Religion, as a critical component in both personal value system and institutional order, is relatively under-investigated in strategic management. Drawing from the perspective of institutional logic, we propose that the minority identity of religious CEOs in China reconfigures the interface between religious logic and other salient logics, which shapes CEO’s distinctive perception of external institutional pressures and subsequent decision in practicing corporate philanthropy. Based on a survey …
Read moreReligion, as a critical component in both personal value system and institutional order, is relatively under-investigated in strategic management. Drawing from the perspective of institutional logic, we propose that the minority identity of religious CEOs in China reconfigures the interface between religious logic and other salient logics, which shapes CEO’s distinctive perception of external institutional pressures and subsequent decision in practicing corporate philanthropy. Based on a survey of firms across multiple industries and regions in China, we find that religious CEOs perceive lower normative pressure from industry peers but higher regulative pressure from the government, which mediate the effect of CEO religiosity on corporate philanthropy. Furthermore, we find that when firms are positioned in the hub of a business ecosystem, the negative effect of religiosity on normative pressure becomes weaker; when firms are located in an environment with high financial constraints, the positive effect of religiosity on regulative pressure becomes stronger. We contribute by identifying a new explanatory pathway through which CEO religiosity affects corporate philanthropy and revealing the double-edged nature of identification with religious groups.
