Abstract

Not long after the formation of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) in 2000, two opposing theories emerged regarding its efficacy and why organizations continue to join UNGC. The critics take the position that because it has low barriers to entry and no enforcement of compliance, it attracts organizations with low CSR performance who merely want to enhance their reputations. The advocates reject these arguments because of their belief in the purpose of the UNGC, to offer a platform for learning and improvement, especially for under-resourced organizations. Haack, Martignoni, and Schoeneborn have offered a conceptual framework that has the potential to bridge the differences between these two opposing theoretical positions by suggesting that CSR can be adopted ceremonially under conditions of opacity and evolve to substantive adoption over time as transparency increases. In this study, we use the Haack et al. conceptual framework to empirically test this proposition by investigating U.S. corporations that have joined UNGC. We expand the analysis to examine the motivations for ceremonially adopting CSR. Our results support the conditions proposed by Haack et al., and we emphasize the importance of organizational learning to achieve substantive adoption of CSR practices over time.

摘要

在2000年联合国全球契约（UNGC）成立后不久，就其效力以及为何组织继续加入UNGC出现了两种相反的理论。评论家的立场是，由于它的准入门槛低，而且没有合规性强制执行，因此它吸引了企业社会责任表现低下的组织，这些组织只想提高声誉。倡导者之所以拒绝这些论点，是因为他们相信UNGC的目的是为学习和改进提供平台，特别是对于资源贫乏的组织。Haack，Martignoni，Schoeneborn和Schoeneborn提供了一个概念框架，通过暗示可以在不透明的情况下按惯例采用CSR，并随着透明度的提高逐渐发展为实质性采用，从而有可能弥合这两个相对的理论立场之间的差异。在这项研究中，我们使用了Haack等。通过调查加入UNGC的美国公司，以实证检验这一主张的概念框架。我们扩大了分析范围，以考察习惯采用CSR的动机。我们的研究结果支持了Haack等人提出的条件，并且我们强调组织学习对于随着时间的推移广泛采用CSR做法的重要性。通过调查加入UNGC的美国公司，以实证检验这一主张的概念框架。我们扩大了分析范围，以考察习惯采用CSR的动机。我们的研究结果支持了Haack等人提出的条件，并且我们强调组织学习对于随着时间的推移广泛采用CSR做法的重要性。通过调查加入UNGC的美国公司，以实证检验这一主张的概念框架。我们扩大了分析范围，以考察习惯采用CSR的动机。我们的研究结果支持了Haack等人提出的条件，并且我们强调组织学习对于随着时间的推移广泛采用CSR做法的重要性。