Exploring Factors Influencing Organizational Adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Initiatives

Abstract

Background: Globalization has resulted in social, economic, political, commercial, and technological integration. A social problem needs a global collaborative view to find a solution. Wide-ranging partnerships are essential to achieve developmental goals, with public and private partners pooling their resources and competencies. The private sector contributes by engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. These initiatives can significantly impact by leveraging emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI). While many support AI, some believe that AI is a threat to humanity. With mixed attitudes towards AI, its adoption in CSR is somewhat limited. This research leverages the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework to explore factors influencing AI adoption intention from an organizational perspective. Method: The factors were identified from a thorough literature review and mapped with Carroll's CSR framework. The theorized model was tested via a sample response of 124 Indian firms. Results: The findings of this research share insight into the influence of the nine technological, organizational, and environmental factors and dives deeper through the post-hoc analysis of the variations due to the size of the firm, public or private orientation, and industry sector. Conclusions: Along with the contributions to literature and theory, this research study has several significant contributions to firms, AI products, service companies, AI strategists, and application developers.