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Underpinnings of social contributions: conceptualizing behavioral patterns among socially contributive leaders in India

Bhumika (Human Resource Management, Indian Institute of Management Lucknow, Lucknow, India)
Kumar Ravi Priya (Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, India)
Arvind Kumar Sinha (Hyderabad, India)

Social Responsibility Journal

ISSN: 1747-1117

Article publication date: 28 July 2021

Issue publication date: 2 March 2022

253

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore how some organizational leaders are making successful attempts toward making “social contributions” toward the underprivileged or needy stakeholders in the society. This study suggests empirical themes about behavioral patterns of such organizational leaders and illustrates the need to transcend erstwhile “avoid harm” socially responsible leadership.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected on 52 Indian organizational leaders and were analyzed following the guidelines of constructionist grounded theory.

Findings

Findings suggested that organizational leaders who facilitated some form of social contributions in the life of different stakeholders had “unconditional adherence to social contributions,” they were “pertinacious about going the extra mile” to facilitate social contributions and at times their “existence as an enthusiastically innovative change agent” also facilitated social contributions to the lives of different stakeholders.

Social implications

This study might initiate discussion around the behavioral patterns of organizational leaders who are attempting to make society a better place by leading or facilitating social contributions. Identified exemplary behavioral patterns might encourage more exploratory studies directed toward the identification of other forms of socially contributive leadership attributes.

Originality/value

Emphasis on investigating corporate social responsibility (CSR) from individual-level perspective advocated the importance of the psychological foundation of CSR. This study empirically identifies behavioral patterns that characterize organizational leaders who had a strong commitment to make social contributions to society. Patterns identified corresponded to cognitive and behavioral approaches of organizational leaders that were instrumental in actualizing social contributions to the Indian society.

Keywords

Citation

, B., Priya, K.R. and Sinha, A.K. (2022), "Underpinnings of social contributions: conceptualizing behavioral patterns among socially contributive leaders in India", Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 221-239. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-09-2019-0311

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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