Abstract
In corporate social responsibility (CSR) research conducted in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the relationship between organizational-level CSR and individual-level outcomes is receiving increasing research attention. However, little is known about why, when, and how CSR would encourage employees to engage in unethical pro-organizational behaviors (UPB). Combining attribution theory with cue consistency theory, this study develops a mediated moderation model to explore the mechanism and boundary condition underlying the effect of external CSR, an organizational factor, on employees’ UPB. Data were collected from 304 employees working in 10 SMEs in China at two-time points. The results showed that external CSR had a positive effect on UPB through symbolic attribution, while perceived internal CSR weakened the positive effect of external CSR on UPB as well as the indirect effect of symbolic attribution in the relationship between external CSR and UPB. Overall, this study explains why, when, and how external CSR facilitates employees’ UPB. These findings indicate attribution to be the very mechanism that explains employees’ behavioral response to the organization’s external CSR and provide an innovative insight into how internal CSR may be utilized to reduce UPB of employees of Chinese SMEs.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson, N. H. (1981). Foundations of Information Integration Theory. Academic
Boğan, E., & Dedeoğlu, B. B. (2019). The effects of hotel employees’ CSR perceptions on trust in organization: Moderating role of employees’ self-experienced CSR perceptions. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, 2(4), 391–408. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTI-12-2018-0089
Boğan, E., & Sarıışık, M. (2020). Organization-related determinants of employees’ CSR motive attributions and affective commitment in hospitality companies. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 45, 58–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2020.07.004
Brislin, R. W. (1980). Translation and content analysis of oral and written material. In H. C. Triandis & J. W. Berry (Eds.), Handbook of Cross-Cultural Psychology (pp. 389–444). Allyn and Bacon
Chaudhary, R., & Akhouri, A. (2018). Linking corporate social responsibility attributions and creativity: Modeling work engagement as a mediator. Journal of Cleaner Production, 190, 809–821. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.04.187
Cheng, K., Wei, F., & Lin, Y. (2019). The trickle-down effect of responsible leadership on unethical pro-organizational behavior: The moderating role of leader-follower value congruence. Journal of Business Research, 102, 34–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.04.044
De Roeck, K., El Akremi, A., & Swaen, V. (2016). Consistency matters! How and when does corporate social responsibility affect employees’ organizational identification? Journal of Management Studies, 53(7), 1141–1168. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12216
Deng, X., Long, X., Schuler, D. A., Luo, H., & Zhao, X. (2020). External corporate social responsibility and labor productivity: AS-curve relationship and the moderating role of internal CSR and government subsidy. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 27(1), 393–408. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1877
Donia, M. B., & Sirsly, C. A. T. (2016). Determinants and consequences of employee attributions of corporate social responsibility as substantive or symbolic. European Management Journal, 34(3), 232–242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2016.02.004
Donia, M. B., Ronen, S., Sirsly, C. A. T., & Bonaccio, S. (2019). CSR by any other name? The differential impact of substantive and symbolic CSR attributions on employee outcomes. Journal of Business Ethics, 157(2), 503–523. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-017-3673-5
Donia, M., Sirsly, C. T., & Ronen, S. (2017). Employee attributions of corporate social responsibility as substantive or symbolic: Validation of a measure. Applied Psychology, 66(1), 103–142. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12081
Farooq, M., Farooq, O., & Jasimuddin, S. M. (2014). Employees response to corporate social responsibility: Exploring the role of employees’ collectivist orientation. European Management Journal, 32(6), 916–927. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2014.03.002
Farooq, O., Rupp, D. E., & Farooq, M. (2017). The multiple pathways through which internal and external corporate social responsibility influence organizational identification and multifoci outcomes: The moderating role of cultural and social orientations. Academy of Management Journal, 60(3), 954–985. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2014.0849
Farooq, O., Merunka, D., & Valette-Florence, P. (2013). Employees’ response to corporate social responsibility: An application of a non linear mixture REBUS approach. In New Perspectives in Partial Least Squares and Related Methods (pp. 257–268). Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8283-3_18
