Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T03:12:33.777Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Dynamics of corporate social responsibility: towards a new ‘conception of control’?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 December 2011

THOMAS LAMARCHE  and
MARIANNE RUBINSTEIN
THOMAS LAMARCHE*
Affiliation:
Université Paris Diderot, UMR LADYSS CNRS, Paris, France
MARIANNE RUBINSTEIN*
Affiliation:
Université Paris Diderot, UMR CEPN CNRS, Paris, France
*
*Email: [email protected]
**Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) was long associated with the ethics of company heads but now falls within an institutional process whereby practices give rise to rules which in turn modify company actions. CSR has spread as a result of social demand for a more ecological society, but it also constitutes a response to the crisis of shareholder governance. Drawing on the notion of ‘conception of control’ set out by Neil Fligstein (1990), we argue that CSR has given rise to a new ‘conception of control’, which we term ‘shareholder–CSR compatible’. Such a conception reflects how governance changes when environmental and societal responsibilities are combined with responsibility to shareholders. Shareholder value is still central within the enterprise, but top managers must now assume the position of mediators between these two imperatives.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Institutional Economics , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , June 2012 , pp. 161 - 186
Copyright
Copyright © The JOIE Foundation 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acquier, A. and Gond, J.-P. (2007), ‘Aux sources de la responsabilité sociale de l'entreprise: à la (re)découverte d'un ouvrage fondateur, Social Responsibilities of the Businessman d'Howard Bowen l'impact des privatisations sur la performance des entreprises françaises’, Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, 10 (2): 5–35.Google Scholar
Aglietta, M. (1998), ‘Le capitalisme de demain’, Notes de la Fondation Saint-Simon, 101.Google Scholar
Aglietta, M. and Rebérioux, A. (2005 [2004]), Corporate Governance Adrift: A Critique of Shareholder Value, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allouche, J. and Laroche, P. (2005), ‘A Meta-Analytical Examination of the Link Between Corporate Social and Financial Performance’, Revue de Gestion des Ressources Humaines, 57: 18–41.Google Scholar
Appelbaum, E. and Berg, P. (2000), ‘High-Performance Work Systems: Giving Workers a Stake’, in Blair, M. M. and Kochan, T. A. (eds.), The New Relationship: Human Capital in the American Corporation, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, pp. 102–137.Google Scholar
Batsch, L. (2002), Le capitalisme financier, Paris: La Découverte.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beattie, V. and Thomson, S. J. (2005), ‘Intangibles and the OFR’, Financial Management, June: 29–30.Google Scholar
Berger, S. (2005), How We Compete: What Companies Around the World Are Doing to Make it in the Global Economy, New York: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Berle, A. A. and Means, G. C. (1932), The Modern Corporation and Private Property, New York: Harcourt, Brace and World.Google Scholar
Béthoux, E., Didry, C., and Mias, A. (2007), ‘What Codes of Conduct Tell Us: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Nature of the Multinational Corporation’, Corporate Governance: An International Review, 15 (1): 77–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blair, M. (1995), Ownership and Control. Rethinking Corporate Governance for the Twenty-First Century, Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
Bodet, C. and Lamarche, T. (2007), ‘La responsabilité sociale des entreprises comme innovation institutionnelle. Une lecture régulationniste’, Revue de la Régulation, 1, http://regulation.revues.org/index1283.htmlGoogle Scholar
Bodet, C. and Lamarche, T. (2011), ‘Du rapport de développement durable au rapport CHSCT: tension sur l'expertise sociale dans l'entreprise’, in Allouche, J. and Bardelli, P. (eds.), La souffrance au travail: quelle responsabilité de l'entreprise?, Paris: Armand Colin/Collection Recherches.Google Scholar
Boltanski, L. and Chiapello, E. (2007 [1999]), The New Spirit of Capitalism, London and New York: Verso Books.Google Scholar
Boltanski, L. and Thévenot, L. (2006 [1999]), On Justification: Economies of Worth, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowen, H. R. (1953), Social Responsibilities of the Businessman, New York: Harper & Brothers.Google Scholar
Boyer, R., Dehove, M., and Plihon, D. (2004), Les crises financières. Rapport du CAE, no. 50, Paris: La documentation Française.Google Scholar
Boyer, R. and Saillard, Y. (eds.) (2002 [1995]), Regulation Theory. The State of the Art, London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Brabet, J. (2009), ‘Corporate Social Responsibility and its Models’, Proceedings of the 9th EURAM Conference, Renaissance and Renewal in Management Studies, Liverpool, 11–14 May.Google Scholar
Capron, M. and Quairel-Lanoizelée, F. (2004), Mythes et réalités de l'entreprise responsable, Paris: La Découverte.Google Scholar
Capron, M. and Petit, P. (2011), ‘Responsabilité sociale des entreprises et diversité des capitalismes’, Revue de la Régulation, 9, http://regulation.revues.org/index9142.htmlGoogle Scholar
Carroll, A. B. (1979), ‘A Three-Dimensional Conceptual Model of Corporate Performance’, Academy of Management Journal, 4 (4): 497–505.Google Scholar
