Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T06:18:47.855Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Embedded Versus Peripheral Corporate Social Responsibility: Psychological Foundations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2015

Herman Aguinis  and
Ante Glavas
Herman Aguinis*
Affiliation:
Indiana University
Ante Glavas
Affiliation:
University of Notre Dame
*
E-mail: haguinis@indiana.edu, Address: Department of Management and Entrepreneurship, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, 1309 E. 10th Street, Bloomington, IN 47405-170
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We propose a new conceptualization to make sense of the vast and diverse body of work regarding corporate social responsibility (CSR): (a) embedded CSR and (b) peripheral CSR. This distinction relies on psychological foundations originating primarily in industrial–organizational psychology and related fields (i.e., organizational behavior, human resource management) and allows for a better understanding of when and why CSR is likely to lead to positive outcomes for employees, organizations, and society. Embedded CSR involves an organization's core competencies and integrates CSR within a firm's strategy, routines, and operations, and therefore affects all employees. In contrast, peripheral CSR focuses on activities that are not integrated into an organization's strategy, routines, and operations (e.g., philanthropy, volunteering). We use our conceptualization to explain the success of CSR initiatives at GE, IBM, and Intel, and to reinterpret the scholarly CSR literature in the fields of marketing, corporate governance and legal studies, and economics. We also describe how our conceptualization can help bridge the much lamented micro–macro and science–practice gaps and helps guide future CSR research as well as organizational interventions.

Type
Focal Article
Information
Industrial and Organizational Psychology , Volume 6 , Issue 4 , December 2013 , pp. 314 - 332
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology 2013

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aguilera, R. V., & Jackson, G. (2003). The cross-national diversity of corporate governance: Dimensions and determinants. Academy of Management Review, 28, 447–465.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aguilera, R. V., Rupp, D. E., Williams, C. A., & Ganapathi, J. (2007). Putting the S back in corporate social responsibility: A multilevel theory of social change in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 32, 836–863.Google Scholar
Aguinis, H. (2011). Organizational responsibility: Doing good and doing well. In Zedeck, S. (Ed.), APA handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (Vol. 3, pp. 855–879). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Aguinis, H. (2013). Performance management (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Aguinis, H., & Glavas, A. (2012). What we know and don't know about corporate social responsibility: A review and research agenda. Journal of Management, 38, 932–968.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aguinis, H., & Glavas, A. (2013). What corporate environmental sustainability can do for industrial-organizational psychology. In Huffman, A. H., & Klein, S. R. (Eds.), Green organizations: Driving change with I-O psychology. New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Aguinis, H., Boyd, B. K., Pierce, C. A., & Short, J. C. (2011). Walking new avenues in management research methods and theories: Bridging micro and macro domains. Journal of Management, 37, 395–403.Google Scholar
Aguinis, H., Gottfredson, R. K., & Culpepper, S. A. (2013). Best-practice recommendations for estimating cross-level interaction effects using multilevel modeling. Journal of Management, 39, 1490–1528.Google Scholar
Arya, B., & Zhang, G. (2009). Institutional reforms and investor reactions to CSR announcements: Evidence from an emerging economy. Journal of Management Studies, 46, 1089–1112.Google Scholar
Auger, P., Devinney, T. M., Louviere, J. J., & Burke, P. F. (2010). The importance of social product attributes in consumer purchasing decisions: A multi-country comparative study. International Business Review, 19, 140–159.Google Scholar
