Doing Good and Different! The Mediation Effect of Innovation and Investment on the Influence of CSR on Competitiveness

Abstract

In recent decades, the debate about the strategic potential of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the existence of a possible relationship between CSR and competitiveness has become increasingly relevant. However, the literature has not analysed in detail why this influence occurs and what the key elements that determine increasing competitiveness are. This study analyses the roles of innovation and investment in the ways in which CSR influences competitiveness. The results from an empirical study of 236 companies show no direct influence of CSR on competitiveness, but innovation and investment are shown to affect CSR's influence on competitiveness indirectly and significantly. These results demonstrate a total mediation effect of innovation and investment on CSR's influence on competitiveness. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed together with its limitations and potential for future research. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Transformational leadership, corporate social responsibility, organizational innovation, and organizational performance: Symmetrical and asymmetrical analytical approaches

“…The literature on the association of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and organizational performance has grown exponentially in recent years (Bernal‐Conesa, Briones‐Peñalver, & De Nieves‐Nieto, ; Briones Peñalver, Bernal Conesa, & de Nieves Nieto, ; Cuadrado‐Ballesteros, Martínez‐Ferrero, & García‐Sánchez, ; D. H.‐M. Wang, Chen, Yu, & Hsiao, ; Farrington et al, ; Herrera, ; Marin, Martín, & Rubio, ; Moore, ; Saeidi, Sofian, Saeidi, Saeidi, & Saaeidi, ; Sun & Stuebs, ; Wiengarten, Lo, & Lam, ). However, research shows that the relationship between CSR and organizational performance is not universal, but mediated or moderated by internal and external factors, such as organizational trust and identification, chief executive officer (CEO) founder status, organizational size, customer satisfaction, reputation, competitive advantage, CSR knowledge, trust in CSR commitment, and engagement (Inoue, Funk, & McDonald, ; Inoue & Lee, ; Marin et al, ; Martínez‐Martínez, Madueño, Jorge, & Sancho, ).…”

Sustainable development and supply chain coordination: The impact of corporate social responsibility rules in the European Union food industry

“…Indeed, certifications and claims are part of this bridge between consumers and companies, but greenwashing and a lack of reliable data can lead customers towards uninformed choices (Zhang, Joglekar, & Verma, 2014). Reliable Empirical research related to CSR has mostly explored the relationships between corporate social performance and competitiveness (Ambec & Barla, 2006;Briones Peñalver, Bernal Conesa, & de Nieves Nieto, 2018;Marin, Martín, & Rubio, 2017;Pasurka, 2008), the incentives that firms have to adopt CSR standards (Shauki, 2011), the financial consequences related to the implementation of such rules (Hartmann, 2011), and the effects of CSR rule implementation on human resource management (Celma, Martínez-Garcia, & Coenders, 2014). To the best of our knowledge, no study has yet investigated the effects of CSR activities on supply chain coordination.…”

Developing CSR in retail–supplier relationships: a stakeholder interaction approach

“…Maignan and Ferrell 2003;Maignan and Ralston 2002;Mitchell, Agle, and Wood 1997), recent research increasingly emphasizes the role of CSR as an important factor in the general competitiveness of firms (e.g. Marin, Martin, and Rubio 2017;Vilanova, Lozano, and Arenas 2009) as well as for retailers more specifically (e.g. Elg and Hultman 2016;Ganesan et al 2009;Lee, Fairhurst, and Wesley 2009).…”