Fifty Shades of Corporate Social Responsibility: A Conceptual Synthesis via a Decision Frame Lens

Jinyu Hu (), Yu Rong and Frances M. McKee-Ryan
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Jinyu Hu: Management Department, College of Business, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, USA
Yu Rong: Management Department, College of Business, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, USA
Frances M. McKee-Ryan: Management Department, College of Business, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557, USA

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 18, 1-16

Abstract: To address the question of why corporate executives adopt diverse corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies, this conceptual paper proposes a decision-frame model to explain how differences in executives’ information-processing templates can lead to different strategic choices concerning CSR. Drawing on managerial cognition research and CSR literature, the CSR decision frame is conceptualized as a three-dimensional configuration. Each dimension depicts a continuum of responses to each of the three fundamental issues related to CSR (i.e., corporate’s objectives, corporate’s stakeholders, and leader’s responsibilities). The key premise is that the specific content and structure of a CSR decision-frame configuration define a leader’s unique stance on environmental and social issues, which, in turn, influence their sense-making process and shape CSR responses and strategies. This CSR decision-frame approach provides a process lens that highlights the cognitive mechanisms of how executives make critical CSR strategic decisions. Furthermore, this paper advances the understanding of the diversity in CSR strategy with a nuanced mental-configuration perspective: CSR means many different things to different leaders depending on the unique content and structure of his or her CSR decision frame; these varying subjective representations of CSR principles contribute to the diverse CSR responses across firms.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility; corporate sustainability; micro-foundations; decision frame; cognitive template; managerial cognition; responsible leadership; upper echelons theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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