philosophical stands in study of csr
DESCRIPTION
Once Thomas Kuhn said that "a mature science is governed by a single paradigm". However 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 and CSR is still in the stage of emergence.TRANSCRIPT
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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Corporate Social Responsibility (Definition)
• 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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Corporate Social Responsibility (Definition)
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
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Business Research & CSR
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• 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
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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
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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
CSR practices have positive impact on financial
performance of Company 2
CSR practices have positive impact on financial
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
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• 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
Economic-based Descriptive
Approach
Reputation & Legitimacy
Approach Synergistic Value Creation Approach
Licence to Operate, Branding, Social
Impact Hypothesis, Cause-related
Marketing
Cost Reduction, Risk Reduction and
Competitive Advantage
X
Stakeholder Relations, Positive Synergy,
Value-based Networks, Societal Learning
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• 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
Economic-based Descriptive
Approach
Reputation & Legitimacy
Approach
Synergistic Value Creation
Approach
Cost Reduction, Risk Reduction and
Competitive Advantage
Licence to Operate, Branding, Social
Impact Hypothesis, Cause-related
Marketing
Stakeholder Relations, Positive Synergy,
Value-based Networks, Societal Learning
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INDIVIDUALISM
Economic-based Descriptive
Approach
Reputation & Legitimacy
Approach
Synergistic Value Creation
Approach
Cost Reduction, Risk Reduction and
Competitive Advantage
Licence to Operate, Branding, Social
Impact Hypothesis, Cause-related
Marketing
Stakeholder Relations, Positive Synergy,
Value-based Networks, Societal Learning
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
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HERMENEUTICS & INTERPRETIVISM
Economic-based Descriptive
Approach
Reputation & Legitimacy
Approach
Synergistic Value Creation
Approach
Cost Reduction, Risk Reduction and
Competitive Advantage
Licence to Operate, Branding, Social
Impact Hypothesis, Cause-related
Marketing
Stakeholder Relations, Positive Synergy,
Value-based Networks, Societal Learning
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.
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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 ………
Economic-based Descriptive
Approach
Reputation & Legitimacy
Approach
Synergistic Value Creation
Approach
Cost Reduction, Risk Reduction and
Competitive Advantage
Licence to Operate, Branding, Social
Impact Hypothesis, Cause-related
Marketing
Stakeholder Relations, Positive Synergy,
Value-based Networks, Societal Learning
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• 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
Economic-based Descriptive
Approach
Reputation & Legitimacy
Approach
Synergistic Value Creation
Approach
Cost Reduction, Risk Reduction and
Competitive Advantage
Licence to Operate, Branding, Social
Impact Hypothesis, Cause-related
Marketing
Stakeholder Relations, Positive Synergy,
Value-based Networks, Societal Learning
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• 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
Economic-based Descriptive
Approach
Reputation & Legitimacy
Approach
Synergistic Value Creation
Approach
Cost Reduction, Risk Reduction and
Competitive Advantage
Licence to Operate, Branding, Social
Impact Hypothesis, Cause-related
Marketing
Stakeholder Relations, Positive Synergy,
Value-based Networks, Societal Learning
X
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Thank you
QUESTIONS?
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