Skip to main content
Log in

The Emergence of Corporate Social Responsibility in Chile: The Importance of Authenticity and Social Networks

  • Published:
Journal of Business Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Little is known about how and why corporate social responsibility (CSR) emerged in lesser developed countries. In order to address this knowledge gap, we used Chile as a test case and conducted a series of in-depth interviews with leaders of CSR initiatives. We also did an Internet and literature search to help provide support for the findings that emerged from our data. We discovered that while there are similarities in the drivers of CSR in developed countries, there are distinct differences as well. In particular, we found that different sectors drive CSR in Chile. In contrast to other geographies where consumer demand and government regulation provided the impetus for CSR efforts, multinational companies (MNCs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are key actors in Chile. MNCs imported their CSR beliefs, skills, and processes into Chile. Their efforts resulted in a virtuous cycle. Once large domestic firms felt pressured by their MNC rivals, they too adopted CSR initiatives. The ability to manage relationships with multiple stakeholders and perceptions of authenticity were also critical to the success of CSR in Chile. Using network theory as a lens, we suggest that network density and centrality largely determine whether CSR efforts will be authentic. Based on these contentions, we suggest avenues for future research.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aguero, F.: 2004, ‹Globalization, Business, and Politics: Promoting Corporate Social Responsibility in Latin America’, Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Studies Association, Le Centre Sheraton Hotel, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 17 Mar 2004, http://www.allacademic.com//meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/0/7/2/9/8/p72989_index.html?type=info&PHPSESSID=462aff7514a923cb078b595285729b8a. Accessed Sept 2007

  • Amaeshi, Kenneth M., Onyeka K. Osuji and Paul Nnodim: 2008, “Corporate Social Responsibility in Supply Chains of ?Global Brands: A Boundaryless Responsibility? Clarifications, Expectations and Implications,” Journal of Business Ethics, 81, 223-234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amba-Rao, Sita C.: 1993, “Multinational corporate social responsibility, ethics, interactions and Third World governments: An agenda for the 1990 s,” Journal of Business Ethics, 12 (7), 553-573.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balch, O.: 2008, ‹Latin America: Chile – Vintage in the Making’, Ethical Corporation, http://www.ethicalcorp.com/content.asp?ContentID=5655. Accessed Sept 2008

  • Berger, I. E., P. Cunningham and M. Drumwright: 2006, “Identity, Identification and Relationship through Social Alliances,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 34 (2), 128-137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berger, I. E., P. Cunningham and M. Drumwright: 2007, ‹Mainstreaming Corporate Social Responsibility: Developing Markets For Virtue’, California Management Review 49(4), 132–160

  • Beverland, M.: 2006, “The ‹real thing’: Branding authenticity in the luxury wine trade,” Journal of Business Research, 59, 251-258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bielak, D., S. M. J. Bonini and J. M. Oppenheim: 2007, ‹CEOs on Strategy and Social Issues’, McKinsey Quarterly, December, http://www.mchinseyquarterly.com/article_page.aspx?ar=2056&pagenum=1. Accessed Dec 2007

  • Brass, D.J. and Burkhardt, M.E.: 1993, “Potential Power and Power Use: An Investigation of Structure and Behavior,” Academy of Management Journal, 36, 441-470.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braun, Virginia and Clark, Victoria: 2006, “Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology,” Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77-101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, T. J. and Dacin, P.A.: 1997, “The Company and the Product: Corporate Associations and Consumer Product Reponses,” Journal of Marketing, 61(1), 68-84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crombie, J.: 2007, ‹Chilean Banks Move Up the Ranks’, LatinFinance (Sep), http://www.latinfinance.com/article.aspx?articleID=1436557

  • División Social de MIDEPLAN (Ministerio de Planificación y Cooperación): 2003, Casen

  • Driver, M.: 2006, “Beyond the Stalemate of Economics versus Ethics: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Discourse of the Organizational Self,” Journal of Business Ethics 66(4), 337-356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellen, P.S., D.J. Webb and L.A. Mohr: 2006, “Building Corporate Associations: Consumer Attributions for Corporate Socially Responsible Programs.” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 34 (2): 147-157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia, G.: 2007, ‹Social Responsibility in Latin America: to Be or Not To Be’, Business Chile, June (No. 244), http://www.businesschile.cl/portada.php?w=old&id=451&lan=en. Accessed Sept 2008

  • Garriga, Elisabet and Domènec Melé: 2004, “Corporate Social Responsibility Theories: Mapping the Territory,” Journal of Business Ethics, 53(1/2), 51-71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grayson, K. and R. Martinec: 2004, “Consumer Perceptions of Iconicity and Indexicality and Their Influence on Assessments of Authentic Market Offerings,” Journal of Consumer Research, 31(2), 296-312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Handelman, J. and S. Arnold: 1999, “The Role of Marketing Actions with a Social Dimension: Appeals to the Institutional Environment,” Journal of Marketing, 63, 33-48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haslam, P. A.: 2004, ‹The Corporate Social Responsibility System in Latin America and the Caribbean’, Policy Pape at Canadian Foundation for the Americas (FOCAL), http://www.focal.ca/pdf/csr_04.pdf. Accessed May 2007

