University of Vaasa - Vaasan yliopisto

INSTITUTIONALISING IDEALISM: PATTERNS IN
THE ADOPTION OF CORPORATE SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY PRACTICES
Abstract
Alison Rieple, Jon Gander and Adrian Haberberg
177
In this conceptual paper we discuss the idiosyncratic institutionalization of CSR practices.
Our discussion highlights idealism as the primary stimulus for the instigation of CSR within
organizations. We argue that CSR institutionalization differs from the ‘normal’ pattern in which
there is an increasing recognition within a field of the instrumental benefits of a practice, moving
towards isomorphic conformity where social rather than economic benefits are sought. With CSR
institutionalization, initiatives arise out of socially embedded concerns, and rapidly move to a
condition of coercion and then to mimetic isomorphism, in the process bypassing or truncating an
instrumentally-motivated stage of development. Because the primary locus of CSR is outside the
immediate organizational field, the expected pattern of institutional development is subject to a
period of flux and debate exacerbated by CSR’s high visibility to media and civil society and by
the lack of clear instrumental benefits for the firm.
Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, CSR, Institutionalization, Practice
adoption, Idealism
Introduction
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has generated an extensive discussion across
business-based journals, mainstream journalism, and corporate literature. This
literature (see Lee, 2008 for a comprehensive historical review) includes
investigations and discussions of the nature of CSR, normative arguments for and
against it as part of good management praxis, and economic tests of the link between
CSR and corporate financial performance (Orlitzky et al. 2003). More recently, as
socially responsible corporate behavior has entered the mainstream of management
thinking (Economist, 2008; Lee, 2008) scholars have turned their attention to the
question of what induces managers to pursue it: the cognitive processes at work
during the adoption decision (Basu & Palazzo, 2008) and the institutional
environment that frames it (Campbell, 2006, 2007; Winn & Angell, 2000).
In this paper we focus on certain characteristics that we infer to be common to all
practices labeled as CSR, namely idealism, moral stance, a concern for the wellbeing
of stakeholders, and drawing on wider concerns for human rights and sustainability
(Garriga & Melé, 2004). Our model highlights the important role of idealism as the
primary stimulus for the instigation of CSR practices. We also argue that CSR
institutionalization differs from the ‘normal’ pattern in which there is an increasing
recognition within a field of the instrumental benefits of a practice moving towards
isomorphic conformity where social rather than economic benefits are sought.