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800104
Gao, Y., Yang, H., & Hafsi, T. (2019). Corporate giving and corporate financial performance: The S-curve relationship. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 36(3), 687–713. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-019-09668-y
Ghosh, K. (2018). How and when do employees identify with their organization? Perceived CSR, first-party (in) justice, and organizational (mis) trust at workplace. Personnel Review, 47(5), 1152–1171. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-08-2017-0237
Ginder, W., Kwon, W. S., & Byun, S. E. (2019). Effects of internal–external congruence-based CSR positioning: An attribution theory approach. Journal of Business Ethics, 169(2), 355–369. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04282-w
Glavas, A., & Kelley, K. (2014). The effects of perceived corporate social responsibility on employee attitudes. Business Ethics Quarterly, 24(2), 165–202. https://doi.org/10.5840/beq20143206
Godfrey, P. C. (2005). The relationship between corporate philanthropy and shareholder wealth: A risk management perspective. Academy of Management Review, 30, 777–798. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.2005.18378878
Golob, U., & Podnar, K. (2021). Corporate marketing and the role of internal CSR in employees’ life satisfaction: Exploring the relationship between work and non-work domains. Journal of Business Research, 131, 664–672. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.01.048
Gond, J. P., Akremi, E., Swaen, A., & Babu, N. (2017). The psychological microfoundations of corporate social responsibility: A person-centric systematic review. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38(2), 225–246. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2170
Groza, M. D., Pronschinske, M. R., & Walker, M. (2011). Perceived organizational motives and consumer responses to proactive and reactive CSR. Journal of Business Ethics, 102(4), 639–652. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-0834-9
Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C., & Sarstedt, M. (2014). A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Sage Publications
Hawn, O., & Ioannou, I. (2016). Mind the gap: The interplay between external and internal actions in the case of corporate social responsibility. Strategic Management Journal, 37(13), 2569–2588. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2464
Hayes, A. F. (2009). Beyond Baron and Kenny: Statistical mediation analysis in the new millennium. Communication monographs, 76(4), 408–420. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637750903310360
Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation: A regression-based approach. Guilford
Highhouse, S., Brooks, M. E., & Gregarus, G. (2009). An organizational impression management perspective on the formation of corporate reputations. Journal of Management, 35(6), 1481–1493. https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btm276
Hsu, J., & Cheng, M. (2011). What prompts small and medium enterprises to engage in corporate social responsibility? A study from Taiwan. Corporate social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 19(5), 288–305. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.276
Hur, W. M., Moon, T. W., & Choi, W. H. (2019). When are internal and external corporate social responsibility initiatives amplified? Employee engagement in corporate social responsibility initiatives on prosocial and proactive behaviors. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 26(4), 849–858. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1725
Hur, W. M., Moon, T. W., & Ko, S. H. (2018). How employees’ perceptions of CSR increase employee creativity: Mediating mechanisms of compassion at work and intrinsic motivation. Journal of Business Ethics, 153(3), 629–644. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3321-5
Hur, W. M., Moon, T. W., & Choi, W. H. (2021). The role of job crafting and perceived organizational support in the link between employees’ CSR perceptions and job performance: A moderated mediation model. Current Psychology, 40(7), 3151–3165. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00242-9
Inyang, B. J. (2013). Defining the role engagement of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in corporate social responsibility (CSR). International Business Research, 6(5), 123. https://doi.org/10.5539/ibr.v6n5p123
Jia, Y., Yan, J., Liu, T., & Huang, J. (2019). How does internal and external CSR affect employees’ work engagement? Exploring multiple mediation mechanisms and boundary conditions. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(14), 2476. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16142476
Kelley, H. H. (1973). The process of causal attribution. American Psychologist, 28(2), 107–128
Lange, D., & Washburn, N. T. (2012). Understanding attributions of corporate social irresponsibility. Academy of Management Review, 37, 300–326. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2010.0522
