More and more companies are appointing Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs). But what makes the presence of CSOs effective for companies’ corporate social responsibility (CSR)? PhD candidate Marloes Korendijk (University of Groningen, RUG) explores this together with Professor Rian Drogendijk, who is the Director of Graduate Studies at the Faculty of Economics and Business. They examine how the relationship between CSOs and their companies’ CSR activities is shaped by firm-level factors such as board diversity and the presence of a CSR committee, as well as country-level factors like CSR standards. Additionally, the researchers investigate whether the CSO’s role is merely symbolic for CSR communication or if they have a tangible impact on CSR outcomes.

Korendijk’s PhD focuses on CSR in multinational enterprises and she has always been interested in the role of upper echelons of firms as well. “During a meeting with Rian to discuss her review of one of my PhD papers, she introduced me to this idea about the role of CSOs, inspired by a recent publication in the Strategic Management Journal. She asked if I wanted to collaborate on the project, and I immediately agreed. I was honored by the opportunity, and given my natural interest in the topic, the partnership felt seamless. We had a great collaboration and plan to continue working together in the future.”

Substantial rather than symbolic

In their paper, that was recently published online by the journal Business and Society, Korendijk and Drogendijk found that the presence of a CSO is indeed linked to an increase in CSR activities, and that the CSO’s impact is substantial rather than just symbolic. “Interestingly, we also discovered that this effect is less pronounced in firms with diverse boards or in firms that are operating in countries with high CSR standards, suggesting that certain firm- and country characteristics can substitute for the influence of a CSO.”

Korendijk and Drogendijk’s research suggests that appointing a CSO can significantly enhance a firm’s CSR efforts. However, if companies want to increase their CSR activities, adding more CSOs or CSR committees is not necessarily the best approach. “At some point, the effectiveness of additional CSR-related roles may diminish. Companies should instead take a holistic view at their organizational processes to find the most efficient way to boost their CSR performance,” Korendijk explains.

CSR activities only benefit society if they are meaningfully implemented. Korendijk and Drogendijk’s paper identifies corporate mechanisms that can improve CSR performance, thereby contributing to a better understanding of what drives effective CSR within companies and ensuring that these efforts translate into real societal benefits.

In their quest to better understand what drives effective CSR within companies, the researchers encountered something puzzling. “An unexpected finding was that having a CSR committee did not enhance the effectiveness of a CSO, while other research in the field did find this effect. In fact, the CSR committee had little measurable impact, which is surprising since CSR committees are often viewed as a signal that a company is serious about CSR.”

CSO effectiveness over time

As more and more companies appoint CSOs—with only 10% of large firms having one a decade ago, compared to almost all companies today—Korendijk and Drogendijk are interested in studying how effective CSOs are over time. “We also want to look at different kinds of CSOs to see if certain types make a bigger impact than others. For example, we plan to examine whether CSOs who have connections to the company’s board, those with a lot of sustainability experience, or those who have worked at the company for a long time are more effective in improving CSR activities. Additionally, we aim to understand if the background and career paths of these CSOs influence how well they drive change within the firm. This could give companies useful insights into what to look for when hiring a CSO.”

Reference:

Korendijk, M., & Drogendijk, R. (2024). Beyond the CSO: How alternative attention carriers influence the role of CSOs on CSR. Business & Society. https://doi.org/(…)77/00076503241271224