CSR: What Does Board Diversity Bring to the Table?

Abstract

This chapter provides a theoretical and conceptual overview of the governance of corporate social responsibility (CSR). It is based on an extensive review of corporate governance literature, specifically on the composition of boards and committees and how they influence corporate outcomes. The attributes of committees’ members could play a key role in the definition of a CSR strategy and its implementation. The second section analyzes how diversity in boardrooms and CSR committees could foster CSR performance, through specific dimensions of social performance. It focuses on the influence of structural and demographic diversities in boardrooms on CSR performance and the role of CSR committees on the implementation of a strategic CSR-building process. The third section identifies CSR strategies: (1) strategic CSR driven by initiatives and pioneering actions and (2) responsive CSR based on the imitation of the main competitors and the implementation of basic actions to “avoid” stakeholders’ pressure. We point out that strategic CSR has been widely discussed and extended while responsive CSR is marginalized and often associated with low social performance. This dichotomous approach of CSR strategies could be biased. Many firms could display a strategic CSR in some areas and a responsive CSR in other areas. The role of CSR committees and their composition are discussed in section (4). The last section concludes the paper.