Lian, H., Huai, M., Farh, J. L., Huang, J. C., Lee, C., & Chao, M. M. (2020). Leader Unethical Pro-Organizational Behavior and Employee Unethical Conduct: Social Learning of Moral Disengagement as a Behavioral Principle. Journal of Management, 48(2), 350–379. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206320959699
Lin, L. W. (2010). Corporate Social Responsibility in China: Window Dressing or Structural Change. Berkeley Journal of International Law, 28(1), 64–100
Liu, Z., Guo, Y., Liao, J., Li, Y., & Wang, X. (2022a). The effect of corporate social responsibility on employee advocacy behaviors: A perspective of conservation of resources. Chinese Management Studies, 16(1), 140–161. https://doi.org/10.1108/CMS-08-2020-0325
Liu, Z., Liao, J., Guo, Y., Zhang, M., & Wang, X. (2022b). The effect of corporate social responsibility on unethical pro-organizational behavior: the mediation of moral identity and moderation of supervisor-employee value congruence. Current Psychology, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02722-x
Mahmud, A., Ding, D., & Ali, Z. (2021). An investigation of employee perception of micro-corporate social responsibility and societal behavior: a moderated-mediated model. International Journal of Emerging Markets. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOEM-02-2021-0266
Martinko, M. J., Harvey, P., & Dasborough, M. T. (2011). Attribution theory in the organizational sciences: A case of unrealized potential. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 32(1), 144–149. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.690
May, D. R., Chang, Y. K., & Shao, R. (2015). Does ethical membership matter? Moral identification and its organizational implications. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(3), 681. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038344
McShane, L., & Cunningham, P. (2012). To thine own self be true? Employees’ judgments of the authenticity of their organization’s corporate social responsibility program. Journal of Business Ethics, 108(1), 81–100. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-1064-x
Miyazaki, A. D., Grewal, D., & Goodstein, R. C. (2005). The effect of multiple extrinsic cues on quality perceptions: A matter of consistency. Journal of Consumer Research, 32, 146–153. https://doi.org/10.1086/429606
Newman, A., Nielsen, I., & Miao, Q. (2014). The impact of employee perceptions of organizational corporate social responsibility practices on job performance and organizational citizenship behavior: Evidence from the Chinese private sector. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26(9), 1226–1242. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2014.934892
Pai, D. C., Lai, D. S., Chiu, C. J., & Yong, C. F. (2015). Corporate social responsibility and brand advocacy in business-to-business market: The mediated moderating effect of attribution. Journal of Business Ethics, 126, 685–696. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1979-5
Parcha, J. M. (2017). How much should a corporation communicate about corporate social responsibility? Reputation and amount of information effects on stakeholders’ CSR-induced attributions. Communication Research Reports, 34(3), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/08824096.2017.1334639
Perez-Batres, L. A., Doh, J. P., Miller, V. V., & Pisani, M. J. (2012). Stakeholder pressures as determinants of CSR strategic choice: Why do firms choose symbolic versus substantive self-regulatory codes of conduct? Journal of Business Ethics, 110(2), 157–172. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1419-y
Podsakoff, P. M., & Organ, D. W. (2016). Self-reports in organizational research: Problems and prospects. Journal of Management, 12(4), 531–544. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920638601200408
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J. Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 879–903. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879
Rupp, D. E., & Mallory, B. D. (2015). Corporate social responsibility: Psychological, personal-centric and progressing. The Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behaviour, 2(1), 211–236. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032414-111505
Rupp, D. E., Ganapathi, J., Aguilera, R. V., & Williams, C. A. (2006). Employee reactions to corporate social responsibility: An organizational justice framework. Journal of Organizational Behavior: The International Journal of Industrial Occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behavior, 27(4), 537–543. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.380
Rupp, D. E., Shao, R., Thornton, M. A., & Skarlicki, D. P. (2013). Applicants’ and employees’ reactions to corporate social responsibility: The moderating effects of first-party justice perceptions and moral identity. Personnel Psychology, 66, 895–933. https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12030
Scheidler, S., Edinger-Schons, L. M., Spanjol, J., & Wieseke, J. (2019). Scrooge posing as Mother Teresa: How hypocritical social responsibility strategies hurt employees and firms. Journal of Business Ethics, 157(2), 339–358. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-3788-3
