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Business & Society – special issue forthcoming (physical publication issue to be determined).

The 9 articles comprising a forthcoming special issue on "Corporate Responsibility: Initiatives and Mechanisms" are all available online for subscribers.  The guest editors are Jennifer J. Griffin (The George Washington University) and Aseem Prakash (<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Washington</st1:placename></st1:place>).

Corporate Responsibility: Initiatives and Mechanisms

Jennifer J. Griffin and Aseem Prakash

Business Society published 4 April 2013, 10.1177/0007650313478975
http://bas.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/0007650313478975v1

This special issue of Business & Society explores how institutions and actors influence organizational choices regarding corporate responsibility (CR) initiatives and mechanisms. Assuming CR reflects strategic choices made by firms, the authors seek to move discussions from why aspects to aligning the why with the what/how aspects of CR. The articles in this special issue examine CR initiatives at multiple levels (the firm, industry, national, and global) as well as CR mechanisms ranging from "go-it-alone" unilateral activities to collaborative partnerships. The study goals are two-fold. First, the authors focus on firms' attempt to create and manage a portfolio of corporate responsibilities-social, political, environmental, and economic. These responsibilities involve relationships with a range of stakeholders (investors, employees, consumers, suppliers, and distributors as well as its multiple communities), often simultaneously, and recognizing that the corporation can devote limited resources to manage stakeholder expectations in this regard. Second, the authors seek to understand how institutional and competitive contexts matter in shaping specific CR choices to provide tangible evidence of managing responsibly. The authors suggest that consciously aligning CR initiatives (what) with appropriate mechanisms (how) will allow the corporations to efficiently and effectively pursue their CR objectives and arguably create sustained impact.

Goodness Comes From Within: Intra-Organizational Dynamics of Corporate Social Responsibility

Christian R. Thauer

Business Society published 24 April 2013, 10.1177/0007650313475770
http://bas.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/0007650313475770v1

This article makes the case for the importance of paying attention to the internal dynamics of business in order to understand why and under which conditions firms engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR). The argument is that CSR assists decision makers in firms to resolve managerial dilemmas. By a managerial dilemma this article understands a situation whereby the execution of management's decisions requires asset specific allocation of resources. Asset specific allocation of resources transforms the intra-organizational mode of social coordination from a hierarchy to one in which managers become dependent on, and vulnerable to, the behavior of subordinates. It is in these situations that corporate Decision-makers introduce CSR standards in their attempt to avoid the foreseeable loss of control and organizational efficiency.

Micro-Level Interactions in Business-Nonprofit Partnerships

Marlene Vock, Willemijn van Dolen, and Ans Kolk

Business Society published 18 February 2013, 10.1177/0007650313476030
http://bas.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/0007650313476030v1

While most research on business–nonprofit partnerships has focused on macro and meso perspectives, this article pays attention to the micro level. Drawing on various theoretical perspectives from both marketing and management, this study conceptually relates the outcomes of active employee participation in such partnerships to consumer self-interest. This article also explores empirically whether and when self-interest affects consumers' responses toward firms in relation to business–nonprofit partnerships. The study reveals that self-interest can directly influence consumers' behavioral responses toward firms (i.e., switching and buying intentions, and word of mouth), whereas the impact on evaluative responses in terms of attitude and trust is only weak. The fit between the firm and the nonprofit partner (company–cause fit) turns out to moderate this effect, with consumer self-interest only playing a role if fit is high. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Sustainable Development and Industry Self-Regulation: Developments in the Global Mining Sector

Hevina S. Dashwood

Business Society published 18 February 2013, 10.1177/0007650313475997
http://bas.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/0007650313475997v1

This article explores the influences informing the voluntary initiatives undertaken by major mining companies to meet their environmental and social responsibilities. The framing by mining companies of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies in terms of sustainable development, as reflected in their stand-alone CSR reports, is a noteworthy feature of the mining industry. This article analyzes the process by which convergence occurred around the norm of sustainable development and examines the circumstances that led to the adoption of unilateral and collaborative corporate voluntary initiatives to promote sustainable development in the mining sector. The author argues that the interaction of institutional dynamics with managerial preferences are key variables which can best be explained by institutional approaches in organization theory and international relations theory that draw attention to the global context and the dissemination of global norms.

Privatizing or Socializing Corporate Responsibility: Business Participation in Voluntary Programs

Luc Fransen and Brian Burgoon

Business Society published 18 February 2013, 10.1177/0007650313475784
http://bas.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/0007650313475784v1

This article explores why companies choose some Corporate Responsibility initiatives over others. The focus is on competing voluntary programs to oversee and protect labor standards. These programs may differ with regard to two aspects: the governance of the program and the financial and managerial responsibility for compliance. These aspects are crucial to distinguish "socializing" or "privatizing" types of voluntary labor regulation. The article explores the conditions under which companies in apparel production choose different types of governance and responsibility, based on qualitative and quantitative evidence of the European industry. The study shows that corporate preference for multi-stakeholder governed programs is positively affected by societal pressure orchestrated by NGOs, through both public campaigns and informal efforts, together with pressures from consumers and media. Second, the position of the firm in the value chain affects preference for taking financial and managerial responsibility for compliance.

