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Corporate Social Responsibility in Times of Epidemic Outbreaks: A Case Study from the Hospitality Industry in Spain

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COVID-19 and a World of Ad Hoc Geographies

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Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is increasingly seen as a key aspect of business management. The rapid spatial spread of the COVID-19 outbreak led to border closures and mandatory mass quarantine. In this context, sectors such as the hospitality industry have been actively involved in various CSR activities, providing infrastructure and resources to help governments and societies cope with the pandemic. This study examines the different effects of CSR activities in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak, both from a business and institutional perspective. A qualitative research design has been chosen for this purpose, based on the analysis of in-depth qualitative interviews with the CEO and senior executives of three international hotel chains in Spain. The results reveal that CSR activities have contributed to containing the pandemic by helping to reduce the collapse of healthcare, as well as improving the organization’s performance in terms of reputation and image.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business Administration, Applied Economics II and Fundaments of Economic Analysis, Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid, Spain

    Thais González-Torres & José-Luis Rodríguez-Sánchez

Authors
  1. Thais González-Torres
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  2. José-Luis Rodríguez-Sánchez
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Correspondence to Thais González-Torres .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

    Stanley D. Brunn

  2. Markey Cancer Center, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

    Donna Gilbreath

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González-Torres, T., Rodríguez-Sánchez, JL. (2022). Corporate Social Responsibility in Times of Epidemic Outbreaks: A Case Study from the Hospitality Industry in Spain. In: Brunn, S.D., Gilbreath, D. (eds) COVID-19 and a World of Ad Hoc Geographies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94350-9_96

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94350-9_96

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-94349-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-94350-9

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