The ethics of care as a determinant for stakeholder inclusion and CSR perception in business education

Abstract

PurposeThe aim of the paper is to show that, among business students, care ethics is a determinant for CSR perception and stakeholder inclusion.Design/methodology/approachThe research was conducted utilising a quantitative approach. The population for this study consisted of students from a leading French business school.FindingsStakeholder inclusion is related to care ethics among students. CSR perception is related to stakeholder perception. CSR perception is related to care ethics.Research limitations/implicationsPopulation sampled has cultural and curricula specificities. Further research should extend the findings to other populations.Practical implicationsIf business schools want their students to implement CSR when they later become managers, they should build a bridge in the curriculum between business ethics education based on care theory (“educare”) and CSR teaching.Originality/valueEmpirical exploration of the relationship between teaching CSR and teaching care ethics has not been undertaken. Relationship between care ethics and stakeholder theory has been addressed in the literature but only from a theoretical perspective and not from an empirical perspective.

Constructing CSR student self-consciousness through university social responsibility implementation: evidence in Indonesia

“…This potential relationship between ethic of care and stakeholder theory is paramount for CSR issues, because stakeholder theory is said to be the dominant paradigm in CSR (McWilliams and Siegel, 2001). Research result by Andre (2013) which examines ethic of care as a determinant of stakeholder inclusion and CSR perception in business education that shows stakeholder inclusion is related to ethic of care. CSR perception is related to stakeholder perception.…”

Training the CSR Sensitive Mind-Set: The Integration of CSR into the Training of Business Administration Professionals

“…This is supported by Barrena-Martinez et al [57] who concluded that social integration factors have a greater impact on the perception of CSR than explanatory factors. The CSR-sensitive mindset of students can be trained in cases in which the curriculum integrates care theory with CSR teaching [58].…”

“…While researchers from Western countries sometimes show the ongoing withdrawal of enterprises from the very idea of CSR and present themselves to stakeholders by imitating CSR as one of the marketing tools [3][4][5][6], or even lobbying [7] (pp. [51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67], it is becoming a clear trend in post-Soviet countries. Therefore, attention is paid to the fact that the implementation of CSR should be oriented not towards charity, marketing, and public relations, but should first and foremost be understood as social responsibility towards stakeholders [8].…”

Corporate donation behavior during the covid-19 pandemic. A case-study approach in the multinational Inditex

“…By adopting the practices and values of caring in CSR, organizations can significantly strengthen their impacts on the community. Caring is a universal human attribute, which is the foundation of morality ( André, 2013 ). Behind the donation behavior of corporations, we find concern for people in need under the theoretical framework of the ethics of care.…”

“…Initially, Gilligan (1982) proposed the ethics of care theory and was considered by some as a feminist perspective of ethics. However, the theory has been re-examined and defined “ as an empathic disposition which is translated into practices for the sake of other human beings ” ( André, 2013 : 35), evolving towards a care-based morality ( Formentin and Bortree, 2019 ).…”