Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Working with Corporate Social Responsibility in Brazilian Companies: The Role of Managers’ Values in the Maintenance of CSR Cultures

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

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) refers to the duty of management to consider and respond to issues beyond the organization’s economic and legal requirements in line with social and environmental values. However, ‘management’ is constituted by real people responsible for routine decisions and formulation and implementation of policies. It can be said therefore that the ethical ideals and beliefs of these individuals – in particular their personal values – play an important role in their decisions. It is contended in this article that the personal values of managers may contribute to the creation and maintenance of ‘CSR cultures’ in their organizations; that is, organizational cultures focused on ensuring environmental and social sustainability. Based on an exploratory study carried out in Brazil in 2008, this article explores the perceptions of five CSR managers in relation to the influence of their personal values on their work. The first part discusses the notion of CSR within the context of Brazilian society, the second provides a brief literature review on the link between values and organizational cultures and the third explores the perceptions of the participating managers, identifying the main thematic patterns that emerged in the study.

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

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Agle, B. R., & Caldwell, C., B (1999). Understanding research on values in business. Business and Society, 38(3), 326-387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akaah, I. P., & Lund, D. (1994). The influence of personal and organizational values on marketing professionals’ ethical behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 13, 417-430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Albert, S., & Whetten, D. A. (1985). Organizational identity. Research in Organizational Behavior, 7, 263-295.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bower, M. (1966). Will to manage. New York: McGraw Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boxx, W. R., Odom, R. Y., & Dunn, M. G. (1991). Organizational values and value congruency and their impact on satisfaction, commitment and cohesion: An empirical examination within the public sector. Public Personnel Management, 20, 195-205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burrell, G., & Morgan, G. (1979). Sociological Paradigms and Organizational Analysis: Elements of the Sociology of Corporate Life. London: Heinemann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chatman, J. (1991). Matching people and organizations: Selection and socialization in public accounting firms. Administrative Science Quarterly, 36, 459-484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheney, G., & Christensen, L. T. (2001). Organizational identity: Linkages between internal and external communication.. In F. M. Jablin & L. L. Putnam (Eds.), New Handbook of Organizational Communication (pp. 231-270). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collier, J., & Esteban, R. (2007). Corporate social responsibility and employee commitment. Business Ethics, 16(1), 19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connor, P., & Becker, B. (1994). Personal values and management: What do we know and why don’t we know more? Journal of Management Inquiry, 3(1), 67-73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, K. (1973). The case for and against business assumption of social responsibilities. Academy of Management Journal, 16, 312-322.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Vaus, D. (2001). Research Design in Social Research. Sage Publications, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Desai, A., & Rittenburg, T. (1997). Global ethics: An integrative framework for MNEs. Journal of Business Ethics, 16(8), 791.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Drumwright, M. (1994). Socially responsible organisational buying: Environmental concern as a noneconomic buying criterion. Journal of Marketing, 58 (July):1-19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • England, G. W. (1967). Personal value system of American managers. Academy of Management Journal, 10, 53-68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fallding, H. (1965). A proposal for the empirical study of values. American Sociological Review, 30, 223-233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodpaster, K. E., & Matthews, J. B. (1982). Can a corporation have a conscience? Harvard Business Review, 60(1), 132-141.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graafland, J., Kaptein, M., & Schouten, C. M.-v. d. D. (2007). Conceptions of God, Normative Convictions, and Socially Responsible Business Conduct: An Explorative Study Among Executives. Business and Society, 46(3), 331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Griesse, M. A. (2007). Caterpillar’s Interactions with Piracicaba, Brazil: A Community-based Analysis of CSR. Journal of Business Ethics, 73(1), 39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guth, W. D., & Tagiuri, R. (1965). Personal values and corporate strategy. Harvard Business Review, 43, 123-132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hambrick, D. C., & Mason, P. A. (1984). Upper echelons: The organization as a reflection of its top managers. Academy of Management Review, 9, 193-206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hancock, K.: 2005, ‘Employee Engagement Partnerships: Can They Contribute to the Development of an Integrated CSR Culture?’, Partnership Matters: Current Issues in Cross-Sector Collaboration (3), 17–20. http://www.cpi.cam.ac.uk/pdf/partnershipmatters3.pdf.

