Corporate Social Responsibility in Global Enterprises: Insights from Corporate Website Self-Reporting

Examining how a pattern of organizational behavior developed and diffused across the globe is a way to link institutionalization and globalization. The objective of this study is to explore the interaction between institutionalization and globalization by investigating how large global firms used their websites to present the topic of corporate social responsibility (CSR) after the web was opened to commercial use in 1996. Qualitative and quantitative methods were combined to analyze CSR self-reporting among 263 large global firms on their historical websites between 1997 and 2009. The data reveal a clear pattern of CSR self-reporting on corporate websites. The pattern of development and diffusion indicated an on-going institutionalization process that transferred from the habitualization stage into the objectification stage. Different bodies, including international organizations, nations, industries, and pressure from public concern propelled institutional isomorphism among the firms. Compared to the local institutional environment, institutional pressures on the global level had a stronger effect on the establishment and diffusion of patterned behavior among the organizations. The release of global guidelines provided normative pressure. The increasing concern among large global corporations about the global market motivated the birth of global guidelines. Therefore, globalization and global level institutionalization mutually promoted each other over time.