Skarmeas, D., & Leonidou, C. N. (2013). When consumers doubt, watch out! The role of CSR skepticism. Journal of Business Research, 66(10), 1831–1838. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.02.004
Tang, P. M., Yam, K. C., & Koopman, J. (2020). Feeling proud but guilty? Unpacking the paradoxical nature of unethical pro-organizational behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 160, 68–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2020.03.004
Thau, S., Derfler-Rozin, R., Pitesa, M., Mitchell, M. S., & Pillutla, M. M. (2015). Unethical for the sake of the group: Risk of social exclusion and pro-group unethical behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(1), 98–113. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036708
Turker, D. (2009). How CSR Influences Organizational Commitment. Journal of Business Ethics, 89(2), 189–204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9993-8
Umphress, E. E., & Bingham, J. B. (2011). When employees do bad things for good reasons: Examining unethical pro-organizational behaviors. Organization Science, 22(3), 621–640. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1100.0559
Umphress, E. E., Bingham, J. B., & Mitchell, M. S. (2010). Unethical behavior in the name of the company: The moderating effect of organizational identification and positive reciprocity beliefs on UPB. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(4), 769. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019214
Vlachos, P. A., Epitropaki, O., Panagopoulos, N. G., & Rapp, A. A. (2013a). Causal attributions and employee reactions to corporate social responsibility. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 6(4), 334–337. https://doi.org/10.1111/iops.12061
Vlachos, P. A., Panagopoulos, N. G., & Rapp, A. A. (2013b). Feeling good by doing good: Employee CSR-induced attributions, job satisfaction, and the role of charismatic leadership. Journal of Business Ethics, 118(3), 577–588. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1590-1
Vlachos, P. A., Panagopoulos, N. G., Bachrach, D. G., & Morgeson, F. P. (2017). The effects of managerial and employee attributions for corporate social responsibility initiatives. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38(7), 1111–1129. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2189
Vlachos, P. A., Theotokis, A., & Panagopoulos, N. G. (2010). Sales force reactions to corporate social responsibility: Attributions, outcomes, and the mediating role of organizational trust. Industrial Marketing Management, 39(7), 1207–1218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2010.02.004
Waldman, D. A., Siegel, D. S., & Javidan, M. (2006). Components of CEO transformational leadership and corporate social responsibility. Journal of Management Studies, 43(8), 1703–1725. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2006.00642.x
Wagner, T., Lutz, R. J., & Weitz, B. A. (2009). Corporate hypocrisy: Overcoming the threat of inconsistent corporate social responsibility perceptions. Journal of Marketing, 73, 77–91. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.73.6.77
Wang, L., & Juslin, H. (2009). The impact of chinese culture on corporate social responsibility: The harmony approach. Journal of Business Ethics, 88, 433–451. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0306-7
Wang, T., Long, L., Zhang, Y., & He, W. (2019). A social exchange perspective of employee–organization relationships and employee UPB: The moderating role of individual moral identity. Journal of Business Ethics, 159(2), 473–489. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-3782-9
Weiner, B. (1986). An attributional theory of motivation and emotion. Springer
Yao, Z., Luo, J., Fu, N., Zhang, X., & Wan, Q. (2021). Rational counterattack: The impact of workplace bullying on unethical pro-organizational and pro-family behaviors. Journal of Business Ethics, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-021-04918-w
Zheng, H., & Zhang, Y. (2016). Do SOEs outperform private enterprises in CSR? Evidence from China. Chinese Management Studies, 10(3), 435–457. https://doi.org/10.1108/CMS-10-2015-0225
Funding
This research was financially supported by Project of the National Social Science Foundation of China [Grant number: 19BGL131], Shanghai Philosophy and Social Science Planning Project [Grant number: 2021ZGL004], and the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant numbers: 71701131; 71702105].
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
This research was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of College of Economics & Management, China Three Gorges University, which accords to 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this paper.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, X., Xiang, C., Meng, L. et al. External corporate social responsibility promotes employees’ unethical pro-organizational behavior: An attribution perspective. Curr Psychol 42, 21326–21340 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03235-3
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03235-3