Corporate Social Responsibility and Intellectual Capital: Sources of Competitiveness and Legitimacy in Organizations’ Management Practices

Dolores Gallardo-Vázquez, Luis Enrique Valdez-Juárez and José Luis Lizcano-Álvarez
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Dolores Gallardo-Vázquez: Department of Financial Economics and Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Extremadura, 06006 Badajoz, Spain
Luis Enrique Valdez-Juárez: Faculty of Economics and Business, Technological Institute of Sonora, Guaymas, Sonora 85400, Mexico
José Luis Lizcano-Álvarez: Spanish Association of Accounting and Business Administration (AECA), 28043 Madrid, Spain

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 20, 1-29

Abstract: Two important managerial strategies have shaped organizations’ initiatives in recent years: corporate social responsibility (CSR) and intellectual capital (IC). Organizations’ implementation of voluntary CSR practices implies a commitment that goes beyond mere actions and it constitutes a step toward securing benefits for these entities. In contrast, IC refers to a set of intangible organizational assets (i.e., human, structural, and relational capital) that are capable of providing greater value than tangible assets do. Putting both strategies into practice independently of each other is a source of competitive advantages for organizations, including more legitimacy in their sector. However, the present study sought to explore the possibility of strengthening the link between CSR and IC by integrating socially responsible practices into the configuration of each IC dimension. Thus, this research’s objective was to determine whether CSR initiatives can generate improvements in key IC components in organizations. The study included extremely diverse Spanish organizations ranging from small and medium-sized enterprises to large firms, private and public companies, and organizations serving multiple purposes, such as universities—all of which were implementing CSR initiatives. The partial least squares technique was applied to estimate a structural equation model to achieve the objective. The findings include that CSR improves organizations’ IC and that the resulting competitiveness is a source of legitimacy.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility; intellectual capital; competitiveness; legitimacy; structural equation; Spain (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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