Riding the waves or fighting the tides? Female leaders' CSR engagement

Abstract

This study examines how organizational factors interact with individual factors in influencing female leaders' intentions to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) through the lens of planned behavior. Through in-depth interviews with 20 female corporate leaders from Australia and China, seven themes emerged as factors shaping their CSR engagement. We examined those factors using the theory of planned behavior (TBP) conceptual framework, and found that organizational factors, especially corporate culture and peer influence, dominated female leaders' intentions to engage in CSR. Power interacts with culture and affects female leaders in two countries in different manners: in China, the distance to top corporate power determines female leaders' intentions toward and the way they engage in CSR, while lack of critical mass is often cited by their Australian counterparts as the main factor deterring their CSR engagement. This study demonstrates how organizational factors shape leaders' CSR decisions, reveals the nuances behind the gender–CSR link, and posits for different remedies to unleash the power of female leaders in different cultures.