Corporate Social Responsibility, Ethical Leadership, and Trust Propensity: A Multi-Experience Model of Perceived Ethical Climate

Abstract

Existing research on the formation of employee ethical climate perceptions focuses mainly on organization characteristics as antecedents, and although other constructs have been considered, these constructs have typically been studied in isolation. Thus, our understanding of the context in which ethical climate perceptions develop is incomplete. To address this limitation, we build upon the work of Rupp (Organ Psychol Rev 1:72-94, 2011) to develop and test a multi-experience model of ethical climate which links aspects of the corporate social responsibility (CSR), ethics, justice, and trust literatures and helps to explain how employees' ethical climate perceptions form. We argue that in forming ethical climate perceptions, employees consider the actions or characteristics of a complex web of actors. Specifically, we propose that employees look (1) outward at how communities are impacted by their organization's actions (e.g., CSR), (2) upward to make inferences about the ethicality of leaders in their organizations (e.g., ethical leadership), and (3) inward at their own propensity to trust others as they form their perceptions. Using a multiple-wave field study (N = 201) conducted at a privately held US corporation, we find substantial evidence in support of our model.

How are service employees' perceptions of corporate social responsibility related to their performance? Prosocial motivation and emotional labor as underlying mechanisms

“…On the one hand, employees' proximity to CSR is concerned with the extent to which they are aware of the CSR activities of their organizations. Individuals have a tendency to interpret and behave more reliably based on their perceptions than on objective reality (Hansen, Dunford, Alge, & Jackson, 2016). In addition, not all employees are equally aware of the CSR activities of their organizations (Bhattacharya et al, 2008).…”

“…In addition, not all employees are equally aware of the CSR activities of their organizations (Bhattacharya et al, 2008). Therefore, research on perceived CSR tends to have stronger implications for employees' subsequent reactions than research on objective CSR in theoretical and practical terms (Hansen et al, 2016;Rupp, Shao, Thornton, & Skarlicki, 2013). On the other hand, to accomplish the goal of aligning beneficial outcomes for various stakeholders with their own business objectives through involvement in CSR activities, firms should understand employee outcomes that stem from their CSR initiatives (Bhattacharya et al, 2008).…”

Influence of Perceived Socially Responsible Human Resource Management on Task Performance and Social Performance

“…It has long been recognized that corporate social responsibility (CSR) and organizational justice share a common fundamental ethical assumption of normative treatment [2,16,87,88]. Particularly, CSR implies norms with regard to the fair treatment of individuals or environments external to the organization.…”

“…Third, what is the boundary condition to bring SRHRM into work? Scholars from justice and CSR domain have historically noted a prominent effect of justice on CSR since they share a common fundamentally ethical foundation [2,15,16]. Especially the distributive justice, concerned with distributive norms of reward [17], may stand out as a salient issue in the resource allocation involved in SRHRM.…”

The Effect Of Csr On Contextual Performance: Medıatıng Role Of Corporate Reputatıon

“…Positive perceptions of the CSR work carried out by the organization which is considered as structure fulfilling its social responsibilities would increase the employees' motivation, commitment, organizational identification, trust, loyalty and tendency to exhibit organizational citizenship behavior (Branco & Rodrigues, 2006;Glavas & Godwin, 2013;Hansen, Dunford, Alge, & Jackson, 2015).…”