  • Haslam, P. A.: 2004, ‘The Corporate Social Responsibility System in Latin America and the Caribbean’, Canadian Foundation for the Americas (FOCAL). www.focal.ca.

  • Hemingway, C. A. (2005). Personal values as a catalyst for corporate social entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Ethics, 60(3), 233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hemingway, C., & Maclagan, P. (2004). Managers’ personal values as drivers of corporate social responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics, 50(1), 33-41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hinrichs, J. R. (1972). Value adaptation of new PhDs to academic and industrial environments: A comparative longitudinal study. Personnel Psychology, 25(25), 545-565.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kristoff, A. (1996). Person-organization fit: an integrative review of its conceptualizations, management and implications. Personnel Psychology, 49(1), 1-49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, J. (2002). Organizational Culture: Mapping the Terrain. London: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason, J. (1996). Qualitative Research. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meglino, B. M., Ravlin, E. C., & Adkins, C. L. (1992). The measurement of work value congruence: A field comparison. Journal of Management, 18, 33-43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menon, A., & Menon, A. (1997). Enviropreneurial marketing strategy: The emergence of corporate environmentalism as market strategy. Journal of Marketing, 61(Jan), 51-67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mosley, D., Pietri, P. H., & Megginson, L. C. (1996). Management: Leadership in Action. New York: Harper Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mudrack, P. (2007). Individual peronality factors that affect normative beliefs about the rightness of corporate social responsibility. Business and Society, 46(1), 33-62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Reilly, C. A. I., Chatman, J., & Caldwell, D. F. (1991). People and organizational culture: A profile comparison approach to assessing person-organization fit. Academy of Management Journal, 34, 487-516.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paine, L. S. (2003). Value Shift. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ravlin, E. C., & Meglino, B. M. (1987). Issues in work values measurement. In L. Preston (Ed.), Research in Corporate Social Performance (Vol. 9, pp. 153-183). Greenwich, CT: JAI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scharf, R.: 2009, ‘Why Brazil Leads the Region in CSR’, Americas Quarterly 2(1), 68. http://www.americasquarterly.org/node/288.

  • Schein, E. H.: 1983, ‘The Role of the Founder in Creating Organizational Culture’, Organizational Dynamics Summer, 13–28.

  • Schein, E. (2004). Organizational Culture and Leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, S. H., & Bilsky, W. (1990). Toward a theory of the universal content and structure of values: Extensions and cross-cultural replications. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 878-891.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singhapakdi, A., & Vitell, S. J. (1993). Personal and professional values underlying the ethical judgments of marketers. Journal of Business Ethics, 12, 525-533.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smircich, L. (1983). Concepts of culture and organizational analysis. Administrative Science Quarterly, 28, 339-358.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stake, R. E. (2005). Qualitative case studies. In N. Denzin, K & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks, London, New Delhi: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strautmanis, J. (2008). Employees’ value orientation in the context of corporate social responsibility. Baltic Journal of Management, 3(3), 346-356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Maanen, J., & Schein, E. H. (1979). Toward a theory of organizational socialization. Research in Organizational Behavior, 1, 204-264.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weaver, G., & Trevino, L. K. (1999). Compliance and values oriented ethics programs:Influences on employees’ attitudes and behaviour. Business Ethics Quarterly, 9(2), 315-335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Young, R. (2004). Dilemmas and advances in corporate social responsibility in Brazil. The work of the Ethos Institute. Natural Resources Forum, 28(4), 291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the participants in my study who so generously gave their time for the interviews. I am also thankful to Dr Claudio Boechat from Fundação Dom Cabral, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, whose assistance was invaluable to make this study possible.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Management, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South DC, NSW, 1797, Australia

    Fernanda Duarte

Authors
  1. Fernanda Duarte
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fernanda Duarte.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Duarte, F. Working with Corporate Social Responsibility in Brazilian Companies: The Role of Managers’ Values in the Maintenance of CSR Cultures. J Bus Ethics 96, 355–368 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0470-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0470-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation