CSR, Innovation, and Firm Performance in Sluggish Growth Contexts: A Firm-Level Empirical Analysis

Abstract

The few studies that analyze the impact of a combined strategy of innovation and corporate social responsibility (CSR) on firm performance mostly focus on financial performance. In contrast, the current study considers the simultaneous impact of technological innovations (product and process) and CSR on firm growth, which provides a measure of medium-term economic performance. With a sample of 213 firms and a two-step procedure, this study reveals the differentiated effects of strategic versus responsive CSR behavior on the two technological innovation types, as well as the effects of the two innovation types on growth. The findings thus indicate that firms with strategic CSR achieve growth through both their product and their process innovations.

Is the corporate social responsibility–innovation link homogeneous?: Looking for sustainable innovation in the Spanish context

“…They found that the effect of green management is stronger with radical than with incremental product innovations. Last, Bocquet et al (2013) and Bocquet, Le Bas, Mothe, and Poussing (2017) confirmed that strategic orientation towards CSR causes firms to be more innovative in terms of processes, as well as product and process innovations together.…”

“…However, a responsive CSR attitude (the most basic level of CSR) has a negative effect on process (Bocquet et al, 2013(Bocquet et al, , 2017, product (Bocquet et al, 2017) and both product and process innovation (Bocquet et al, 2017). Taking into account the limitations of the previous literature, we focus on the intersection of the "fateful triangle" of innovation and the so-called "triple bottom line" of CSR.…”

“…Conceptual model II: CSR dimensions-innovation types link (i.e.,Luo & Du, 2015;Wagner, 2010); the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (i.e.,Gallego-Alvarez et al, 2011); firms' own surveys with choice instruments (i.e.,Curras-Pérez et al, 2018;Martínez-Conesa et al, 2017;Shu et al, 2016); or secondary surveys (i.e.,Bocquet et al, 2013Bocquet et al, , 2017. In this paper, the variables used to measure CSR are organized into three groups, as they are related to the economic, social, or environmental dimensions of CSR.…”

The Respective Effects of Virtues and Inter-organizational Management Control Systems on Relationship Quality and Performance: Virtues Win

“…These measures used a Likert scale ranging from 1 ("strongly disagree") to 10 ("strongly agree"): "It would be difficult to the firm concerned by this evaluation replacing us in similar conditions" and "It would be difficult for us replacing the firm concerned by this evaluation in similar conditions." Because socially responsible firms are supposed to offer better performance (Bocquet et al, 2015), we controlled for the firm's adoption of corporate social responsibility practices (0 for firms not engaged in corporate social responsibility [CSR], and 1 for those engaged in CSR).…”

Does corporate social responsibility encourage sustainable innovation adoption?Empirical evidence fromLuxembourg

“…Fourth, the dummy variables STRATEGIC and RESPONSIVE refer to strategic and responsive CSR strategies, respectively (Porter & Kramer, 2006). Similar to Bocquet et al (2013Bocquet et al ( , 2017, we use information provided by the companies about five characteristics of their CSR strategy implementation to derive these variables. The first characteristic is centrality, which reflects "closeness of fit to the company's mission and objectives" (Burke & Logsdon, 1996: 497); we measure it by determining if the company has a document that describes its values and communicates its CSR commitment online or in a published report.…”