Employee attributions of CSR and employee performance outcomes: Examining the relevance of perceived overall justice

Abstract

This study examines the relationships of employee attributions of CSR as substantive and symbolic with both in-role and extra-role performance outcomes. Furthermore, this study investigates how these relationships are being facilitated through perceived overall justice. Drawing from the social identity theory, the above mentioned relationships have been proposed as a conceptual model. The hypotheses of the proposed model were empirically tested on a sample of 190 employees working in the manufacturing sector of Pakistan. The findings of this research show that employee attributions of CSR as substantive are positively related with employee performance outcomes. However, employee attributions of CSR as symbolic are negatively linked with employee performance outcomes. Similarly, the above stated positive and negative relationships of employee attributions of CSR with employee performance outcomes are facilitated through an underlying mechanism of perceived overall justice. These findings provide evidence with respect to the value of engaging in substantive CSR over symbolic CSR for organizations. In fact, these findings imply that employees are not only concerned about whether or not their organizations are undertaking CSR but more importantly why they are conducting CSR activities. For managers, it is clear that organizations that engage in substantive CSR need to ensure that their dedication towards a cause is understood by their employees. It can be done in a number of ways such as providing regular information and updates to employees as well as apprising them of any potential costs associated with the cause. Similarly, human resource managers can benefit if organizational CSR initiatives are effectively communicated to the public including potential job applicants as these communiqués will help in being more favorably viewed by the constituents of the job market.