Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Corporate Social Performance in China: Evidence from Large Companies

  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Based on a contest analysis of the official websites of top 100 companies in China in 2007, the paper reports the social performance of large Chinese companies. We try to focus on and answer the following three questions about CSP of large companies in China: (1) how is their overall social performance?; (2) what are the social issues they addressed?; and (3) what are the stakeholders they addressed? The results are also compared among different ownership companies and among different industrial companies. The findings indicate that CSR/CSP in China is still in the beginning stage, and␣CSR/CSP is different among different industrial companies.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abreu, R., David, F., & Crowther, D. (2005). Corporate social responsibility in Portugal empirical evidence of corporate behavior. Corporate Governance, 5(5), 3–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adams, C. A.: 2002, ‹Factors Influencing Corporate Social and Ethical Reporting: Moving on from Extant Theories’, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal 15, 223–250. doi:10.1108/09513570210418905

  • Belal, A. (2001). A study of corporate social disclosures in Bangladesh. Managerial Auditing Journal, 16(5), 274–289. doi:10.1108/02686900110392922

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boal, K. B. and N. Perry: 1985, ‹The Cognitive Structure of Corporate Social Responsibility’, Journal of Management 11, 71–82. doi:10.1177/014920638501100306

  • Bowie, N. 1997 The moral obligations of multinational corporations. In T. Beauchamp and N. Bowie (Eds.), Ethical theory and business. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 97–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, A. B.: 1979, ‹A Three Dimensional Conceptual Model of Corporate Social Performance’, Academy of Management Review 4, 497–505. doi:10.2307/257850

  • Carroll, A. B.: 1991, ‹The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility: Toward the Moral Management of Organizational Stakeholders’, Business Horizons 34, 39–48. doi:10.1016/0007-6813(91)90005-G

  • Carroll, A. B. Business & society: ethics and stakeholder management (2nd Ed.). Cincinnati, OH: South-Western Publishing Co., 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, A. B. Business & Society: Ethics and Stakeholder Management (3rd ed.). Cincinnati: Southwestern, 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, A. B.: 1999, ‹Corporate Social Responsibility: Evolution of a Definitional Construct’, Business & Society 38, 268–295. doi:10.1177/000765039903800303

  • Chaibong, H. (2000). The cultural challenge to individualism. Journal of Democracy, 11(1), 127–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donaldson, T. 1997 Fundamental rights and multinational duties. In T. Beauchamp and N. Bowie (Eds.), Ethical theory and business. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 97–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donaldson, T. and T. W. Dunfee: 1994, ‹Towards a Unified Conception of Business Ethics: Integrative Social Contracts Theory’, Academy of Management Review 19, 252–284. doi:10.2307/258705

  • Elkington, J. Cannibals with forks: the triple bottom line of 21st century business. Oxford, UK: Capstone Publishing, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elkington, J. The chrysalis economy: how citizen CEOs and corporations can fuse values and value creation. Oxford, UK: Capstone Publishing, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, R. E. Strategic management: a stakeholder approach. Boston: Pitman/Ballinger, 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerde, V. W., & Wokutch, R. E. (1998). 25 Years and going strong: a content analysis of the first 25 Years of the social issues in management division proceedings. Business & Society, 37(4), 414–447. doi:10.1177/000765039803700405

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hillman, A. J. and G. D. Keim: 2001, ‹Shareholder Value, Stakeholder Management, and Social Issues: What’s the␣Bottom Line?’, Strategic Management Journal 22(2), 125–139. doi:10.1002/1097-0266(200101)22:2<125::AID-SMJ150>3.0.CO;2-H

  • Hutton, E.: 2006, ‹Character, Situationism, and Early Confucian Thought’, Philosophical Studies 127, 37–58. doi:10.1007/s11098-005-1729-3

  • Ip, P. K. (2008). Corporate social responsibility and crony capitalism in Taiwan. Journal of Business Ethics, 79(1–2), 167–177. doi:10.1007/s10551-007-9385-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jamali, D., & Mirshak, R. (2007). Corporate social responsibility (CSR): theory and practice in a developing country context. Journal of Business Ethics, 72(3), 243–262. doi:10.1007/s10551-006-9168-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaptein, M., & Wempe, J. The balanced company: a corporate integrity approach. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kassarjian, H. H.: 1977, ‹Content Analysis in Consumer Research’, The Journal of Consumer Research 4, 8–18. doi:10.1086/208674

  • Kinard, J., Smith, M. E., & Kinard, B. R. (2003). Business executives’ attitudes toward social responsibility: past and present. American Business Review, 21(2), 87–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • KPMG. KPMG international survey of corporate responsibility reporting 2005. Amsterdam: KPMG, 2005.

