Accountants' construction of CSR competencies and commitment

Abstract

Purpose – The article's main purpose is to investigate the relationship between organizational and professional commitment and accountants' construction of corporate social responsibility (CSR) competencies. Design/methodology/approach – A survey of accounting professionals in Canada (chief financial officers/finance directors) was conducted to ask them about their organization's CSR position, their openness to CSR, involvement in related activities, the codified knowledge they use and their organizational and professional commitment. Findings – The results show the dominance of normative commitment to the profession or organization and its relationship with professional CSR training. Professional CSR training and organizational and other CSR training activities are also related to the professional's openness to CSR. Research limitations/implications – The study's main limitation is the small number of participants. Future research is needed to investigate the conditions under which normative commitment is developed. Practical implications – The results make a practical contribution by suggesting that organizations seeking to involve accounting professionals in CSR activities might want to consider encouraging them to get CSR training using professional resources because of its link to both forms of normative commitment. Further, the findings indicate that the profession could integrate CSR issues more extensively in its accreditation process to enhance its role as a resource provider in the construction of accountants' CSR competencies. Originality/value – To the authors' knowledge, the study is the first one to investigate the relationship between organizational and professional commitment and accountants' construction of CSR competencies.