The Synergistic Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility and Competitive Strategy

Abstract

Abstract: The synergistic effect between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and competitive strategy has become a new topic in CSR research. However, few of the existing researches probe into it and their conclusions are inconsistent. This study suggests that focusing on the cost and reputation effects of CSR under different competitive strategies can provide a clearer understanding of this issue. Based on a questionnaire survey of 330 Chinese companies, this paper finds that: (1) the reputation effect and cost effect of CSR offset each other; (2) low-cost strategy weakens the performance impact of CSR by weakening its reputation effect, while differentiation strategy strengthens the performance impact of CSR by weakening its cost effect. This paper constructs a critical connection between CSR and competitive strategy, emphasizing the importance of synergistic effect between different strategies, which has important implications for CSR practice.

Key words: corporate social responsibility, corporate reputation, operational cost, competitive strategy, synergistic effect

Long Xianyi, Deng Xinming. The Synergistic Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility and Competitive Strategy[J]. Management Review, 2024, 36(10): 185-198.

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