Mapping the link between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Human Resource Management (HRM): How is this relationship measured?

Abstract

Despite the relevance of human resources in the management of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), confusion and theoretical chaos are still evident in the area. This manuscript provides a systematic review of the link between CSR and Human Resource Management (HRM), stressing the main topics along with the evolution and tendencies founded in this field. SciMAT was used to conduct a conceptual science mapping analysis based on co-word bibliographic networks. From 2006 to 2019, 194 documents were retrieved from the Web of Science. Considering the last period (2017-2019), the motor themes (those which are well-developed and relevant for the structure of the research field) were environmental management (including green HRM), sustainable HRM and pro-environmental behaviour. Socially responsible HRM (SR-HRM) was a basic theme (important, although not developed). Perceived organisational support was a specialised theme (well-developed, although less important), and employee commitment was an emerging theme (both weakly developed and marginal). In addition, a review of the measurement tools used in the main topics extracted from the previous analysis was carried out. Our analysis will help inform researchers and practitioners on the future of CSR and HRM and the previous efforts in the creation of measurement instruments.