Bridging the governance gap with political CSR

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has attracted varied applications in management. This chapter contribution provides evidence of a political CSR where multinational corporations (MNCs) are complementing government's role in bridging governance gap. The governance gap thesis and political costs hypothesis provide grounding for the discussions in this paper. Data from case studies across the Middle-Eastern countries were critically analysed and justify the political and developmental undercurrents of CSR initiatives. The key argument is that governance is crucial for development, and where there is a governance gap, it is in the interest of corporations to bridge the gap with their CSR initiatives to stimulate development. Pressure groups and civil society organisations in developing countries could leverage on the political dimension of CSR to lobby corporations to intervene in socioeconomic issues especially poverty alleviation through entrepreneurship development in their operating environment for mutual benefits.

Exploring the evolving motives underlying corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures in developing countries: the case of “political CSR” reporting

“…Over the last decade or so, there has been sustained research interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices in developing countries (Athanasopoulou and Selsky, 2015; Jamali et al , 2015, 2017; Aguinis and Glavas, 2012; Adelopo et al , 2015). Early work in these contexts has typically highlighted the limited existence of “formalised” CSR initiatives, with CSR mainly motivated by (individual) philanthropic reasons (Jamali and Karam, 2016).…”

“…We contend that these interpretive and critical perspectives are underpinned by a key premise, namely that the over-riding strategic outcome of CSR engagement and reporting is the pursuit of (typically) short-term economic gains. This premise can be evidenced from the researchers’ reliance on notions of instrumentality or other “hard-nosed” “business case” logics to frame CSR activities (Brammer et al , 2012; Adelopo et al , 2015) and CSR reporting practices (Bayoud et al , 2012; Amran and Haniffa, 2011; Lehman and Kuruppu, 2017). In this respect, CSR reporting is largely seen as an elaborate form of “greenwashing” (e.g.…”

Political Social Responsibility of Council Members in Implementing Public Policy:

“…Sociopolitical responsibility is dominated by stakeholders, institutions, and several critical gaps. A study mentioned that the government's encouragement of community participation and empowerment is vital to develop aspects of democracy (Adelopo et al, 2015;Frynas & Stephens, 2015).…”

Guest editorial

“…There is also extensive literature on the interactions between the corporation and its external environments and the need to achieve congruence between them, including the roles of effective communication in finding a fit between corporate action and corporate social approval (Brown and Deegan, 1998;Islam and Deegan, 2010;Suchman, 1995;Deegan and Gordon, 1996). Thus, corporate communication is indispensable in an increasingly complex corporate environment where performance is no longer hinged only on economic models because organisational goals, social and political considerations are now intertwined (Adelopo et al, 2015). The growing role of ethics, acceptable corporate culture and accountability are also increasingly articulated in emerging literature (Adelopo et al, 2015;Yekini et al, 2015;Tauringana and Chithambo, 2015;Gordon, 2008).…”

“…Thus, corporate communication is indispensable in an increasingly complex corporate environment where performance is no longer hinged only on economic models because organisational goals, social and political considerations are now intertwined (Adelopo et al, 2015). The growing role of ethics, acceptable corporate culture and accountability are also increasingly articulated in emerging literature (Adelopo et al, 2015;Yekini et al, 2015;Tauringana and Chithambo, 2015;Gordon, 2008). Closely related to these is the need for corporations to identify their community of operations (Suchman, 1995;Yekini et al, 2015) and be able to engage with them in a commensurate and acceptable language and through avenues that are consistent to the changing objectives of firms' conferring publics (Deegan et al, 2002;Yekini et al, 2015).…”