Unpacking Micro-CSR From an Internal Stakeholder Perspective: A Computational Literature Review

The role of individuals in corporate social responsibility (CSR), in other words micro-CSR, has garnered extensive scholarly attention over the past decade. The emphasis of this research stream has been on internal stakeholders (i.e., employees) who design, implement, and structure firm CSR activities. However, micro-CSR literature has developed in a rather fragmented manner across various sub-fields of management sciences. To unpack this literature, we employ a novel machine learning algorithm to conduct a computational bibliometric analysis of 461 research articles published between 1970 to 2021. We find that micro-CSR research is clustered across four different sub-fields within management sciences––namely organizational behaviour, human resource management, corporate governance, and leadership, with significant tensions within each cluster. Drawing on the theory of paradox, we discuss how micro-CSR research has developed differentially across multiple topic areas, indicating cross-fertilization of different fields. In doing so, our review sets forth an agenda for advancing micro-CSR research.