-Implicit Framework” on May 23, 2012 in Business & Society. To see other OnlineFirst articles, please click here.

The abstract:

Matten and Moon studied cross-national variations in corporate social responsibility (CSR) forms using an explicit-implicit framework. This article proposes a development and refinement of the explicit-implicit framework to account for, first, intranational variations of CSR, and, second, the role of individual managers in the actual process of developing CSR constructs within a given country. The specific national, institutional context, such as Norway, within which managers construct personal meaning for CSR, is ambiguous and possesses both different and potentially conflicting institutional logics of the role and responsibility of business in a given society. The author suggests that explicit and implicit models of CSR differ in two key respects. One difference concerns whether corporate or collective responsibility mechanisms should be used to address social issues. The other difference concerns whether the scope of issues to which the corporate entity is expected to attend should be broad or narrow. The author proposes four institutional models of CSR that combine the explicit-implicit distinction with these two differences: Explicit Expansionist CSR, Implicit Contractive CSR, Implicit Expansionist CSR, and Explicit Contractive CSR. Focus group interviews with Norwegian managers empirically illuminate these models and the micro-level individual construction of variable meanings for CSR within a national, institutional context.

To learn more about Business & Society, please follow this link.

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Ethics and the Corporation

After a week in which outgoing executive Greg Smith accused Goldman Sachs of losing its “moral fiber,” Apple’s factory conditions in China made news again, and the Ethisphere Institute released its 2012 list of the World’s Most Ethical Companies, the issue of corporate ethics is in the spotlight.

For today’s post, we’ve pulled together a diverse assortment of articles related to ethics and the corporation, including an analysis of global codes of ethics, an exercise in ethics education, and a study of executives’ ethical leadership.

We hope you find this selection insightful and thought-provoking.

Gene R. Laczniak, Marquette University, and Ann-Marie Kennedy, Auckland University of Technology

“Hyper Norms: Searching for a Global Code of Conduct”

Journal of Macromarketing (September 2011)

 

Susan D. Baker, Morgan State University, and Debra R. Comer, Hofstra University

“‘Business Ethics Everywhere’: An Experiential Exercise to Develop Students’ Ability to Identify and Respond to Ethical Issues in Business”

Journal of Management Education (February 2012)

 

Jennifer Jordan, University of Groningen; Michael E. Brown, Penn State Erie, The Behrend College; Linda K. Treviño, The Pennsylvania State University; and Sydney Finkelstein, Dartmouth College

“Someone to Look Up To: Executive–Follower Ethical Reasoning and Perceptions of Ethical Leadership”

Journal of Management (March 15, 2011)

 

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