  • Hendry, J.R.: 2005, “Stakeholder Influence Strategies: An Empirical Exploration,” Journal of Business Ethics, 61, 79-99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, A. J.: 1999, “Institutional Evolution and Change: Environmentalism and the U.S. Chemical Industry,” Academy of Management Journal, 42(4), 351-371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • House, R., M. Javidan, P. Hanges and P. Dorfman: 2002, “Understanding cultures and implicit leadership theories across the globe: An introduction to project GLOBE,” Journal of World Business, 37, 3-10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • International Institute for Sustainable Development: 2004, ‹ISO CSR Standards’, http://www.iisd.org/standards/csr.asp. Accessed Jan 2007

  • Joyner, Brenda E. and Diana Payne: 2002, “Evolution and implementation: A study of values, business ethics and corporate social responsibility,” Journal of Business Ethics, 41 (4), 297-314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaptein, Muel: 2004, “Business Codes of Multinational Firms: What Do They Say?” Journal of Business Ethics, 50(1), 13-23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lim, Suk-Jun and Joe Phillips: 2007, “Embedding CSR Values: The Global Footwear Industry’s Evolving Governance Structure,” Journal of Business Ethics, 81, 143-156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maignan, Isabelle: 2001, “Consumers’ Perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibilities: a Cross-Cultural Comparison,” Journal of Business Ethics, 30(1), 57-72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maignan, Isabelle and O.C. Ferrell: 2004, “Corporate Social Responsibility and Marketing: An Integrative Framework.” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 32(3): 3-19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menon, A. and A. Menon: 1997, “Enviropreneurial Marketing Strategy: The Emergence of Corporate Environmentalism as Market Strategy,” Journal of Marketing, 61(1), 51-67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCracken, G.: 1988, The Long Interview (Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications).

    Google Scholar 

  • Orlitzky, M., F. L. Schmidt and S. L. Rynes: 2003, “Corporate Social and Financial Performance: A Meta-analysis,” Organization Studies, 24(3), 403-441.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patton, Michael Quinn (2002), Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods (3rd Edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quazi, A. M. and D. O’Brien: 2000, “An Empirical Test of a Cross-national Model of Corporate Social Responsibility,” Journal of Business Ethics, 71(5), 33-51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robertson, Diana C. and Nigel Nicholson: 1996, “Expressions of corporate social responsibility in U.K. firms,” Journal of Business Ethics, 15(10), 1095-1106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roloff, Julia: 2008, “Learning from Multi-Stakeholder Networks: Issue-Focused Stakeholder Management,” Journal of Business Ethics, 82, 233-250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rowley, Timothy: 1997, “Moving Beyond Dyadic Ties: A Network Theory of Stakeholder Influences,” Academy of Management Review, 22(4), 887-910.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rwabizambuga, A.: 2007, “Negotiating Corporate Social Responsibility Policies and Practices in Developing Countries: An Examination of the Experiences from the Nigerian Oil Sector”, Business and Society Review, 112 (3), 407–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singhapakdi, A., S.J. Vitell, K.C. Rallapalli, K.L. Kraft: 1996, “The Perceived Role of Ethics and Social Responsibility: A Scale Development.” Journal of Business Ethics 15(11): 1131-1140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, N. C.: 2003, “Corporate Social Responsibility: Whether or How?” California Management Review, 45(4), 52-76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snider, Jamie, Ronald Paul Hill, and Diane Martin: 2003, “Corporate Social Responsibility in the 21st Century: A View from the World’s Most Successful Firms,” Journal of Business Ethics, 48(2), 175-185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spiggle, Susan: 1994, “Analysis and Interpretation of Qualitative Data in Consumer Research,” Journal of Consumer Research, 21, 491-503.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanwick, Peter A. and Sarah D. Stanwick: 1998, “The Relationship Between Corporate Social Performance, and Organizational Size, Financial Performance, and Environmental Performance: An Empirical Examination, Journal of Business Ethics, 17(2), 195-204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strauss, A. L.: 1990, Qualitative Analysis for Social Scientists (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Tan, J. and D. Tan: 2005, “Environment-Strategy co-Evolution and Co-Alignment: A Stated Model of Chinese SOEs Under Transition,” Strategic Management Journal 26, 141-157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Universia Knowledge@Wharton: 2008, ‹Sparks are Flying: Chile’s Energy Sector Clashes with the Country’s Environmental Initiatives’, 19 March, http://wharton.universia.net/index.cfm?fa=viewArticle&id=1491&language=english&specialId.

  • Vogel, D.: 2005, The Market for Virtue: The Potential Limits of Corporate Social Responsibility (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Wulfson, Myrna: 2001, “The Ethics of Corporate Social Responsibility and Philanthropic Ventures,” Journal of Business Ethics, 29(1-2), 135-145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all their informants who so generously shared their time and knowledge with us. We also extend special thanks to Rodrigo Matamala and Marianna Antonissen for their assistance with transcribing and translating the interviews from Spanish into English. We also wish to acknowledge the Queen’s School of Business Research Fund that supported this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peggy H. Cunningham.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Beckman, T., Colwell, A. & Cunningham, P.H. The Emergence of Corporate Social Responsibility in Chile: The Importance of Authenticity and Social Networks. J Bus Ethics 86 (Suppl 2), 191–206 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0190-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0190-1

Key words

Navigation