Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the broader question of how business firms are connected to large-scale societal grand challenges such as climate change and inequality continues to be one of the most prominent topics in management studies. This Thematic Collection on CSR showcases the evolution of CSR research published in the Journal of Management Studies from 2006 to 2021. Alongside the mainstreaming of CSR within management studies, research in JMS has progressed from a business-centric to a society-centric focus. The business-centric focus centres on the financial implications of CSR on business firms, and advocates CSR to the extent that it leads to improved financial performance or some other competitive advantage for the firm. The society-centric focus asks broader questions about the appropriate role and location of business in society and its political and institutional contexts, and it reflects a wider set of variables of interest beyond firm financial performance. Understanding this evolution is crucial because it helps to elucidate where CSR research is headed and how the role of business in society is conceptualised. Based on these developments, the introduction to this Thematic Collection outlines three emergent avenues for future research: the reintegration of governments as important actors shaping CSR, the need to reorient the dependent variables used in CSR research toward tangible social and ecological outcomes, and the importance of CSR research tackling interrelated societal crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis.
Corporate Social Responsibility Research in the Journal of Management Studies: A Shift from a Business-Centric to a Society-Centric Focus
Christopher Wickert
Reducing Complexity by Creating Complexity: A Systems Theory Perspective on How Organizations Respond to Their Environments
Anselm Schneider, Christopher Wickert & Emilio Marti
Managing for Political Corporate Social Responsibility: New Challenges and Directions for PCSR 2.0
Andreas Georg Scherer, Andreas Rasche, Guido Palazzo & André Spicer
Unpacking the Institutional Complexity in Adoption of CSR Practices in Multinational Enterprises
Valentina Marano & Tatiana Kostova
Researching Corporate Social Responsibility Communication: Themes, Opportunities and Challenges
Andrew Crane & Sarah Glozer
Taming Wicked Problems: The Role of Framing in the Construction of Corporate Social Responsibility
Juliane Reinecke & Shaz Ansari
Walking and Talking Corporate Social Responsibility: Implications of Firm Size and Organizational Cost
Christopher Wickert, Andreas Georg Scherer & Laura J. Spence
The Political Dynamics of Sustainable Coffee: Contested Value Regimes and the Transformation of Sustainability
David Levy, Juliane Reinecke & Stephan Manning
Consistency Matters! How and When Does Corporate Social Responsibility Affect Employees’ Organizational Identification?
Kenneth De Roeck, Assâad El Akremi & Valérie Swaen
Business Statesman or Shareholder Advocate? CEO Responsible Leadership Styles and the Micro-Foundations of Political CSR
Thomas Maak, Nicola M. Pless & Christian Voegtlin
Strategies of Legitimacy Through Social Media: The Networked Strategy
Itziar Castelló, Michael Etter & Finn Årup Nielsen
Managing Legitimacy in Complex and Heterogeneous Environments: Sustainable Development in a Globalized World
Andreas Georg Scherer, Guido Palazzo & David Seidl
How Corporate Social Responsibility Engagement Strategy Moderates the CSR–Financial Performance Relationship
Zhi Tang, Clyde Eiríkur Hull & Sandra Rothenberg
The New Political Role of Business in a Globalized World: A Review of a New Perspective on CSR and its Implications for the Firm, Governance, and Democracy
Andreas Georg Scherer & Guido Palazzo
Corporate Social Responsibility: Strategic Implications*
Abagail McWilliams, Donald S. Siegel & Patrick M. Wright
Corporate Social Responsibility, Public Policy, and NGO Activism in Europe and the United States: An Institutional-Stakeholder Perspective
Jonathan P. Doh & Terrence R. Guay
Corporate Reputation and Social Performance: The Importance of Fit
Stephen J. Brammer & Stephen Pavelin
Components of CEO Transformational Leadership and Corporate Social Responsibility*
David A. Waldman, Donald S. Siegel & Mansour Javidan
Corporate Social Responsibility in Management Research: Focus, Nature, Salience and Sources of Influence*
Andy Lockett, Jeremy Moon & Wayne Visser
Corporate Social Responsibility: Three Key Approaches
Duane Windsor
Taking Friedman Seriously: Maximizing Profits and Social Performance*
Bryan W. Husted & José De Jesus Salazar
