What Makes Employees either Zealous Supporters for or Cynical Contenders against their Firm’s CSR Initiative?

• In Event: 106 - Open Refereed Roundtable Session I
  In Refereed Roundtable: A. Table 02. Cultural Sociology 1

Abstract

This study examines the effects of a firm’s CSR initiative on its employees’ organizational attachment and intent to turnover. Elaborating the social identity theory, we propose that employees’ perceived authenticity on their firm’s CSR mediates the effects of a firm’s CSR initiative on employees’ attachment to the firm and intent to turnover. We propose two legitimacy mechanisms that employees rely on in order to account for their firm’s CSR initiative. External mimetic legitimacy occurs when employees explain their firm’s CSR motive as instrumental mainly to deal with the pressures of competition in its organizational field. Internal legitimacy ensues when employees explain that the CSR reflects their firm’s moral mission and ideology. We predict that internal legitimacy promotes perceptions of authenticity, while external mimetic legitimacy reduces those of authenticity. We tested these hypotheses using a sample of 450 employees from 38 Korean companies which were included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Korea (DJSI Korea) in 2009. The findings supported the hypotheses. We discussed the implications of the current findings in more detail.

Authors

• Jeongkoo Yoon, Ewha Womans University

• Soojung Lee, Ewha Womans University