Doing great by doing good: organizational Pao culture and its CSR effect

Abstract

Purpose

This paper explores the mechanism of organizational Pao culture in an Oriental cultural context and its impact on CSR implementation and outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

Three short cases are presented to reveal how the traditional Chinese Pao culture influences CSR implementation and outcomes in Chinese firms.

Findings

The findings suggest that the traditional Chinese Pao culture is the driver behind the value orientation of the norms of passing on favors and doing good deeds will be rewarded. Knowing this can help leaders in such organizations to incentivize member participation in building organizational Pao culture.

Practical implications

Through the collaborative construction of the core of Pao culture and external evaluation standards of corporate social responsibility, enterprises can thus achieve the dual goals of self-development and social benefits.

Social implications

Enterprises and managers can be encouraged to draw management wisdom from the essence of cultural norms, so as to achieve the goal of realizing the interests of all CSR participants.

Originality/value

This paper emphasizes the dynamics and outcomes of CSR implementation in the context of the traditional Chinese Pao culture and expands the boundary of CSR research beyond a Western cultural setting.

Citation

Wang, S., Zheng, W., Hou, Z., Goh, M. and Wu, Y.J. (2024), "Doing great by doing good: organizational Pao culture and its CSR effect", Management Decision, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-07-2022-0947