IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v127y2015i3p537-548.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring Employee Engagement with (Corporate) Social Responsibility: A Social Exchange Perspective on Organisational Participation

Author

Listed:
  • R. Slack
  • S. Corlett
  • R. Morris

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a recognised and common part of business activity. Some of the regularly cited motives behind CSR are employee morale, recruitment and retention, with employees acknowledged as a key organisational stakeholder. Despite the significance of employees in relation to CSR, relatively few studies have examined their engagement with CSR and the impediments relevant to this engagement. This exploratory case study-based research addresses this paucity of attention, drawing on one to one interviews and observation in a large UK energy company. A diversity of engagement was found, ranging from employees who exhibited detachment from the CSR activities within the company, to those who were fully engaged with the CSR activities, and to others who were content with their own personal, but not organisational, engagement with CSR. A number of organisational context impediments, including poor communication, a perceived weak and low visibility of CSR culture, and lack of strategic alignment of CSR to business and personal objectives, served to explain this diversity of employee engagement. Social exchange theory is applied to help explore the volition that individual employees have towards their engagement with CSR activities, and to consider the implications of an implicit social, rather than explicit economic, contract between an organisation and its employees in their engagement with CSR. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • R. Slack & S. Corlett & R. Morris, 2015. "Exploring Employee Engagement with (Corporate) Social Responsibility: A Social Exchange Perspective on Organisational Participation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 127(3), pages 537-548, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:127:y:2015:i:3:p:537-548
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-014-2057-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10551-014-2057-3
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-014-2057-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Abagail McWilliams & Donald S. Siegel & Patrick M. Wright, 2006. "Corporate Social Responsibility: Strategic Implications," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 1-18, January.
    2. Krista Bondy & Dirk Matten & Jeremy Moon, 2008. "Multinational Corporation Codes of Conduct: Governance Tools for Corporate Social Responsibility?," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(4), pages 294-311, July.
    3. Michelle Greenwood, 2007. "Stakeholder Engagement: Beyond the Myth of Corporate Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 74(4), pages 315-327, September.
    4. Wenlong Yuan & Yongjian Bao & Alain Verbeke, 2011. "Integrating CSR Initiatives in Business: An Organizing Framework," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(1), pages 75-92, June.
    5. J. Kaler, 2009. "An Optimally Viable Version of Stakeholder Theory," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 86(3), pages 297-312, May.
    6. Manuel Branco & Lúcia Rodrigues, 2006. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Resource-Based Perspectives," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 69(2), pages 111-132, December.
    7. Pablo Rodrigo & Daniel Arenas, 2008. "Do Employees Care About CSR Programs? A Typology of Employees According to their Attitudes," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 83(2), pages 265-283, December.
    8. Cam Caldwell & Larry Floyd & Ryan Atkins & Russell Holzgrefe, 2012. "Ethical Duties of Organizational Citizens: Obligations Owed by Highly Committed Employees," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 110(3), pages 285-299, October.
    9. Ans Kolk & Willemijn Dolen & Marlene Vock, 2010. "Trickle Effects of Cross-Sector Social Partnerships," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 94(1), pages 123-137, July.
    10. Terry Beckman & Alison Colwell & Peggy Cunningham, 2009. "The Emergence of Corporate Social Responsibility in Chile: The Importance of Authenticity and Social Networks," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 86(2), pages 191-206, March.
    11. Duygu Turker, 2009. "How Corporate Social Responsibility Influences Organizational Commitment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 89(2), pages 189-204, October.
    12. Morgan Miles & Linda Munilla & Jenny Darroch, 2006. "The Role of Strategic Conversations with Stakeholders in the Formation of Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 69(2), pages 195-205, December.
    13. Longinos Marin & Salvador Ruiz, 2007. "“I Need You Too!â€\x9D Corporate Identity Attractiveness for Consumers and The Role of Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 71(3), pages 245-260, March.
    14. Duygu Turker, 2009. "Measuring Corporate Social Responsibility: A Scale Development Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 85(4), pages 411-427, April.
    15. Susanne Arvidsson, 2010. "Communication of Corporate Social Responsibility: A Study of the Views of Management Teams in Large Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 96(3), pages 339-354, October.
    16. Fernanda Duarte, 2010. "Working with Corporate Social Responsibility in Brazilian Companies: The Role of Managers’ Values in the Maintenance of CSR Cultures," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 96(3), pages 355-368, October.
