A fresh approach to corporate social responsibility (CSR): partnerships between businesses and non-profit sectors
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to offer a new conceptualisation on partnership emergence and dynamism between the business sector and the non-governmental organization (NGO) sector from a corporate social responsibility perspective. More specifically, the paper intends to examine partnering behaviour and management from a socio-political standpoint.
Design/methodology/approach
The case study approach used in the study utilised data from eight in-depth, semi-structured interviews, with managers from the business and NGO sectors engaged in a large-scale partnership between a Palestinian Cellular Corporation and an NGO. Interview transcripts were analysed using content and narrative analyses. Findings to be presented include reciprocity, corporate constitutionalism and utilitarianism.
Findings
The results found in this paper show that partnership has social, political, and ethical dimensions in support of the theoretical framework developed for this paper. More specifically, the results show that the studied partnership is an emergent process, fundamentally concerned with self-efficacy over community welfare, as well as being driven by individual organisational goals.
Originality/value
This paper sheds light on certain aspects of partnership that are often overlooked in mainstream research. It does not only highlight the multifaceted dimensions of partnering but also discusses how partnership can be envisioned and practised as inter-organisational relationships. It stimulates a pragmatic understanding of partnership nature and management showing that partnership emergence, direction and sustainability are conditioned by the stakeholders’ socio-political and ethical practices.
Keywords
Citation
Labib Eid, N. and Robert Sabella, A. (2014), "A fresh approach to corporate social responsibility (CSR): partnerships between businesses and non-profit sectors", Corporate Governance, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 352-362. https://doi.org/10.1108/CG-01-2013-0011
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited