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Corporate Social Responsibility, Multi-faceted Job-Products, and Employee Outcomes

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Abstract

This paper examines how employees react to their organizations’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Drawing upon research in internal marketing and psychological contract theories, we argue that employees have multi-faceted job needs (i.e., economic, developmental, and ideological needs) and that CSR programs comprise an important means to fulfill developmental and ideological job needs. Based on cluster analysis, we identify three heterogeneous employee segments, Idealists, Enthusiasts, and Indifferents, who vary in their multi-faceted job needs and, consequently, their demand for organizational CSR. We further find that an organization’s CSR programs generate favorable employee-related outcomes, such as job satisfaction and reduction in turnover intention, by fulfilling employees’ ideological and developmental job needs. Finally, we find that CSR proximity strengthens the positive impact of CSR on employee-related outcomes. This research reveals significant employee heterogeneity in their demand for organizational CSR and sheds new light on the underlying mechanisms linking CSR to employee-related outcomes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics, University of New Hampshire, 10 Garrison Avenue, Durham, NH, 03824, USA

    Shuili Du

  2. European School of Management and Technology, Schlossplatz 1, Berlin, Germany

    C. B. Bhattacharya

  3. Baruch College, City University of New York, One Bernard Baruch Way, New York, NY, 10010, USA

    Sankar Sen

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  1. Shuili Du
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  2. C. B. Bhattacharya
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  3. Sankar Sen
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Correspondence to Shuili Du.

Appendix: Measures for Key Variables

Appendix: Measures for Key Variables

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Du, S., Bhattacharya, C.B. & Sen, S. Corporate Social Responsibility, Multi-faceted Job-Products, and Employee Outcomes. J Bus Ethics 131, 319–335 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2286-5

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