Baron, D. P. (2008). Managerial contracting and corporate social responsibility. Journal of Public Economics, 92, 268–288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barrett, C. R., & Niekerk, G. (2013). Sustainable business: A Fortune 500 company perspective. In Huffman, A. H., & Klein, S. R. (Eds.), Green organizations: Driving change with I-O psychology. New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Basu, K., & Palazzo, G. (2008). Corporate social responsibility: A process model of sensemaking. Academy of Management Review, 33, 122–136.Google Scholar
Becker-Olsen, K. L., Cudmore, A., & Hill, R. P. (2006). The impact of perceived corporate social responsibility on consumer behavior. Journal of Business Research, 59, 46–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bellah, R. N., Madsen, R., Sullivan, W. M., Swidler, A., & Tipton, S. M. (1985). Habits of the heart: Individualism and commitment in American life. New York, NY: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Bénabou, R., & Tirole, J. (2006). Incentives and prosocial behavior. The American Economic Review, 96, 1652–1678.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bhattacharya, C. B., & Sen, S. (2003). Consumer-company identification: A framework for understanding consumers' relationships with companies. Journal of Marketing, 67, 76–88.Google Scholar
Boudreau, J. W. (2012). Strategic I–O psychology lies beyond HR. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, 5, 86–91.Google Scholar
Brammer, S., Hoejmose, S., & Millington, A. (2011). Managing sustainable global supply chains: A systematic review of the body of knowledge. London, England: Network for Business Sustainability.Google Scholar
Buchholz, A. K., Brown, J., & Shabana, K. (2008). Corporate governance and corporate social responsibility. In Crane, A., McWilliams, A., Matten, D., Moon, J., & Siegel, D. S. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of corporate social responsibility (pp. 327–345). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Carroll, A. B. (1999). Corporate social responsibility. Business & Society, 38, 268–295.Google Scholar
Cascio, W. F., & Aguinis, H. (2008). Research in industrial and organizational psychology from 1963 to 2007: Changes, choices, and trends. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 1062–1081.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Conley, J. M., & Williams, C. A. (2005). Engage, embed, and embellish: Theory versus practice in the corporate social responsibility movement. Journal of Corporate Law, 31, 1–38.Google Scholar
Corporate Responsibility. (2011). 2010 Corporate responsibility report. Intel. Retrieved from http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/corporate-responsibility/2010-corporate-responsibility-report-overview.htmlGoogle Scholar
Curtis, B. (2012). Psychological contributions to competitive business process. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, 5, 105–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daniels, C., & Lacono, E. (2010, May 1). Employee involvement vital to success in sustainability. PR Week. Retrieved from http://www.prweekus.com/employee-involvement-vital-to-success-in-sustainability/article/168478/Google Scholar
David, P., Bloom, M., & Hillman, A. J. (2007). Investor activism, managerial responsiveness, and corporate social performance. Strategic Management Journal, 28, 91–100.Google Scholar
Davis, J. H., Schoorman, F. D., & Donaldson, L. (1997). Toward a stewardship theory of management. Academy of Management Review, 22, 20–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Devinney, T. M. (2009). Is the socially responsible corporation a myth? The good, the bad, and the ugly of corporate social responsibility. Academy of Management Perspectives, 23(2), 44–56.Google Scholar
Doh, J. P., Howton, S. D., Howton, S. W., & Siegel, D. S. (2010). Does the market respond to endorsement of social responsibility? The role of institutions, information, and legitimacy. Journal of Management, 36, 1461–1485.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dutton, J. E., Dukerich, J. M., & Harquail, C. V. (1994). Organizational images and member identification. Administrative Science Quarterly, 39, 239–263.Google Scholar
Dutton, J. E., Roberts, L. M., & Bednar, J. (2010). Pathways for positive identity construction at work: Four types of positive identity and the building of social resources. Academy of Management Review, 35, 265–293.Google Scholar
Edwards, J. R., & Cable, D. M. (2009). The value of value congruence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 654–677.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ellen, P. S., Webb, D. J., & Mohr, L. A. (2006). Building corporate associations: Consumer attributions for corporate socially responsible programs. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 34, 147–157.Google Scholar