    Google Scholar 

  • KRI: 2007, Being Socially Responsible has a Positive Impact on Employees as well as Their Local Communities and the Environment – Research from the Kenexa Research Institute Examines Employees’ Views of Corporate Social Responsibility (PR Newswire, New York)

  • Liu, X. (1998) China’s Traditional Culture. Wuhan: Huazhong University of Science and Technology Publisher, (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Maignan, I. (2001). Consumers’ perceptions of corporate social responsibilities: a cross-cultural comparison. Journal of Business Ethics, 30(1), 57–72. doi:10.1023/A:1006433928640

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malone, D. and R. W. Roberts: 1996, ‹Public Interest Reports as Medium for Corporate Disclosure: The Case of General Motors’, Journal of Business Ethics 15, 759–771. doi:10.1007/BF00381740

  • Matten, D., Crane, A., & Chapple, W. (2003). Behind the mask: revealing the true face of corporate citizenship. Journal of Business Ethics, 45(1–2), 109–120. doi:10.1023/A:1024128730308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McMahon, T. R.: 1986, ‹The Contributions of Religious Traditions to Business Ethics’, Journal of Business Ethics 4, 341–349.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meng, Q. and H. Liu: 2006, ‹Analyses of Confucian Culture Elements in Korean and Japanese Modern Management Thoughts’, Collected Papers of History Studies 3, 48–52 (in Chinese)

  • Mercer, J. J.: 2003, Corporate Social Responsibility and Its Importance to Consumers. Unpublished doctorate dissertation of Faculty of Claremont Graduate University

  • Myers, D. Construction economics. UK: Spon Press, 2004.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ofori, D. F., & Hinson, R. E. (2007). Corporate social responsibility (CSR) perspectives of leading firms in Ghana. Corporate Governance, 7(2), 178–193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ollman, B. Market socialism: the debate among socialists. UK: Routledge, 1997.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quazi, A. M. and D. O’Brien: 2000, ‹An Empirical Test of a Cross-National Model of Corporate Social Responsibility’, Journal of Business Ethics 29, 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rozman, G. (2002). Can Confucianism survive in an age of universalism and globalization? Public Affairs, 75(1), 11–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruf, B., K. Muralidhar and K. Paul: 1998, ‹The Development of a Systematic, Aggregate Measure of Corporate Social Performance’, Journal of Management 24, 119–133. doi:10.1016/S0149-2063(99)80056-7

  • Sillanpaa, M. (1998). The body shop values report: towards integrated stakeholder auditing. Journal of Business Ethics, 17(1), 443–456. doi:10.1023/A:1006099731105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waddock, S. A. and S. B. Graves: 1997, ‹The Corporate Social Performance-Financial Performance Link’, Strategic Management Journal, 18(4), 303–319. doi:10. 1002/(SICI)1097-0266(199704)18:4<303::AID-SMJ869>3.0.CO;2-G

  • Wallace, G. W. (1995). Balancing Conflicting Stakeholder Requirements. Journal for Quality and Participation, 18(2), 84–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallage, P.: 2000, ‹Assurance on Sustainability Reporting: An Auditor’s View’, Auditing 19, 53–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warner, M., & Zhu, Y. (2002). Human resource management “with Chinese characteristics”: a comparative study of the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan. Asia Pacific Business Review, 9(2), 21–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wartick, S. L. and P. L. Cochran: 1985, ‹The Evolution of the Corporate Social Performance Model’, Academy of Management Review 10, 758–769. doi:10.2307/258044

  • Whetten, D. A., Rands, G., & Godfrey, P. 2002 What are the responsibilities of business to society? In Pettigrew, A., Thomas, H., and Whittington, R. (Eds.). Handbook of Strategy and Management, London: Sage, 373–408.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, D. J. (1991). Corporate social performance revisited. Academy of Management Review, 16(4), 691–718. doi:10.2307/258977

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yan, A. and B. Gray: 1994, ‹Bargaining Power, Management Control, and Performance in United States-China Joint Ventures: A Comparative Case Study’, Academy of Management Journal 37, 1478–1517. doi:10.2307/256796

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Management, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China

    Yongqiang Gao

Authors
  1. Yongqiang Gao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yongqiang Gao.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Gao, Y. Corporate Social Performance in China: Evidence from Large Companies. J Bus Ethics 89, 23–35 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9982-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9982-y

Key words

Search

Navigation