A Conceptualization of How Firms Engage in Corporate Responsibility Based on Country Risk

Linda C. Rodríguez, Ivan Montiel, and Téofilo Ozuna

Business Society published 18 February 2013, 10.1177/0007650312475123
http://bas.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/0007650312475123v1

This conceptual article looks at corporate responsibility (CR) and country risk claiming that there is a relationship, and then positing the directionality of the relationship. An understanding of this relationship can help firms respond to a variety of pressures from organizations and this knowledge may help firms prevent negative media coverage with the need to "bolt" CR strategies on to existing corporate strategies. When firms have an understanding of how country risk affects them, they can plan entire clusters of CR initiatives to fulfill needs within the operating community. To understand the CR–country risk relationship, the authors build on Matten and Moon's (2008) distinction between implicit and explicit CR. The first argument is that firms engage in no explicit CR (explicit CR that is voluntary and goes beyond legal requirement) when country risk is very high. As country risk lowers to high, firms engage in explicit CR, which creates little impact to the firm if CR must be withdrawn. The second argument is that as country risk shifts to moderate, firms commence to engage in high levels of explicit CR and low levels of implicit CR. The third argument concludes that when country risk shifts to low or very low, firms will engage in the least amount of explicit CR and the most amount of implicit CR. A set of three propositions develops these arguments.

Culturally Embedded Organizational Learning for Global Responsibility

Ariane Berthoin Antal and André Sobczak

Business Society published 24 February 2013, 10.1177/0007650313476673
http://bas.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/0007650313476673v1

This article proposes a multilevel model of Global Responsibility as a culturally embedded organizational learning process. The model enables an analysis of the way culture influences how responsibilities are defined and distributed in a culture at a given point in time, and how organizations learn to address new responsibilities in new ways when the context changes. The model starts at the organizational level and zooms in on the individual level as well as outward to the local, national, and international levels. The case of a French multinational company subsidiary in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Brazil</st1:place></st1:country-region> illustrates how the model can be used to show the relative relevance of the different sources of cultural influences on key stages in organizational learning processes. The authors include the arts as an inherent dimension of culture that tends to be overlooked in the management literature, and the case illustrates how the arts can play a role in organizational learning for Global Responsibility.

Action Programs for Ethnic Minorities: A Question of Corporate Social Responsibility?

Astrid Podsiadlowski and Astrid Reichel

Business Society published 4 March 2013, 10.1177/0007650313476665
http://bas.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/0007650313476665v1

With increasing globalization and migration the workplace is becoming more and more culturally diverse. Although cultural diversity is found worldwide, handling of diversity as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) varies depending on national as well as organizational contexts. This article presents cross-national research linking macro level and meso level of analysis to identify national and organizational factors influencing an organization's implementation of action programs for ethnic minorities. Utilizing techniques of multilevel modelling with 1,865 organizations from 10 countries, the study analyses the influence of normative and economic reasons as well as managerial discretion to act socially responsible. The patterns of influencing factors identified suggest that the main reasons are neither economic nor normative ones. The factors go beyond and represent rather social reasons. This article gives an overview of relevant predictors that increase the likelihood of action programs in organizations. Societal decision makers can find the direct relevance of political decisions and public perceptions on actions taken that address issues of interethnic group relations in organizations.

The Influence of Institutional Logics on Corporate Responsibility Toward Employees

Michelle Westermann-Behaylo, Shawn L. Berman, and Harry J. Van Buren, III

Business Society published 28 March 2013, 10.1177/0007650313476934
http://bas.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/0007650313476934v1

Focusing on corporate responsibility (CR) toward employees, this article discusses how multilayered institutional logics affect the relationship between the firm and its employee stakeholders. It considers what constitutes CR toward employees and explores the institutional logics that can shape whether employers treat their employees as merely means to a strategic end or as ends in themselves. Specifically, the article examines market-, state-, professional-, and firm-based institutional logics that influence how employers treat their employees. The conclusion suggests that external institutional logics both enable and constrain firms to adopt a more instrumental relationship with their employees. However, some forms of organizational identity may generate firm-based institutional logics that enable firms to resist these pressures. Suggestions for future research focusing on the institutional and organizational drivers behind understanding CR toward employees are offered.

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Duane Windsor, PhD

BAS Editor

Lynette S. Autrey Professor of Management

<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Jesse</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">H.</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Jones</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Graduate</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">School</st1:placetype></st1:place> of Business

<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Rice</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place>

odw@rice.edu