David Allen

We examine the conditions under which corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects create value for the finn. Specifically, we measure and examine the impact of centrality, specificity, proactivity, visibility, and voluntarism on value creation among targe Spanish finns corporations. We find that specificity, visibility, and voluntarism are related to value creation. In the case of voluntarism, the relationship is inverse. We draw conclusions from these findings about the nature of CSR activity by large finns in Spain.

We examine the conditions under which corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects create value for the firm. Specifically, we measure and examine the impact of centrality, specificity, proactivity, visibility, and voluntarism on value creation among multinational corporations (MNCs) in Mexico. We find that only centrality and voluntarism are related to value creation. In the case of voluntarism, the relationship is inverse. We draw conclusions from these findings about the nature of CSR activity by MNCs in Mexico.

This paper reports the results of a survey that examines the corporate social responsibility projects of Argentine firms in order to first learn what is the nature of these projects and their management and second to study the relationship between corporate social strategy and the financial performance of Argentine firms. It finds that the management of social responsibility by Argentine firms follows patterns of general management in the region. It also finds that firms with a strategic approach to social responsibility are able to achieve greater profitability than firms without a strategic approach.

Drawing on conservation of resources theory, we contribute to the behavioral ethics literature by examining how and why organizational socialization processes can affect newcomers’ adoption of unethical behaviors. Specifically, we contend that quality peer coaching provides newcomers with enhanced self-resources that diminishes emotional exhaustion and thus indirectly reduces newcomer unethical conduct. Conversely, peer coach unethical conduct increases newcomers’ emotional exhaustion, and thus indirectly increases newcomers’ own unethical acts. Our research also identifies newcomers’ goal orientations as important individual differences that moderate the proposed mediation effects. Newcomers with high mastery orientations respond to high emotional exhaustion by harnessing more resources and identifying new work strategies, thereby engaging in less unethical conduct. Conversely, newcomers with high performance orientations give into emotional exhaustion and engage in unethical conduct as a way of outperforming others while conserving resources. We tested our theoretical model using a sample of peer coaches and newcomers from the Real Estate industry, using objective reporting of peer coaches’ and newcomers’ unethical conduct over a nine-month period.

Increasingly research in the field of business and society suggests that ethics and corporate social responsibility can be profitable. Yet this work raises a troubling question: Is it ethical to use ethics and social responsibility in a strategic way? Is it possible to be ethical or socially responsible for the wrong reason? In this article, we define a strategy concept in order to situate the different approaches to the strategic use of ethics and social responsibility found in the current literature. We then analyze the ethics of such approaches using both utilitarianism and deontology and end by defining limits to the strategic use of ethics.

In this paper, we explore the impact of individualism and collectivism on three basic aspects of ethical decision making - the perception of moral problems, moral reasoning, and behavior. We argue that the inclusion of business practices within the moral domain by the individual depends partly upon individualism and collectivism. We also propose a pluralistic approach to post-conventional moral judgment that includes developmental paths appropriate for individualist and collectivist cultures. Finally, we argue that the link between moral judgment and behavior is related to individualism and collectivism.

In this article, we examine the relationship of the multinational firm’s market environment, stakeholders, resources, and values to the development of strategic social planning and strategic social positioning. Using a sample of multinational enterprises in Mexico, we examine the relationship of these different ways of conducting social strategy to the creation of value by the firm. The market conditions of munificence and dynamism, and the resource for continuous innovation are found to be related to strategic social positioning. The social responsibility orientation of the firm is related to strategic social planning. Positioning is related to value creation for the multinational firm, but planning is not. We discuss the implications of these findings for research and practice.