Tensions of Corporate Social Responsibility

I engaged with the top management team (TMT) and employees of American
Cafes Corporation as an action/intervention researcher in the 20 months
immediately following the TMT’s decision to formalize the company’s corporate
social responsibility (CSR) activities. This led to the establishment of a “CSR
bureaucracy” at American Cafes. I explore why the TMT decided to formalize its
CSR activities and how the establishment of a CSR bureaucracy affected
activities. I employ the Weberian distinction between formal and substantive
rational to identify and describe tensions that become apparent when CSR agenda
is considered, which brings with it a multiplicity of substantively rational ends for
which the corporation could pursue. I show the CSR bureaucracy can create a
space for reflection in which the multiplicity of substantively rational ends can be
considered, negotiated, and selected, and formally rational tools like key
performance indicators (KPIs) can be developed and employed in service of the
selected substantively rational ends. I show how these KPIs can serve to highlight
tensions between substantively rational ends. As such, I argue the CSR
bureaucracy can create a space for reflection within the corporation. But I also
show tensions can arise from the establishment of the CSR bureaucracy itself.
This suggests the CSR bureaucracy itself resides in a tension.