Different Drivers: Exploring Employee Involvement in Corporate Philanthropy

Abstract

Corporate Philanthropy (CP) is multi-dimensional, differs between sectors and involves both individual and organisational decision-making to achieve business and social goals. However, the CP literature characteristically focuses on strategic decisions made by business leaders and ignores the role of employees, especially those in lower status and lower paid positions. To redress this imbalance, we conducted a qualitative study of employees' involvement in CP processes in ten workplaces in the South East of England to identify whether and how they are involved in CP decision-making and to capture their perspective on the nature of CP and the benefits generated by such activities. We specifically chose to study workplaces where employees are involved in the actual execution of the CP strategy, prioritising companies with a visible presence on the high street.The results illustrate the benefits of involving employees in CP decision-making, which we argue derives in part from the 'liminal-like states' that typify CP activities organised by shop floor staff, involving the temporary overturning of hierarchies, humanising of workplaces and opportunities for lower level staff to prioritise their personal philanthropic preferences and signal their charitable identity to colleagues and customers. Whilst the data also suggest that CP decision-making remains predominantly top-down and driven by profit-oriented goals, we conclude that employees should be involved in choosing charitable causes as well as in designing and implementing workplace fundraising, in order to maximise the advantages of CP for the company and for wider society.

The Economic Effects of Direct and Indirect Employee Involvement: Evidence From Corporate Social Responsibility Reports of Chinese Listed Companies

“…In recent years, with the development of a new generation of network information technology -cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, and blockchain -the digital economy is expanding at unprecedented speed, and it has led to major changes in technical characteristics and behavior on both the demand and supply side (Sutherland and Jarrahi, 2018). Corporate employees want to have more opportunities to express their views and be more involved in the democratic management of their enterprise (Breeze and Wiepking, 2020). In turn, employee involvement is conducive to communication between employees and the company and facilitates harmonious labor relations (Zhu et al, 2015).…”

The influence of diversity and employee relations on corporate philanthropy and performance

“…While previous research looked at exogenous influences on CSR such as the institutional and cultural environments (Christmann & Taylor, 2001;Katz et al, 2001;Neubaum & Zahra, 2006), the salience of external stakeholders (Agle et al, 1999), and community pressures (Marquis et al, 2007) and endogenous drivers such as top management values, attributes, and traits (Chin et al, 2013;Muller & Kolk, 2010;Petrenko et al, 2016), less attention has been given to the role of employees in shaping CSR. Nevertheless, there is consensus that employees have an important role in "bottom up" processes of adoption and implementation of CSR (Aguilera et al, 2007;Aguinis & Glavas, 2012;Muller et al, 2014;Peloza & Hassay, 2006) and that their engagement in corporate philanthropy is advantageous for companies (Barman, 2007;Breeze & Wiepking, 2020).…”

“…Corporate philanthropy are voluntary actions promoted and implemented by companies to address social issues that are beyond their legal duties (Kim et al, 2018;Muller et al, 2014) and is considered an important dimension of CSR (Carroll, 1991;Carroll & Shabana, 2010;Hadani & Coombes, 2015;Saiia et al, 2003). Literature in CSR suggests that employees exert pressure on their companies to engage in philanthropy (Carroll, 1999), and some studies assess their participation in corporate philanthropy choices (Breeze & Wiepking, 2020;Mize Smith, 2012;Muller & Kräussl, 2011). Research in the topic has predominantly examined how at higher corporate levels diverse boards of directors influence CSR choices (Bocquet et al, 2019;Boulouta, 2013;Hafsi & Turgut, 2013;Harjoto et al, 2015;Williams, 2003), but there has been less investigation on the effect of a diverse workforce as it relates to a company's philanthropic engagement although there is evidence that a racially diverse workforce influences social performance (Sharma et al, 2020).…”

Understanding Individual Voluntary Giving as a Practice: Implications for Regional Arts Organisations in the UK

“…While we acknowledge that significant research on charitable giving and philanthropy exists (Barman, 2017; Body and Breeze, 2016; Breeze and Wiepking, 2018), such studies focus on examining distinct giving elements separately. By illuminating voluntary giving as an integrative practice, we establish how voluntary giving is learned, emotionally discussed, performed and encouraged in the nexus of social life, also acting as an identity referent.…”