Elliot, S. (2011). Transdisciplinary perspectives on environmental sustainability: A resource base and framework for IT-enabled business transformation. MIS Quarterly, 35, 197–236.Google Scholar
Enderle, G., & Murphy, P. E. (2009). Ethics and corporate social responsibility for marketing in the global marketplace. In Kotabee, M., & Helsen, K. (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of international marketing (pp. 504–531). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Environmental Protection Agency & United States Department of Agriculture. (2012). Waste not, want not: Feeding the hungry and reducing solid waste through food recovery. Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/materials/organics/pubs/wast_not.pdfGoogle Scholar
Foss, N. J. (2011). Why micro-foundations for resource-based theory are needed and what they may look like. Journal of Management, 37, 1413–1428.Google Scholar
Frankental, P. (2001). Corporate social responsibility-a PR invention? Corporate Communications-An International Journal, 6, 18–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garriga, E., & Melé, D. (2004). Corporate social responsibility theories: Mapping the territory. Journal of Business Ethics, 53, 51–71.Google Scholar
GE. (2012a). @ecomagination. GE. Retrieved from http://www.ecomagination.com/aboutGoogle Scholar
GE. (2012b). LED technology. GE. Retrieved from http://www.gelighting.com/LightingWeb/emea/products/technologies/led/all-led-systems-are-not-the-same.jspGoogle Scholar
GE. (2012c). Ecomagination 2010 Annual Report. GE. Retrieved from http://files.gecompany.com/ecomagination/progress/GE_ecomagination_2010AnnualReport.pdfGoogle Scholar
GE. (2012d). Ecomagination treasure hunts. GE. Retrieved from http://www.ecomagination.com/showcase/treasure-huntsGoogle Scholar
GE. (2012e). Healthymagination. GE. Retrieved from http://www.healthymagination.com/Google Scholar
GE. (2012f). Our people. GE. Retrieved from http://www.ge.com/company/culture/index.htmlGoogle Scholar
Glavas, A., & Godwin, L. N. (2013). Is the perception of ‘goodness’ good enough? Exploring the relationship between perceived corporate social responsibility and employee organizational identification. Journal of Business Ethics, 114, 15–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glavas, A., & Piderit, S. K. (2009). How does doing good matter? Effects of corporate citizenship on employees. Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 36, 51–70.Google Scholar
Global Most Sustainable Companies. (2012). 2012 Global 100 most sustainable companies: The full list. Retrieved from http://www.global100.org/Google Scholar
Graves, S. A., & Waddock, S. A. (2000). Beyond built to last… Stakeholder relations in “built-to-last” companies. Business and Society Review, 106, 393–418.Google Scholar
Green, T., & Peloza, J. (2011). How does corporate social responsibility create value for consumers. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 28, 48–56.Google Scholar
Hainmueller, J., & Hiscox, M. J. (2012). Buying green? Field experimental tests of consumer support for environmentalism. Unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
IBM. (2008).The enterprise of the future: Implications for the workforce. IBM. Retrieved from http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/bus/pdf/gbe03102-usen-ceo-workforce.pdfGoogle Scholar
IC Insights. (2011, December 19). Tracking the top 10 semiconductor sales leaders over 26 years. Research Bulletin. Retrieved from www.icinsights.com/data/articles/documents/359.pdfGoogle Scholar
Jackson, S. E., Ones, D. S., & Dilchert, S. (Eds.) (2012). Managing human resources for environmental sustainability. San Francisco, CA: Wiley.Google Scholar
Jensen, M. C. (2002). Value maximization, stakeholder theory, and the corporate objective function. Business Ethics Quarterly, 12, 235–256.Google Scholar
Jones, D. A. (2010). Does serving the community also serve the company? Using organizational identification and social exchange theories to understand employee responses to a volunteerism programme. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 83, 857–878.Google Scholar
Kahn, W. A. (1990). Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work. Academy of Management Journal, 33, 692–724.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kerr, S. (1975). On the folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B. Academy of Management Journal, 18, 769–783.Google Scholar
