Development of a Typology Regarding CIF-CSR Initiatives Typology, Comprising of Conceptual Archetypes

Abstract

Modern-day business landscape has been com and chaotic. These are forcing firms to explore and experiment to secure and sustain market advantage. Often collaborative strategies such as strategic alliance (SA) and joint ventures (JVs) are pursued. Corporate social responsibilities (CSR) initiatives have been carried out by firms to justify and legitimize firm social existence. In collaborative strategies, two or more firms’ CSR initiatives get intermingled. Given this background, it is of interest to comprehend how firm CSR initiatives altered because of collaborations (SAs and JVs). The purpose of this conceptual article is to develop a collaborative inter-firm CSR (CIF-CSR) typology based upon a varied base of the extant literature on inter-firm collaboration (SAs and JVs), strategic management (especially resource-based view) and stakeholder theory applied theoretical logical argumentations through assumptions, premises, axioms and assertions. The author incrementally and systematically developed the CIF-CSR typology which consisted of CIF-CSR archetypes. The categorization was based upon post-inter-firm alliance nature of CSR themes, the intensity of dedication of allying firms’ CSR resources and capabilities, CSR management control, CSR process/stakeholder engagement and modular fit of inter-firm CSR initiatives. There were four types of CIF-CSR archetypes based upon post-alliance CSR control, five types of CIF-CSR archetypes based upon resource and capability committed post-alliance, four types of CIF-CSR archetypes based upon CSR process and three CIF-CSR archetypes based upon inter-firm post-alliance CSR initiatives design fit. This is one of the first scholarly works on developing an integrated CIF-CSR typology consisting of archetypes.