Consistency of CEO behavior in CSRDoes it really Matter?
Damla Kartal (MSc, U of Amsterdam)Wim J.L. Elving (ASCoR, U of Amsterdam)
Overview
Theoretical background TNT post
Experiment
Results
Discussion
Implications
Research introduction
RQ: whether the reputation of the firm will be stronger when the CEO acts consistent with the CSR program of an organization compared to a CEO who does not act accordingly (inconsistent) to the organizations own CSR policies
We were triggered by this by an action by TNT post CEO Peter Bakker, who traided his Porsche Sports car for a hybrid car (less energy use, less exhaustion) in line with the PLANET ME program (sustainability) of his organisation.
Theory: Heider’ Balance theory (1958)
COMPANY
EXTENSIVE SUSTAINABILITY
PROGRAM
CEO DRIVING IN A SPORTSCAR
CEO DRIVING HYBRID!
Fit between communication & action
Practice what you preach, or get sceptical responses from stakeholders
Attribution theory, intrinsic or extensive motives to explain behaviour Intrinsic; the CEO is driving a hybrid car, because he
really cares about the environment Extrinsic; the CEO is still driving his sports car,
because he is not really interested in sustainability, but instead he is interested in the gain in reputation by having a CSR program
Experiment
Wanted to video Peter Bakker himself, but due to strikes within TNT Post and ethical considerations we choose an experiment including a newspaper article as manipulation The original contained the story that he traided his
porsche for a hybrid car The other condition we altered the original story by
asking Bakker about sustainability, but also why he still drove a Porsche sportscar
Variables
Attitude towards the company, before and after the manipulation (=reading the newspaper article) 5 items, based on Bruner & Hensel (1996) and Bae &
Cameron (2006) 7 point Likert scale (strongly disagree – strongly agree) Cronbach’s alpha >.89; factor loadings > .78
Reputation, before and after 7 point bipolar (Bae & Cameron, 2006) for instance
unreliable/reliable, not genuine/sincere etc. Cronbach’s alpha > .73
Results
Attitude towards TNT post, although the lines show a promising trend, not significant (t(124) = -.55, n.s.)
Also for reputation we did not find significant results due to our manipulation
Attitude towards TNT
Discussion
We did not find the results we have hoped to find
Manipulation with the help of a newspaper article maybe not strong enough
The CEO might be too unknown for our respondents
Bad timing
Future research
Replica of this experiment with other respondents (more knowledge about this CEO and/or company)
Another type of manipulation (video, audio)
Another case