Individual Competencies for Corporate Social Responsibility: A Literature and Practice Perspective

Abstract

Because corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be beneficial to both companies and its stakeholders, interest in factors that support CSR performance has grown in recent years. A thorough integration of CSR in core business processes is particularly important for achieving effective long-term CSR practices. Here, we explored the individual CSR-related competencies that support CSR implementation in a corporate context. First, a systematic literature review was performed in which relevant scientific articles were identified and analyzed. Next, 28 CSR directors and managers were interviewed. The literature review complemented with interview data resulted in the following eight distinct CSR-related competencies: (1) Anticipating CSR challenges; (2) Understanding CSR-relevant systems and subsystems; (3) Understanding CSRrelevant standards; (4) CSR management competencies, including (4a) Leading CSR programs, (4b) Managing CSR programs, and (4c) Identifying and realizing CSR-related business opportunities; (5) Realizing CSR-supportive interpersonal processes; (6) Employing CSR-supportive personal characteristics and attitudes; (7) Personal valuedriven competencies, including (7a) Ethical normative competencies, (7b) Balancing personal ethical values and business objectives, and (7c) Realizing self-regulated CSRrelated behaviors and active involvement; and (8) Reflecting on personal CSR views and experiences. Based on these results, implications for further research on this topic, as well as implications for practitioners, are discussed.

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“…Another competency which has been subject to debate is anticipatory/foresighted thinking competence (both words are used for more or less the same construct). Rieckmann (2012) identifies this as one of the most important competencies and it is also empirically found in the work of Hesselbarth and Schaltegger (2014), Osagie et al (2015) and Lans et al (2014).…”

“…Three competencies are included in all four studies, namely: strategic (management) competence, systems thinking competence and interpersonal competence. Where Hesselbarth and Schaltegger (2014), Lans et al (2014), and Osagie et al (2015) underpin the importance of normative competence, the empirical study performed by Wesselink et al (2015) did not point in this direction.…”

“…Based on experiences of MBA alumni, they propose five key competencies for change agents for sustainability. Osagie et al (2015) combined results from a systematic literature review with results from 28 interviews with CSR managers to compile a set of eight CSR-related competencies. In the field of CSR, Wesselink et al (2015) performed an empirical study to analyse individual competencies for managers engaged in corporate sustainable management practices and identified five competencies which highly correspond with core tasks performed by CSR managers.…”

“…As a reaction to these critical remarks, several scholars have identified and studied competencies for sustainable development which are enacted in a specific work context (Hesselbarth & Schaltegger, 2014;Osagie et al, 2015;Wesselink et al, 2015;Lans et al, 2014). In today's society different…”

“…Nevertheless, the number of competence studies from a business perspective is much more limited, compared to competence studies from the educational context. To the best of our knowledge, only Hesselbarth & Schaltegger (2014), Osagie et al (2015), Wesselink et al (2015) and Lans et al (2014) have made an effort in 'translating' more generic lists of competencies for SD into specific working contexts of change agents for sustainability. The former three focus more on the role of competencies in the work context of CSR managers and the latter focuses on would-be sustainable entrepreneurs.…”