Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility and Competitive Advantage: Mediation and Moderation Mechanisms

Abstract

Abstract:

Strategic corporate social responsibility (strategic CSR) attempts to solve the classic problem of CSR research: how companies are making profits and simultaneously bearing their social responsibility. Focusing on this core construct-strategic CSR, the paper firstly reviews the definition of strategic CSR, then summarizes and distinguishes general and firm-specific features of strategic CSR. Secondly, with theoretical lenses of institutional theory, resource based-view and dynamics capabilities, the paper proposes a general theoretical framework in order to answer the question that how strategic CSR can help a company achieve its competitive advantage. The framework demonstrates that strategic CSR helps a company build its sustainable competitive advantage by acquiring or maintaining dual legitimacy, VRIN resource and dynamics capabilities, and this relationship is moderated by the visibility of strategic CSR behaviors and environmental dynamism. Finally, the paper proposes some suggestion about future researches of strategic CSR.

Key words: strategic corporate social responsibility, competitive advantage, theoretical framework

Peng Xuerong, Liu Yang. Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility and Competitive Advantage: Mediation and Moderation Mechanisms[J]. , 2015, 27(7): 156-167.

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