A world society perspective of corporate social responsibility : the utility of normative over strategic accounts
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- This dissertation consists of three, standalone empirical papers on the global corporate social responsibility (CSR) movement, papers that are inspired by, but do not necessarily address individually, the world society perspective. The CSR movement advances the idea that business should seek, not only profits, but also positive social impacts. The movement has expanded globally in dramatic fashion in the last three decades. It now includes dozens of international voluntary initiatives with participation from thousands of companies in scores of nations, including initiatives that promulgate broad CSR principles (e.g., the United Nations Global Compact), that promote the reporting of CSR practices (the Global Reporting Initiatives), that certify labor practices (the SA800), and that govern the ethical sourcing of commodities (the Fair Trade Association). This rapid, multi-level, pan-industry expansion of the CSR movement remains poorly understood in extant CSR research. In seeking explanation, the first paper of this dissertation is a meta-study that gathers and analyzes 200 individual surveys of business leaders on their motivations for CSR engagement. Contrary to prevailing strategic and political accounts of CSR engagement within academic research, the paper finds that business leaders claim to engage in CSR activities mostly for normative reasons (in the sense, that they consider CSR to morally and socially needful and appropriate). Further, the normative reasons are remarkably consistent worldwide, suggesting the rise of a transnational prosocial managerial value-system. The second paper tests whether CSR activities improve company brand equities. To do so, the paper conducts a panel study of the CSR activities and brand equities of the world's largest 700 companies over the years 2001-2014. It finds that CSR activities, contrary to prevailing strategic accounts within the academic research, have no relationship with brand equity. The third paper tests whether CSR activities are followed by advertising campaigns to raise consumer awareness and thereby to increase consumer purchases. This paper also uses panel study methodology for the world's largest 700 companies. Contrary to prevailing strategic accounts in the academic research, the paper finds that CSR activities do not generate advertising campaigns. In the introductory section to the dissertation that follows this abstract, the dissertation interprets the totality of the above findings in light of an emergent world society in which CSR behaviors are cultural expectations, rather than strategic or political endeavors. This emergent world society explains the convergence of managerial CSR perceptions across national borders and the apparent missing link between CSR and narrowly conceived strategic benefits such as increases in brand equity.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2016 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Pope, Shawn |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Sociology. |
| Primary advisor | Granovetter, Mark S |
| Thesis advisor | Granovetter, Mark S |
| Thesis advisor | Meyer, John |
| Thesis advisor | Zhou, Xueguang |
| Advisor | Meyer, John |
| Advisor | Zhou, Xueguang |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Shawn Pope. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Sociology. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2016. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2016 by Shawn Michael Pope
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