Abstract
Grounded in upper echelons theory, this study analyzes the social performance consequences of having a chief sustainability officer (CSO) in the top management team (TMT). We predict that appointing a CSO will increase a firm’s socially responsible activities (CSR) and reduce its socially irresponsible activities (CSiR). We further explore the multi-level boundary conditions of these relationships. With a sample of S&P 500 firms for 2005-2014, we find a positive (negative) relationship between CSO presence and CSR (CSiR). Moreover, the CSO-CSiR relationship becomes stronger when the CSO is professionally competent, when the CSO has personal connections with the CEO, when the firm has a corporate social responsibility committee on the board, and when the firm is in a culpable industry, but the relationship is weaker when the firm has a bad prior record of social performance. Implications to strategic leadership research and the corporate social performance literature are discussed.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Academy of Management Proceedings 2018 |
Editors | Sonia Taneja |
Publisher | Academy of Management |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Aug 2018 |
Event | 78th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, AOM 2018: Improving Lives - Chicago, United States Duration: 10 Aug 2018 → 14 Aug 2018 https://aom.org/events/annual-meeting/past-annual-meetings/2018-improving-lives (Conference website) https://journals.aom.org/toc/amproc/2018/1 (Conference proceedings) |
Publication series
Name | Academy of Management Proceedings |
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Publisher | Academy of Management |
ISSN (Print) | 0065-0668 |
ISSN (Electronic) | 2151-6561 |
Conference
Conference | 78th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, AOM 2018 |
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Country/Territory | United States |
City | Chicago |
Period | 10/08/18 → 14/08/18 |
Internet address |
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