philosophical stands in study of csr

Philosophical Positions

in Study of

Corporate Social Responsibility

(CSR)

Intellectual Foundations of Social Science Amir Ghazinoori Faculty of Management Australian School of Business University of New South Wales

What is this thing called CSR?

Corporate Social Responsibility (Definition)

Defined as the adoption by a business of a strategic focus for fulfilling the

economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities expected of it by its

stakeholders

However, this is just one of the interpretations of CSR.

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• No universally agreed definition for CSR (Jones et al. 2007)

• Initially an ethical concept (Sharma & Talvar, 2005)

• Changed tremendously on its early meanings & Perceptions

• Gradual shift on CSR conceptualization evolved within both

theory and analysing sides of the debate (Lee, 2008).

• This situation reflects the influence of broad range of theories

including agency theory, theory of the firm, strategic

management and finally the institutional perspective, which

resulted in various conceptualizations of CSR.

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ECONOMIC Responsibilities

LEGAL Responsibilities

ETHICAL Responsibilities

Discretionary Responsibilities

Reaction

Defensive

Accommodation

Pro-action Philosophy of Social Responsiveness

Social Responsibility

Categories

Social Issues

Carroll’s (1979 & 1991)

model did not treat the

economic and social

goals of corporations as

two incompatible

tradeoffs.

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CSR Studies: Directions

• CSR and Ethics

• CSR and Corporate Performance

Profits

Costs

• CSR and Corporate Strategy

Organizational Social Goals like

Reputation, Royalty, & …

Stakeholder Management

Competitive Advantage

Motives

• CSR and Institutional Studies

Diffusion

Drivers

Heterogeneity & Homogeneity of Practices

Globalization, Localization, and Glocalization

• Political CSR

CSR

Focus

Areas


Business Research & CSR


• A mature science is governed by a single paradigm. (Thomas Kuhn)

• The lack of clear paradigm for CSR research should not necessarily be seen as weakness

for a field that is still in a state of emergence. (Crane et al., 2008, the Oxford Handbook of CSR)

PARADIGMS

?

Ethical

Perspective

Shareholder Value Theory

Theory of

the Firm

Strategic

Perspective

Institutional Perspective & Corporate Citizenship

1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s

Philanthropic Perspective

?

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• Business theorists have observed

a paradigm shift in business from

a traditional positivist approach

to an epistemological approach in

recent times.

Amir Ghazinoori

• Epistemological grounds of justification for CSR: what has been called the “integration

dilemma” (Swanson 1999:507), of bringing together empirical (descriptive) and normative

(prescriptive) approaches.

Ontological & Epistemological Stance

Empirical CSR Studies Normative CSR Studies

POSITIVIST ANTI-POSITIVIST

Researchers stand as neutral observers

using scientific methods to make contact

with ‘reality’ and to report in an unbiased

way

Interpretive, constructivist, morally

normative approach

Measurements, Explanation, Prediction Moral Evaluation, Judgment, Prescription of

Human Action

POSITIVIST approach place a sharp distinction between describing and prescribing


Ontological & Epistemological Stance

REALIST Ontology

POSITIVIST

epistemological stance

Cost Reduction, Risk Reduction

and Competitive Advantage

Equivocal, or Relativist ontology

but with pragmatic stance

Sees intersubjective realities as

mediated by language, history,

and culture.

Stakeholder Relations, Positive

Synergy, Value-based Networks,

Societal Learning

Economic-based Descriptive

Approach

Reputation & Legitimacy

Approach

Synergistic Value Creation

Approach

CSR Research in Management and Business

The social construction of reality

means that social existence is a

human construction, while at the

same time human perspectives

are shaped by social factors

CONSTRUCTIVIST

Licence to Operate, Branding,

Social Impact Hypothesis

INTERACTIONIST

STRUCTURALIST


INDUCTION & DEDUCTION

• Driving theories from the facts.

• Probable truth rather than truth.

• Inductive arguments & CSR studies

• Deductive arguments & CSR studies (making predictions & explanations) Testing a theory, using observations and/or hypotheses to find whether the theory is valid or not.

