The Relationship of Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Performance: A Bibliometric Overview

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility and its relationship with firm performance have been the focus of studies concerning the area of social responsibility of companies over the last four decades. The area has undergone significant progressions and shifts over time. There is a tremendous interest among the researchers in analyzing the relationship between corporate social responsibility and firm performance, as evident by the increasing surge in the research publications in this domain, especially since 2010. This study intends to highlight the knowledge expansion and research dispersion in the broad area concerning corporate social responsibility and its effect on firm performance. For this purpose, the research articles published in the Scopus database from 1987 to 2021, covering 34 years, have been taken to perform a bibliometric analysis. The study explains the descriptive trend of research publications focusing on performance indicators and uses a thematic evolution tool to highlight the major themes. The results of the bibliometric studies reveal that the focus of research encompasses the dimensions of sustainability, strategic management, institutional pressures, disclosure, and corporate social responsibility reporting. Based on these dimensions, the paper presents insights into the existing studies and offers the scope for future research.

Exploring the Role of Socially Responsible Marketing in Promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Organizational Settings

“…It involves ethically and socially responsible interactions with stakeholder groups both within and outside the organization. The goal of CSR is to maintain profitability while enabling the creation of high living standards for stakeholders both within and outside the company (Sharma et al 2023).…”

Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility into Business Strategy: Creating Sustainable Value

“…Addressing social and environmental issues proactively can help companies mitigate risks associated with regulatory compliance, reputational damage, and operational disruptions (Shayan et al, 2022). Regulatory compliance is a significant concern for businesses operating in today's complex and evolving legal landscape (Sharma et al, 2023). Integrating CSR into business strategy allows companies to stay ahead of emerging regulations and ensure compliance with social and environmental requirements (Paruzel et al, 2023).…”

Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy Practices, Employee Commitment, Reputation as Sources of Competitive Advantage

“…Studies in the fields of strategy and management followed Freeman's (1984) stakeholder theory and has been increasingly focusing on examining how CSR contributes to the creation of strategies that enable firms to achieve the objectives of critical stakeholders and improve their overall performance (Gu, 2023; Laplume et al, 2008; Sharma et al, 2023). By understanding the need to implement CSR initiatives, firms can develop suitable strategies to sustain their competitive advantage (Bridoux & Stoelhorst, 2022).…”

“…First, we broaden the scope of CSR research and contribute to the existing literature on CSR and CCA by integrating key ideas from stakeholder theory. While earlier scholars have mainly focused on the impact of CSR on firms' performance and competitiveness (Al Sakkaf et al, 2023;Bashir, 2022;Nyuur et al, 2019;Rochayatun et al, 2023;Sharma et al, 2023), virtually no prior studies have touched on the mediating role of employee commitment and corporate reputation in the CSR-CCA relationship. This study complements this stream of research by investigating how employee commitment and corporate reputation can influence the connection between CSR and CCA.…”