Understanding employee responses to

COVID-19: a behavioral corporate social

responsibility perspective
Herman Aguinis, Isabel Villamor and Kelly P. Gabriel

Introduction:

In order to show the importance and usefulness of CSR, particularly in the wake of the COVID-
19 pandemic, conceptual and empirical research on the behavioral perspective of CSR is
critically synthesized and integrated in this work. The authors describe how CSR can have both
positive and negative effects and make suggestions for further research, practical application,
and policymaking.

Literature Review:

No matter the motivation, CSR is described as "any responsible activity that permits a
corporation to establish a sustained competitive advantage." (Oruh, Mordi, Dibia, & Ajonbadi,
2021). This article's objective was to provide insights into these problems by adopting a
relatively new behavioral perspective on corporate social responsibility. The majority of CSR
research that has been done so far has taken a company or institutional viewpoint (Oruh et al.,
2021). This shift toward a behavioral perspective on CSR started less than a decade ago.
(Aguinis & Burgi-Tian, 2021). In terms of performance, CSR is positively related to organizational
citizenship behaviors (Hansen, Dunford, Boss, Boss, & Angermeier, 2011). In terms of
organizational attitudes, CSR is positively related to employee identification with the
organization (Kim, Lee, Lee, & Kim, 2010). Finally, in terms of organizational attraction,
employees find organizations that engage in CSR to be more attractive (Backhaus, Stone,
Heiner, & Society, 2002). Positive organizational attraction outcomes of CSR include job pursuit
intentions (Gully, Phillips, Castellano, Han, & Kim, 2013) (Rupp, Shao, Thornton, & Skarlicki,
2013).
Methodology & Findings: Critical literature review and synthesis are the main topics of this
study (Aguinis, Villamor, & Gabriel, 2020). As per COVID-19, organizations create CSR policies,
but individual employees are responsible for enforcing them (McShane & Cunningham, 2012).
The implementation and success of CSR programs are largely influenced by how personnel
interpret and respond to CSR projects (Donia & Sirsly, 2016). The primary business operations
of a corporation may or may not include CSR. Peripheral CSR is connected to "the dark side" of
CSR and can negatively affect employee outcomes (Jones, Willness, & Heller, 2016), whereas
embedded CSR, when correctly implemented in partnership with employees (Jones et al.,
2016), is linked to a number of positive outcomes.

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