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Strategic corporate social responsibility: the struggle for legitimacy and reputation

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  • Irene Pollach

Abstract

Companies face the pressure to differentiate themselves from other companies, while simultaneously facing the pressure to work by the same standards as other companies in order to maintain their legitimacy. Firms that want to gain a differentiation advantage through their CSR activities need to match the practices of other firms, innovate and communicate their own CSR practices, and protect their CSR achievements from mimicry by other firms. An interview study among CSR directors of large industrial companies with high CSR ambitions was conducted in order to shed light on how CSR directors navigate this cycle of CSR innovation, CSR communication, and CSR mimicry. The findings suggest that companies should seek to foster relationship building within the organisation in order to speed up the execution of CSR ideas, build coopetitive networks for knowledge sharing with other companies, critically examine the organisation's culture, and optimise the effectiveness of CSR communication.

Suggested Citation

  • Irene Pollach, 2015. "Strategic corporate social responsibility: the struggle for legitimacy and reputation," International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 10(1), pages 57-75.
    • Handle: RePEc:ids:ijbget:v:10:y:2015:i:1:p:57-75
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Alexandra Kocurikova & Jan Kopriva & Libena Tetrevova, 2024. "Unlocking the Power of Corporate Social Responsibility Communication in the Online Sphere: A Systematic Exploration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-22, March.
    2. Danilo Boffa & Antonio Prencipe & Luciano D’Amico & Christian Corsi, 2023. "Gender Inclusiveness and Female Representation on the Board of Directors of the Benefit Company Model: Evidence from Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-20, March.
    3. Dustin Smith & Eric Rhiney, 2020. "CSR commitments, perceptions of hypocrisy, and recovery," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Shilpee A. Dasgupta & Mayank Bhatia & Upasana Singh & Arghya Ray, 2022. "Impact of CSR on non-financial performance and the mediating role of trust and reputation: Indian manufacturing employees’ perspectives," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 19(2), pages 391-412, June.

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