Determinants of corporate social performance: the influence of organizational culture, management tenure and financial performance

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to examine the influence of organizational culture, top management tenure and financial performance on corporate social performance (CSP).

Design/methodology/approach

The sample comprises 295 Fortune 500 American companies from 2000 to 2005. Financial information from Thompson World Scope is contrasted with social responsibility data from KLD database and the estimation technique applied is panel data.

Findings

Results indicate that a humanistic culture has a positive impact of CSP, as well as management tenure and slack resources in a lesser degree.

Research limitations/implications

The paper successfully constructs and employs a variable depicting the humanistic culture of a firm. More research is needed to define which factors determine this culture dimension, so it can be scientifically agreed on as opposed to being used exploratorily.

Practical implications

The results point out that firms that incorporate a humanistic approach to culture perform well in CSP because their internal cultural values and beliefs drive them to establish a good relationship with stakeholders.

Originality/value

As opposed to the majority of the studies that focus on the CSP leading to financial performance relation, this article alternatively analyzes factors that determine CSP.

Citation

Melo, T. (2012), "Determinants of corporate social performance: the influence of organizational culture, management tenure and financial performance", Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 33-47. https://doi.org/10.1108/17471111211196557