Barriers and success factors for CSR adoption

But how can companies actually get the full support of their employees in implementing CSR activities and programmes? What kind of factors influence the degree of employee motivation and engagement in attaining the organisational objectives for CSR? Many scholars have studied the different barriers and impediments to organisational adoption of corporate social responsibility (Bhattacharya et al. 2008; Garavan et al. 2010; Slack, Corlett & Morris 2015). For instance, a conceptual study by Garavan, Heraty, Rock, and Dalton (2010), has classified the different behavioural barriers of effective employee adoption of CSR into individual, organisational, and institutional factors (see Table 5). According to the authors, individual barriers are mostly psychological and focus on the perceptions, thoughts, and attitudes of individuals toward CSR. For instance, employees might not deliver on CSR activities because of low

awareness and understanding of the topic, the lack of motivation and commitment to support the cause, or because they feel they are not getting enough organisational or supervisory support to do so. Also the general negative or positive attitudes towards CSR, the engagement in social actions outside the company, as well as the perceptions of organisational treatment and justice may impact the individual adoption of social responsibility principles and thus the execution of CSR strategy. (Garavan et al. 2010.)

Level of analysis Barriers for CSR adoption

Individual

CSR knowledge and awareness CSR fit, motivation and commitment

Perceived organisational supervisory and support Attitudes toward CSR

Personal social actions

Egocentrism and positive illusions Perceptions of organisational justice

Organisational

Ethical culture and climate Organisational structures Teamwork processes Organisational trust

Senior management values and leadership Organisational reward systems

Organisational inertia Corporate hypocrisy Institutional

Regulatory forces Cognitive influences Normative forces

Table 5. Barriers to CSR adoption in organisations by (Garavan et al. 2010).

Organisational barriers, on the other hand, focus more on the structures, processes, and systems within the firm that can either assist or hinder the successful implementation of CSR. For example, the cultural context and existing organisational values, structural inefficiencies, or the lack of cross-functional teamwork can pose challenges for CSR integration. Also factors, such as the level of organisational trust, the attitudes and leadership of top management, as well as the different formal and informal reward systems can have an impact on employee adoption of social responsibility. Organisational resistance to change and positive illusions and hierocracy in respect of CSR have also been presented as potential organisational barriers to CSR adoption. (Garavan et al. 2010.)

According to the authors, some factors in the institutional level can also influence the way social responsibility initiatives are integrated and adopted within the organisation. These institutional barriers to refer to the rules, norms, and beliefs in the company’s institutional environment, mostly in the forms of cultural or contextual constraints. These can include, for instance, contradictory regulatory forces in the global and local context, common institutional perceptions of behaviour and shared beliefs, as well as normative standards influencing organisational decision makers. (Garavan et al. 2010.)

In conclusion, there are several factors that can hinder the adoption of CSR. However, as the focus of this study is on internal CSR communication, the barriers related to the awareness and knowledge, as well as the motivation and commitment of employees to implement CSR activities are most relevant for this research. In line with the views of Garavan et al. (2010), Bhattacharya, Sen, and Korschun (Bhattacharya et al. 2008) have identified employees’ lack of awareness and involvement as a key barrier for strategic management of CSR. More over the authors have studied it to be one of the biggest challenges for companies to gain strategic benefits from socially responsible business practices. Moreover, the authors have stated that “if companies are to benefit from their corporate responsibility initiatives they must actively involve their stakeholders, notably their employees” (Bhattacharya, Sen & Korschun 2011). Therefore, the sixth theoretical proposition is formulated as follows:

Proposition 6: Low employee awareness and understanding of CSR is a central barrier to successful CSR adoption.

Previous research on CSR adoption has additionally recognised certain success factors and best practices to implement and embed social responsibility in the hearts and minds of employees. For instance, employee support for CSR implementation can be maintained by ensuring the commitment of senior leadership, focusing on different compliance and code of conduct measures, identifying and resourcing CSR champions, designing and conducting CSR training, integrating CSR-related elements in individual incentives and performance measurement, as well as communicating continuously on the progress and impacts of CSR (Collier & Esteban 2007; Garavan et al. 2010; Hohnen 2007; Maon et al. 2009; White 2009).

First of all, the most common and popular way to gain employee support in implementing CSR programmes and policies and to ensure that they are motivated and committed to attain related objectives is to invest in organisational compliance. However, it has been

questioned whether this method can actually generate the kind of employee engagement and enthusiasm that is required for a firm to carry out its CSR strategy and commitments (Collier & Esteban 2007), as “playing by the rules” does not always reflect a commitment to CSR.

In addition to specific CSR training or codes of conduct, previous research has discussed individual incentives and rewards as additional ways to ensure employee support for CSR implementation. Different elements and incentives as a part of job descriptions and individual performance evaluation can serve as strong motivators for desired CSR-related behaviour. (Hohnen 2007; Maon et al. 2009.) An example of this can be Unilever, where individual employees have their own sustainability goals, which are integrated into the performance measurement system (BITC 2011) Senior officials or other employees acting as CSR champions can also be a useful method to showcase the importance of the topic to the company and convey enthusiasm and credibility of the subject (Hohnen 2007). For example, in the case of a global consumer goods company Procter & Gamble, a “Sustainability Ambassadors” network has been created to connect employees working in different functions in more than 80 countries who are passionate about CSR and want to share news and ideas related to the topic (White 2009).

Effective and continuous employee communication and engagement has been recognized by several academics as a vital part of the integration process (Hohnen 2007; Lacy, Arnott

& Lowitt 2009; Maon et al. 2009; Panapanaan et al. 2003; N. C. Smith 2003; Werre 2003).

To create awareness and ensure a behavioural change in the organisation in line with the values and vision for corporate responsibility, effective communication about the CSR commitments and objectives is needed from both the top and middle management (Maon et al. 2009). More specifically, regular communication and CSR progress updates about improved performance and positive change in the area of CSR, for example in meetings or in a company newsletter, can help to generate enthusiasm within the organisation (Hohnen 2007; Maon et al. 2009). This leads to the seventh theoretical proposition of the paper:

Proposition 7: Effective internal communication can lead to higher employee awareness and engagement in CSR.