Kitzmueller, M., & Shimshack, J. (2012). Economic perspectives on corporate social responsibility. Journal of Economic Literature, 50, 51–84.Google Scholar
Kozlowski, S. W. J., & Klein, K. J. (2000). A multilevel approach to theory and research in organizations: Contextual, temporal, and emergent processes. In Klein, K. J., & Kozlowski, S. W. J. (Eds.), Multilevel theory, research, and methods in organizations: Foundations, extensions, and new directions (pp. 3–90). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Kristof, A. L. (1996). Person-organization fit: An integrative review of its conceptualizations, measurement, and implications. Personnel Psychology, 49, 1–49.Google Scholar
Laszlo, C., & Zhexembayeva, N. (2011). Embedded sustainability: The next big competitive advantage. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Laufer, W. S. (2003). Social accountability and corporate greenwashing. Journal of Business Ethics, 43, 253–261.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, M. P. (2008). A review of the theories of corporate social responsibility: Its evolutionary path and the road ahead. International Journal of Management Reviews, 10, 53–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, C., Lyau, N., Tsai, Y., Chen, W., & Chiu, C. (2010). Modeling corporate citizenship and its relationship with organizational citizenship behaviors. Journal of Business Ethics, 95, 357–372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maignan, I., Ferrell, O. C., & Hult, G. T. M. (1999). Corporate citizenship: Cultural antecedents and business benefits. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 27, 455–469.Google Scholar
Margolis, J. D., & Walsh, J. P. (2003). Misery loves companies: Rethinking social initiatives by business. Administrative Science Quarterly, 48, 268–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Margolis, J. D., Elfenbein, H. A., & Walsh, J. (2009). Does it pay to be good…and does it matter? A meta-analysis of the relationship between corporate social and financial performance. Unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
McWilliams, A., & Siegel, D. (2000). Corporate social responsibility and financial performance: Correlation or misspecification. Strategic Management Journal, 21, 603–609.Google Scholar
Mollick, E. (2012). People and process, suits, and innovators: The role of individuals in firm performance. Strategic Management Journal, 33, 1001–1015.Google Scholar
Moore, G. (1965). Cramming more components onto integrated circuits. Electronics, 38(8), 114–117.Google Scholar
Morgeson, F. P., Aguinis, H., Waldman, D. A., & Siegel, D. S. (in press). Extending corporate social responsibility research to the human resource management and organizational behavior domains: A look to the future. Personnel Psychology.Google Scholar
Orlitzky, M., Schmidt, F. L., & Rynes, S. L. (2003). Corporate social and financial performance: A meta-analysis. Organization Studies, 24, 403–441.Google Scholar
Orlitzky, M., Siegel, D. S., & Waldman, D. (2011). Strategic corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability. Business and Society, 50, 6–27.Google Scholar
Ostroff, C., Shin, Y., & Kinicki, A. J. (2005). Multiple perspectives of congruence: Relationships between value congruence and employee attitudes. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 26, 591–623.Google Scholar
Palmisano, S. (2009). Building a smarter planet: City by city. IBM. Retrieved from http://www.ibm.com/ibm/sjp/10_01_2009.htmlGoogle Scholar
Palmisano, S. (2012). Our values at work on being an IBMer. IBM. Retrieved from http://www.ibm.com/ibm/values/us/Google Scholar
Peloza, J. (2009). The challenge of measuring financial impacts from investments in corporate social performance. Journal of Management, 35, 1518–1541.Google Scholar
Peloza, J., & Shang, J. (2011). How can corporate social responsibility activities create value for stakeholders? A systematic review. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 39, 117–135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petco (2012). Petco foundation. Petco. Retrieved from http://www.petco.com/petco_Page_PC_petcofoundationhome.aspxGoogle Scholar
Ployhart, R. E. (2012a). The psychology of competitive advantage: An adjacent possibility. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, 5, 62–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ployhart, R. E. (2012b). From possible to probable: The psychology of competitive advantage. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, 5, 120–126.Google Scholar
