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The effects of external stakeholder pressure and ethical leadership on corporate social responsibility in China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2015

Qing Tian ,
Yan Liu  and
Jianhong Fan
Qing Tian
Affiliation:
School of Business, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macao, People’s Republic of China
Yan Liu*
Affiliation:
Economics and Management School, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, People’s Republic of China
Jianhong Fan
Affiliation:
Faculty of Law, University of Macau, Macau, People’s Republic of China
*
Corresponding author: leannaliu@whu.edu.cn
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Abstract

We examined how external stakeholder pressure and ethical leadership independently and interactively influence the implementation of corporate social responsibility. Based on data collected from 292 employees from 53 companies (Study 1) and from 224 middle-level managers from 40 companies (Study 2) in mainland China, we found that both ethical leadership and external stakeholder pressure have significant and positive impacts on corporate social responsibility implementation and the positive effect of external stakeholder pressure on corporate social responsibility weakens under a higher level of ethical leadership and strengthens under a low level of ethical leadership. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Keywords

country or area studiesChinacorporate social responsibilityleadership theoryinstitutional theories
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , July 2015 , pp. 388 - 410
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2015 

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