CSR practices have positive impact on financial

performance of Company 1


performance of Company 2


performance of Company N

Theory:

There is a positive correlation between

CSR Investment and corporate financial

performance

There is a positive correlation between CSR

Investment and corporate financial performance

Company X decided to implement CSR policies and

practices.

Case study prediction: CSR practices

will improve the financial performance of

company X


• Testing Against Observations

• Verifications

• Hypothesis & Proposition Development

• Both Empirical and Normative Studies in CSR

• CSR Comparative Studies

• Falsifying quantitative-positivist CSR research considering qualitative

methods

FALSIFICATION

H1: Corporations will be less likely to

act in socially responsible ways when

they are experiencing relatively weak

financial performance

Proposition: High CSR investment is a

reputation guarantee


Approach


Approach Synergistic Value Creation Approach

Licence to Operate, Branding, Social

Impact Hypothesis, Cause-related

Marketing

Cost Reduction, Risk Reduction and


X

Stakeholder Relations, Positive Synergy,

Value-based Networks, Societal Learning


• Exploring the causal mechanisms linking CSR with other

management concepts. For example: causal mechanisms linking

CSR to profitability.

• Causal Relationships based on non-experimental data

– Impact of culture and tradition on CSR policies and practices

CAUSES, CONFIRMATION & EXPLANATION


Approach


Approach


Approach





Marketing




INDIVIDUALISM


Approach


Approach


Approach





Marketing



X

• A Business organizations as a whole…has a purpose that in no sense can be

thought of as the goals or objectives of single individuals. Its purpose is

attached to the organization as a system. (Zaleznik & Moment, 1964)

• CSR Studies are mostly focused on organization as a whole, not considering

the role of individuals in between. However many CSR normative

studies…. – Managerial Ethics

– Managerial Cognition

– Role of Culture

– Leadership studies and CSR

– CSR Commitment – Prescription of Human Actions


HERMENEUTICS & INTERPRETIVISM


Approach


Approach


Approach





Marketing



X

• Hermeneutics argues that humans are not mere physical objects; people are

impelled by ideas, knowledge, hopes, and desires. And all these things are

depend upon the use of symbols, as in language.

• There is a considerable number of qualitative, normative CSR research with

interpretivist approach.

• For example, in 2012, my CSR study indented to understand the perception of

Iranian Managers about the “social responsibility” of the business. It has been

done through interviews and in relation to hermeneutics. Study tried to

understand the role of cultural background, family tradition, and religious

believes in CSR Perception and in applications of CSR practice.


DETERMINISM

• The socially determined actions of an organization can be influenced by forces that control

the flow of ideas.

• By creating a social construction of reality, these forces directly create a hegemonic control

over the future of individuals and organizations who feel like the social construct is natural

and therefore unchangeable.

• Now, in developed world, the question is not about doing CSR or not doing it. Its about ‘how

to do it’.

• INSTITUTIONAL Theory and CSR studies / Institutional Determinism – The assumption that the organization is motivated by a desire to conform to institutional pressures

– Institutionalization of CSR

– CSR and Cross-Country Studies

– CSR and Institutional Distance

– CSR and ………


Approach


Approach


Approach





Marketing




• Corporate Social Responsibility as a language game?

• CSR; does it lead to positive impacts on society and business or is it

just rhetoric?

• Limited, but

• Some CSR studies try to establish that CSR is a part of organizational

studies by constructing and validating theoretical models.

RHETORIC


Approach


Approach


Approach





Marketing




• Extremely Limited Studies

• From a postmodern perspective, the debate about the nature of CSR

can be seen as a confrontation between competing discourses that

reflect different subjective interpretations of the nature and activities of

corporations and their effects on human beings and the physical

environment.

• Qualitative methodologies

• Story Telling Approach

• For example Study of Ocler et al. (2009)

– Discourse analysis and corporate social responsibility: a qualitative approach (Story Telling)

Post Modernism


Approach


Approach


Approach





Marketing



X


Thank you

QUESTIONS?


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