Corporate Social Responsibility As Institutional Hybrids

Abstract

This paper empirically examines the impact of societal context on constructsof corporate social responsibility (CSR). The empirical analysis is informed byneo-institutional theory, which conceptualizes CSR constructs as potential oractual institutions. A case study from the Danish business setting identifies thesteps that a project group of business actors took to develop a new CSR construct.The steps include the transfer and translation of a foreign institution in responseto a field-level problem, major events, and partial deinstitutionalization of anestablished CSR construct. The findings suggest that the new CSR construct is aninstitutional hybrid, a combination of foreign and familiar institutions that makea new CSR construct innovative, legitimate, and continuous with existing practicein the business setting. The paper proposes that CSR constructs are malleableinstitutional hybrids that are most easily implemented if tailored to the socialcontext. It concludes with implications for managers who want to select, designand implement CSR constructs in their own business settings.