Scrooge Posing as Mother Teresa: How Hypocritical Social Responsibility Strategies Hurt Employees and Firms
01 Jun 2019-Journal of Business Ethics (Springer Science + Business Media B.V.)-Vol. 157, Iss: 2, pp 339-358
TL;DR: In this article, the effects of inconsistent external-internal CSR strategies on employee attitudes, intentions, and behaviors are examined. And the authors take a social and moral identification theory view and demonstrate the importance of taking into account the interests of both external and internal stakeholders of the firm when researching and managing CSR.
Abstract: Extant research provides compelling conceptual and empirical arguments that company-external (e.g., philanthropic) as well as company-internal (i.e., employee-directed) CSR efforts positively affect employees, but does so largely in studies assessing effects from the two CSR types independently of each other. In contrast, this paper investigates external–internal CSR jointly, examining the effects of (in)consistent external–internal CSR strategies on employee attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. The research takes a social and moral identification theory view and advances the core hypothesis that inconsistent CSR strategies, defined as favoring external over internal stakeholders, trigger employees’ perceptions of corporate hypocrisy which, in turn, lead to emotional exhaustion and turnover. In Study 1, a cross-industry employee survey (n = 3410) indicates that inconsistent CSR strategies with larger external than internal efforts increase employees’ turnover intentions via perceived corporate hypocrisy and emotional exhaustion. In Study 2, a multi-source secondary dataset (n = 1902) demonstrates that inconsistent CSR strategies increase firms’ actual employee turnover. Combined, the two studies demonstrate the importance of taking into account the interests of both external and internal stakeholders of the firm when researching and managing CSR.
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01 Jan 2018
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the relationship between financial and social performance in SRI mutual funds and find a curvilinear relationship, suggesting that two long-competing viewpoints may be complementary.
Abstract: A central and contentious debate in many literatures concerns the relationship between financial and social performance. We advance this debate by measuring the financial-social performance link within mutual funds that practice socially responsible investing (SRI). SRI fund managers have an array of social screening strategies from which to choose. Prior studies have not addressed this heterogeneity within SRI funds. Combining modern portfolio and stakeholder theories, we hypothesize that the financial loss borne by an SRI fund due to poor diversification is offset as social screening intensifies because better managed and more stable firms are selected into its portfolio. We find support for this hypothesis through an empirical test on a panel of 61 SRI funds from 1972-2000. The results show that as the number of social screens used by an SRI fund increases, financial returns decline at first, but then rebound as the number of screens reaches a maximum. That is, we find a curvilinear relationship, suggesting that two long-competing viewpoints may be complementary. Furthermore, we find that financial performance varies with the types of social screens used. Community relations screening increased financial performance, but environmental and labor relations screening decreased financial performance. Based on our results, we suggest that literatures addressing the link between financial and social performance move toward in-depth examination of the merits of different social screening strategies, and away from the continuing debate on the financial merits of either being socially responsible or not.
456 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the impact of two aspects of an organisation's socially responsible behaviours, i.e., employees' perceptions of CSR initiatives directed at internal and external stakeholders, on employees' job satisfaction, and found that perceived CSR relates positively to job satisfaction through its effects on overall justice perceptions and organizational identification.
Abstract: Prior research has suggested that corporate social responsibility (CSR) contributes to organisations' competitive advantage by influencing stakeholders' attitudes. While existing research indicates that CSR relates to some employee outcomes, the mechanisms that drive employees' responses to CSR initiatives remain largely unexplored. This study relies on social identity theory to propose and test a model with 181 hospital employees that attempts to explain why and how CSR can positively influences employees' attitudes. Specifically, this study examines the impact of two aspects of an organisation's socially responsible behaviours, i.e. employees' perceptions of CSR initiatives directed at internal and external stakeholders, on employees' job satisfaction. The findings indicate that perceived CSR relates positively to job satisfaction through its effects on overall justice perceptions and organisational identification. These results suggest that employees appear to use CSR initiatives to assess their organisation's character and identify with it. Accordingly, CSR initiatives have particular importance as a mean to support organisational efforts to create strong relationships with their employees and thereby improve their attitudes at work.
162 citations
TL;DR: This article investigated the relationship between CEO narcissism and corporate social responsibility (CSR) and found that narcissistic CEOs are more likely to place greater emphasis on externally oriented CSR activities than on internally oriented activities.
125 citations
TL;DR: The findings of this study can not only complement the existing researches on the influence of negative workplace events on employees’ knowledge hiding behaviors but also strengthen scholars’ attention and understanding of the internal mechanism between workplace bullying and knowledge hiding.
Abstract: Workplace bullying is a common negative event suffered by employees in the workplace. The harm it brings to the organization has become the focus of the field of organizational behavior. The purpose of this study was to explore whether workplace bullying has an impact on employee knowledge hiding and to discover the underlying mechanism between the two.,Based on the conservation of resource theory and the cognitive-affective personality system theory, this paper surveys 327RD emotional exhaustion and organizational identification play a mediation role between workplace bullying and knowledge hiding, and both variables play a chain mediation role in that relationship; and forgiveness climate moderates the positive impact of workplace bullying on emotional exhaustion, further moderating the chain mediation role of emotional exhaustion and organizational identification.,The findings of this study can not only complement the existing researches on the influence of negative workplace events on employees’ knowledge hiding behaviors but also strengthen scholars’ attention and understanding of the internal mechanism between workplace bullying and knowledge hiding.
74 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present the articles included in the special thematic symposium on corporate social responsibility and employees and highlight their contributions to the literature, including theoretical and empirical insights provided by the articles.
Abstract: This editorial outlines the articles included in the special thematic symposium on corporate social responsibility and employees and highlights their contributions to the literature. In doing so, it highlights the novel theoretical and empirical insights provided by the articles, how the articles inform and expand the methods and research designs researchers can use to study phenomena in this area, and identifies promising directions for future research.
66 citations
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