    17. Chong Ju Choi & Carla C. J. M. Millar & Caroline Y. L. Wong, 2005. "Knowledge and Exchange," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Knowledge Entanglements, chapter 0, pages 65-76, Palgrave Macmillan.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Som Sekhar Bhattacharyya & Sumi Jha & Dinesh Sharma, 2020. "Development of a Scale on Individual Perspectives on Corporate Social Responsibility Constructs: Based on Microfoundation Theory," Vision, , vol. 24(1), pages 47-59, March.
    2. Stankevičiūtė Živilė & Wereda Wioletta, 2020. "Universalism values and organisational citizenship behaviour referring to employee perception of corporate social responsibility," Management & Marketing, Sciendo, vol. 15(2), pages 302-325, June.
    3. Madeeha Zafar & Imran Ali, 2016. "The Influence of Corporate Social Responsibility on Employee Commitment: The Mediating Role of Employee Company Identification," Asian Social Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(12), pages 262-262, December.
    4. Kenneth De Roeck & Omer Farooq, 2018. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethical Leadership: Investigating Their Interactive Effect on Employees’ Socially Responsible Behaviors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(4), pages 923-939, September.
    5. Lei Zhou & Feng Wei & Yu Kong, 2022. "Do Employee Stock Ownership Plans Affect Corporate Social Responsibility? Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-19, January.
    6. Saeidi, Sayedeh Parastoo & Sofian, Saudah & Saeidi, Parvaneh & Saeidi, Sayyedeh Parisa & Saaeidi, Seyyed Alireza, 2015. "How does corporate social responsibility contribute to firm financial performance? The mediating role of competitive advantage, reputation, and customer satisfaction," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 341-350.
    7. Seunghee Im & Yang Woon Chung & Ji Yeon Yang, 2016. "Employees’ Participation in Corporate Social Responsibility and Organizational Outcomes: The Moderating Role of Person–CSR Fit," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-14, December.
    8. Debjani Ghosh & L. Gurunathan, 2014. "Linking Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility and Intention to Quit: The Mediating Role of Job Embeddedness," Vision, , vol. 18(3), pages 175-183, September.
    9. Salih Börteçine Avci & Adnan Karataş, 2022. "Public Service Motivation’s Mediating Role in the Effect Perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibility and Organizational Justice Have on Organizational Commitment in Higher Education Institutions," Journal of Economy Culture and Society, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 66(66), pages 29-54, December.
    10. Dorian Aliu & Ayten Akatay & Armando Aliu & Umut Eroglu, 2017. "Public Policy Influences on Academia in the European Union," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(1), pages 21582440176, February.
    11. Kenneth Roeck & François Maon, 2018. "Building the Theoretical Puzzle of Employees’ Reactions to Corporate Social Responsibility: An Integrative Conceptual Framework and Research Agenda," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(3), pages 609-625, May.
    12. Zana Prutina & Dzevad Sehic, 2016. "Employees’ Perceptions Of Corporate Social Responsibility: A Case Study Of Award Recipient," Economic Thought and Practice, Department of Economics and Business, University of Dubrovnik, vol. 25(1), pages 239-260, june.
    13. Daniel Schulze & Kathrin Heinitz & Timo Lorenz, 2018. "Comparative organizational research starts with sound measurement: Validity and invariance of Turker’s corporate social responsibility scale in five cross-cultural samples," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(11), pages 1-15, November.
    14. Maria da Graça Marques Casimiro Almeida & Arnaldo Fernandes Matos Coelho, 2019. "The Antecedents of Corporate Reputation and Image and Their Impacts on Employee Commitment and Performance: The Moderating Role of CSR," Corporate Reputation Review, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(1), pages 10-25, February.
    15. Debbie Haski-Leventhal & Lonneke Roza & Lucas C. P. M. Meijs, 2017. "Congruence in Corporate Social Responsibility: Connecting the Identity and Behavior of Employers and Employees," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(1), pages 35-51, June.
    16. Sharon Bolton & Rebecca Kim & Kevin O’Gorman, 2011. "Corporate Social Responsibility as a Dynamic Internal Organizational Process: A Case Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 101(1), pages 61-74, June.
    17. Yang, Lei & Manika, Danae & Athanasopoulou, Andromachi, 2020. "Are they sinners or saints? A multi-level investigation of hypocrisy in organisational and employee pro-environmental behaviours," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 336-347.
    18. Som Sekhar Bhattacharyya & Sumi Jha, 2020. "Explicating micro foundations of corporate social responsibility: a moderated-mediation study of customer, investor and employee roles," International Journal of Ethics and Systems, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 36(4), pages 619-640, September.
    19. Walsh, Gianfranco & Bartikowski, Boris, 2013. "Exploring corporate ability and social responsibility associations as antecedents of customer satisfaction cross-culturally," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(8), pages 989-995.
    20. Alejandro Alvarado-Herrera & Enrique Bigne & Joaquín Aldas-Manzano & Rafael Curras-Perez, 2017. "A Scale for Measuring Consumer Perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibility Following the Sustainable Development Paradigm," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(2), pages 243-262, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:127:y:2015:i:3:p:537-548. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.