Ecological and social sustainable change through corporate social responsibility: The enabling role of employees

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) provides companies with an opportunity to contribute to addressing global challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity, wealth inequality, and fragile economic and political systems. Previous research has primarily focused on examining firm strategies and policies in response to these issues, but has paid limited attention to the involvement and role of employees in implementing CSR within organizations. By adopting a stakeholder theory perspective, this article aims to explore the perceptions and experiences of internal stakeholders regarding CSR initiatives. It also seeks to identify themes emerging from narrative interviews that are relevant to employees engaged in a transformative change process toward sustainability. The findings underscore the crucial role of employees as facilitators of CSR, highlight potential divergent perspectives on sustainability efforts, and recommend the inclusion and empowerment of employees in CSR initiatives. By doing so, organizations can effectively implement ecological sustainability and increasingly address social sustainability both within the firm and in the broader context.

The Power of Responsibility: Unlocking the Potential of CSR in Hospitality’s Fight against Food Waste

“…Higher levels of environmental consciousness among employees strengthen the direct impact of CRS on food-waste-reduction behavior and increase the intermediary roles played by moral attitude as well admiration in this regard. This enhanced state may result in a deeper, sustained behavioral transformation since employees not only appreciate the significance of these initiatives but also feel more responsible for their outcome, which is in line with the findings of Kallmuenzer, et al [44]. This suggests that for CSR initiatives to fully realize their potential in promoting sustainable practices, they must be accompanied by efforts to raise awareness about environmental issues among employees.…”

“…Specifically, greater levels of climate-change awareness are expected among employees who engage more actively in food-waste reduction due to their participation in CSR initiatives and those who develop a stronger sense of respect towards their organization's societal reputation. This enhanced state may result into a deeper sustained behavioral transformation since employees not only appreciate significance of these initiations but also feel more responsible for their outcome [44].…”

The efficiency of preventive restructuring procedures: Evidence from France

“…Moreover, future research should also include sustainability factors that can affect financial performances (Bartolacci et al, 2020). By delving deeper into this aspect, future research could offer insights into how sustainability practices and financial performance interconnect (Kallmuenzer et al, 2023), providing a more holistic understanding of the restructuring outcomes performances. Specifically, considering the impact of sustainable practices on financial resilience during and after restructuring could shed light on a company's ability to bounce back sustainably.…”

Governing at a distance to change corporate social responsibility discourse: Navigating through institutions and actors

“…Our paper draws on this critical stance and attempts to offer an interdisciplinary view merging insights from political, sociological and management domains. This provides a rounded understanding of CSR, increasingly becoming an important component of strategy formulation advocating ecological and social sustainable change (Kallmuenzer et al, 2023;Karmani et al, 2023;Wu et al, 2012). Contemporary scholarship predominantly offers us a partial perspective of CSR by omitting the web of relations that produced certain conceptions as legitimate.…”