Pratt, M. G., & Ashforth, B. E. (2003). Fostering meaningfulness in working and meaningfulness at work: An identity perspective. In Cameron, K., Dutton, J. E., & Quinn, R. E. (Eds.), Positive organizational scholarship (pp. 309–327). San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.Google Scholar
Rosso, B. D., Dekas, K. H., & Wrzesniewski, A. (2010). On the meaning of work: A theoretical integration and review. Research in Organizational Behavior, 30, 91–127.Google Scholar
Rupp, D. E. (2011). An employee-centered model of organizational justice and social responsibility. Organizational Psychology Review, 1, 72–94.Google Scholar
Rupp, D. E., Ganapathi, J., Aguilera, R. V., & Williams, C. A. (2006). Employee reactions to corporate social responsibility: An organizational justice framework. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27, 537–543.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rupp, D. E., Williams, C. A., & Aguilera, R. V. (2010). Increasing corporate social responsibility through stakeholder value internalization (and the catalyzing effect of new governance): An application of organizational justice, self-determination, and social influence theories. In Schminke, M. (Ed.), Managerial ethics: Managing the psychology of morality (pp. 69–88). New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Rupp, D. E., Wright, P. M., Aryee, S., & Luo, Y. (2011). Special issue on ‘behavioral ethics, organizational justice, and social responsibility across contexts.’ Management and Organization Review, 6, 481–483.Google Scholar
Scott, R. W. (1995). Institutions and organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Scott, J. C., Aguinis, H., McWha, I., Rupp, D. E., Thompson, L. F., & Cruse, S. (2013). News from the SIOP-United Nations Team: SIOP has joined the UN Global Compact and so can you! The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist, 50(4), 65–68.Google Scholar
Sen, S., & Bhattacharya, C. B. (2001). Does doing good always lead to doing better? Consumer reactions to corporate social responsibility. Journal of Marketing Research, 38, 225–243.Google Scholar
Sims, R. R., & Brinkman, J. (2003). Enron ethics (or: Culture matters more than codes). Journal of Business Ethics, 45, 243–256.Google Scholar
Sully de Luque, M., Washburn, N. T., Waldman, D. A., & House, R. J. (2008). Unrequited profit: How stakeholder and economic values relate to subordinates' perceptions of leadership and firm performance. Administrative Science Quarterly, 53, 626–654.Google Scholar
Swanson, D. L. (1995). Addressing a theoretical problem by reorienting the corporate social performance model. Academy of Management Review, 20, 43–64.Google Scholar
Swanson, D. L. (1999). Toward an integrative theory of business and society: A research strategy for corporate social performance. Academy of Management Review, 24, 506–521.Google Scholar
Tenbrunsel, A. E., Wade-Benzoni, K. A., Messick, D. M., & Bazerman, M. H. (2000). Understanding the influence of environmental standards on judgments and choices. Academy of Management Journal, 43, 854–866.Google Scholar
Turban, D. B., & Greening, D. W. (1996). Corporate social performance and organizational attractiveness to prospective employees. Academy of Management Journal, 40, 658–672.Google Scholar
United Nations Global Compact. (2012). United Nations Global Compact. Retrieved from http://www.unglobalcompact.org/Google Scholar
Vardi, Y. (2001). The effects of organizational climates on misconduct at work. Journal of Business Ethics, 29, 325–337.Google Scholar
Velasco, J. (2010). Shareholder ownership and primacy. University of Illinois Law Review, 3, 897–956.Google Scholar
Waddock, S. A. (2004). Parallel universes: Companies, academics, and the progress of corporate citizenship. Business and Society Review, 10, 758–769.Google Scholar
Wang, H., & Choi, J. (2013). A new look at the corporate social-financial performance relationship: The moderating roles of temporal and interdomain consistency in corporate social performance. Journal of Management, 39, 416–441.Google Scholar
Wood, D. J. (2010). Measuring corporate social performance: A review. International Journal of Management Reviews, 12, 50–84.Google Scholar
Wrzesniewski, A. (2003). Finding positive meaning in work. In Carmeron, K. S., Dutton, J. E., & Quinn, R. E. (Eds.), Positive organizational scholarship: Foundations of a new discipline (pp. 296–308). San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.Google Scholar