Local embeddedness, and corporate social performance: The mediating role of social innovation orientation

Author(s):  
Samuel Adomako ◽  
Mai Dong Tran
2009 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 1558-1585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shih-Chi Chiu ◽  
Mark Sharfman

Using institutional theory as the foundation, this study examines the role of organizational visibility from a variety of sources (i.e., slack visibility, industry visibility, and visibility to multiple stakeholders) in influencing corporate social performance (CSP). The conceptual framework offers important insights regarding the instrumental motives of managers in performing CSP initiatives. Based on a sample of 124 S&P 500 firms, the authors found that it is a firm’s visibility to stakeholders, rather than its economic performance, that has the larger impact on managers’ decisions regarding how much CSP their firms exhibit. The results show that more profitable firms may not be motivated to engage actively in CSP unless they are under greater scrutiny by various firm stakeholders. The authors also found that organizational slack (estimated as cost of capital) is positively associated with a Social CSP dimension but negatively associated with a Strategic CSP dimension. This research contributes to the current CSP literature by demonstrating that motivations in addition to normative or ethical ones may be at play in the decisions firms make regarding their CSP.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1836 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastiano Cupertino ◽  
Costanza Consolandi ◽  
Alessandro Vercelli

In recent years, the global financial and economic crisis are rewriting the relationship between business and society, focusing, among other things, on the role of the process of financialization, not only in the economy as a whole but also within non-financial companies. Shareholder value maximization, together with the commoditization of business, has led to a general short-term approach at the expense of capital accumulation and core business activity, to the detriment of not only firms’ competitiveness and productivity but also of human capital, strategic innovation, business ethics, and long-term growth. Within this framework, this study investigates the role of corporate sustainability, analyzing the nexus between financialization, accumulation of real capital, and corporate social performance, an issue that has been neglected so far. Using a sample of US manufacturing firms from 2002 to 2017, we found that, while financialization was negatively correlated with corporate real investment, the environmental and social firm performance positively impacted corporate capital accumulation. Our results support the belief that a focus on environmental, social, and governance standards, fostering real investments, may enhance a firm’s long-term growth with a positive effect on its long-term value.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (8) ◽  
pp. 977-991 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grzegorz Zasuwa

Purpose Literature on corporate social responsibility (CSR) posits that organisational motives underlying corporate social initiatives play a key role in stakeholder responses to these activities. However, individuals do not always make attributions. This study aims to examine when CSR attributions shape consumer reactions to CSR initiatives. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on attribution theory and relevant literature on consumer trust, this study proposes a framework for explaining when attributions shape reactions to CSR initiatives. To test this framework, the study uses data from a random sample of 512 Polish consumers. Findings The results show that consumer responses to corporate social initiatives are largely independent of perceived corporate motivation when a consumer has a high trust in the firm. However, a low level of initial trust triggers causal thinking and its effects. Specifically, if a firm lacks credibility, self-serving attributions negatively influence consumer outcomes of social initiatives, but they remain neutral when trust is high. Accordingly, when trust is low, other-serving attributions have greater effects on the initiative outcomes than when trust is high. Originality/value The paper provides important insights into CSR literature by showing that initial trust in the company is a salient variable that moderates the link between CSR attributions and consumer responses to these actions. This role of trust has been largely unexplored as past studies considered trust in the firm to be a key outcome of corporate social performance.


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