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Journal of Business Ethics
Published in: Journal of Business Ethics 3/2022

04-02-2021 | Original Paper

The Effects of Top Management Team National Diversity and Institutional Uncertainty on Subsidiary CSR Focus

Authors: Sven Dahms, Suthikorn Kingkaew, Eddy S. Ng

Published in: Journal of Business Ethics | Issue 3/2022

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Abstract

This research investigates how top management team national diversity (TMTND) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) institutional uncertainty affect strategic CSR focus in foreign-owned subsidiaries. The paper develops a theoretical framework based on institutional theory and upper echelon perspectives to test a sample of MNE subsidiaries. Survey data were collected from subsidiaries in Thailand and Taiwan. Non-symmetric analysis suggests that while TMTND plays an important role in establishing a CSR focus, it is not conducive in itself to high-performance outcomes. Performance is measured by market share, sales growth, and profitability for each subsidiary. The results also show that there are notable differences between the subsidiaries located in Thailand and Taiwan as to what extent CSR strategic focus and top management team national diversity are relevant for high-performance outcomes. The study demonstrates that the links between CSR, TMTND, and subsidiary performance are much more complex than previously assumed.
previous article Angry but not Deviant: Employees’ Prior-Day Deviant Behavior Toward the Family Buffers Their Reactions to Abusive Supervisory Behavior

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Appendix
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Footnotes
1
While diversity in gender, age, race, religion, and other, we follow the arguments by Gong (2006), Hambrick et al. (1998), Salk and Shenkar (2001) who argue that in multinational teams, the nationality is a trait of exalted importance.
 
2
Contrarian case analysis is undertaken to show that there are cases in the sample that are counter to linear or theoretical assumptions. For instance, Table 5 shows that there are some subsidiaries that perform high, even though they report little CSR. Contrarian case analysis is often done before fsQCA is conducted to show that fsQCA is relevant.
 
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Metadata
Title
The Effects of Top Management Team National Diversity and Institutional Uncertainty on Subsidiary CSR Focus
Authors
Sven Dahms
Suthikorn Kingkaew
Eddy S. Ng
Publication date
04-02-2021
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Published in
Journal of Business Ethics / Issue 3/2022
Print ISSN: 0167-4544
Electronic ISSN: 1573-0697
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-020-04721-z

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