Title: Expanding the board's contribution to corporate social responsibility

Authors: Karen A. Smith Bogart

Addresses: Technology Management Program, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-5129, USA

Abstract: This study considers the board of directors' contribution to corporate social responsibility within US public companies recognised as CSR leaders. This research integrates corporate governance, CSR, and stakeholder theory literature. This qualitative study employs semi-structured interviews with the chief executive officers (CEOs) of three US public corporations recognised as CSR leaders in the MSCI KLD 400 Social Index (MSCI, 2014) and published company and third-party texts. Three findings emerge with implications for scholars and practitioners. They are: 1) board contribution is expected given CSR's material impact on shared company and stakeholder benefit; 2) board influence in CSR is advanced by their duty fulfilment, expertise, experience, and roles complementary to management; 3) key practices advance board involvement and impact in CSR.

Keywords: corporate governance; corporate social responsibility; CSR; shared value; board of directors; USA; United States; stakeholder theory.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEIM.2016.080005

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, 2016 Vol.20 No.5/6, pp.379 - 390

Received: 05 Mar 2016
Accepted: 27 Mar 2016
Published online: 27 Oct 2016 *

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