CSR Position in the Top Management Team: Evidence of a CSR Bureaucracy?

Recently, a number of positions with corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the position title have been introduced to the top management teams (TMTs) of some of the world’s largest corporations. I explore this phenomenon. I revisit 10 such positions identified in a previous study to add a longitudinal aspect. I then focus on three case companies from within this selection- H&M, Mattel, and Storebrand- whereby I employ the Weberian distinction between formal and substantive rationality to identify the rationales expressed by members of these TMTs for including a CSR position to the TMT. This Weberian distinction serves as a useful
means through which to identify and describe tensions that become apparent when the CSR agenda is considered. Additionally, I show the CSR TMT position may indicate the establishment of a “CSR bureaucracy” within these case companies where the CSR TMT position represents the “office holder” at the top of the corporation’s CSR bureaucracy.