The Influence of Institutional Logics on Corporate Responsibility Toward Employees

2013/03/28 by Michelle Westermann-Behaylo, Michelle Westermann‐Behaylo, Shawn L. Berman +1 · 46 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Decision Sciences · #Accounting #Affect (linguistics) #Business #Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting #Economics #Ethics in Business and Education #Identity (music) #Institutional logic #Institutional theory #Management #Management and Organizational Studies #Organizational commitment #Organizational identity #Political science #Public relations #Sociology #State (computer science)

paper · doi:10.1177/0007650313476934

published in Business & Society 53(5), 714-746 (SAGE Publishing)

openalex publication_date 2013/03/28 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04

Abstract

Focusing on corporate responsibility (CR) toward employees, this article discusses how multilayered institutional logics affect the relationship between the firm and its employee stakeholders. It considers what constitutes CR toward employees and explores the institutional logics that can shape whether employers treat their employees as merely means to a strategic end or as ends in themselves. Specifically, the article examines market-, state-, professional-, and firm-based institutional logics that influence how employers treat their employees. The conclusion suggests that external institutional logics both enable and constrain firms to adopt a more instrumental relationship with their employees. However, some forms of organizational identity may generate firm-based institutional logics that enable firms to resist these pressures. Suggestions for future research focusing on the institutional and organizational drivers behind understanding CR toward employees are offered.

Citations

• Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony
• Identity, Image, and Issue Interpretation: Sensemaking During Strategic Change in Academia
• The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields

Cited by

• When Is There a Sustainability Case for CSR? Pathways to Environmental and Social Performance Improvements
• Does Context Count? The Association Between Quality of Care and Job Characteristics in Residential Aged Care and Hospital Settings: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. [europepmc]
• Institutional Logics in the UK Construction Industry's Response to Modern Slavery Risk: Complementarity and Conflict. [europepmc]
• Corporate Responses to Intimate Partner Violence. [europepmc]

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