Cezanne, C. and Rubinstein, M. (2011), La RSE comme instrument de la gouvernance d'entreprise: une application à l'industrie française des télécommunications, working paper, http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/SHS/hal-00628645/fr/CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chandler, A. D. (1990), Scale and Scope, Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chiapello, E. (2009), ‘Le capitalisme et ses critiques’, Communication au Congrès du RIODD, Lille, 25–27 June 2009.Google Scholar
Cohen, E. (2005), ‘Grandes entreprises: dynamique de recentrage et d'externalisation’, INSEE Méthodes, 109(juin): 87–91.Google Scholar
Coriat, B. and Weinstein, O. (2002), ‘Organizations, Firms and Institutions in the Generation of Innovation’, Research Policy, 31 (2): 273–290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daugareilh, I. (2009), ‘Responsabilidad social de las empresas transnacionales: análisis crítico y prospectiva jurídica’, Cuadernos de Relaciones Laborales, 1 (27): 93–123.Google Scholar
de la Broise, P. and Lamarche, T. (2006), Responsabilité sociale: vers une nouvelle communication des entreprises?, Lille: Septentrion.Google Scholar
DiMaggio, P. J. and Powell, W. W. (1983), ‘The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields’, American Sociological Review, 48 (2): 147–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Easterbrook, F. H. and Fishel, D. R. (1991), The Economic Structure of Corporate Law, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Elkington, J. (1999), Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business, Oxford: Capstone Publishing.Google Scholar
Epstein, G. (2005), Financialization and the World Economy, Amherst, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing.Google Scholar
Eymard-Duvernay, F. (2004), Economie politique de l'entreprise, Paris: La Découverte.Google Scholar
Fligstein, N. (1990), The Transformation of Corporate Control, Cambridge: MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Fligstein, N. (2001), The Architecture of Markets, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fombrun, C. and Shanley, M. (1990), ‘What's in a Name? Reputation Building and Corporate Strategy’, Academy of Management Journal, 33 (2): 233–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
France Télécom (2009), Responsabilité sociale des entreprises. Rapport détaillé, France Télécom 2009, Paris: Groupe France Télécom, pp. 48–49.Google Scholar
Gereffi, G., Humphrey, J., and Sturgeon, T. (2005), ‘The Governance of Global Value Chains’, Review of International Political Economy, 12 (1): 78–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guthrie, D. and Durand, R. (2008), ‘Social Issues in the Study of Management’, European Management Review, 5 (3): 137–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoffman, A. J. (1999), ‘Institutional Evolution and Change: Environmentalism and the U.S. Chemical Industry’, Academy of Management Journal, 42 (4): 351–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenkins, R. T. (2001), Corporate Codes of Conduct: Self-Regulation in a Global Economy, Technology, Business and Society Programme Paper no. 2, Geneva: United Nations Research Institute for Social Development.Google Scholar
Lamarche, T. (2009), ‘Les nouvelles institutions de la “mesure” de la RSE entre communication et évaluation’, Revue de l'Organisation Responsable, 2 (4): 4–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lancaster, K. (1966), ‘A New Approach to Consumer Theory’, Journal of Political Economy, 74: 132–157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Langlois, C. C. and Shlegemilch, B. D. (1990), ‘Do Corporate Codes of Ethics Reflect National Character? Evidence from Europe and the United States’, Journal of International Business Studies, 21 (4): 519–539.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lazonick, W. and O'Sullivan, M. (2000), ‘Maximizing Shareholder Value: A New Ideology for Corporate Governance’, Economy and Society, 29 (1): 13–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lev, B. (2003), ‘Remarks on the Measurement, Valuation, and Reporting of Intangible Assets’, FRBNY Economic Policy Review, September 2003, pp. 17–22.Google Scholar
Lordon, F. (2000), ‘La “création de valeur” comme rhétorique et comme pratique. Généalogie et sociologie de la “valeur actionnariale”’, L'Année de la Régulation, 4: 117–165.Google Scholar
Margolis, J. D., Elfenbein, H. A., and Walsh, J. P. (2007), ‘Does it Pay to be Good? A Meta-Analysis and Redirection of Research on the Relationship Between Corporate Social and Financial Performance’, Working Paper Harvard University, 26 July 2007.Google Scholar
Mariotti, F. (2004), ‘Entreprise et gouvernement: à l'épreuve des réseaux’, Revue Française de Sociologie, 45: 711–737.Google Scholar
McWilliams, C., Siegel, D. S., and Wright, P. M. (2006), ‘Guest Editor's Introduction. Corporate Social Responsibility: Strategic Implications’, Journal of Management Studies, 43 (1): 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montagne, S. (2007), ‘In Trusts We Trust: Pension Funds Between Social Protection and Financial Speculation’, European Economic Sociology Newsletter, 8 (3): 26–32.Google Scholar
Nadaï, A. (1998), ‘Concurrence dans la qualification environnementale des produits’, Revue d'Économie Industrielle, 83: 197–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nakamura, L. (2001), ‘What is the US Gross Investment in Intangibles? (At Least) One Trillion Dollars a Year!’, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Working Paper, 01-15, Philadelphia, PA: Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
North, D. (1990), Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orléan, A. (1999), Le pouvoir de la finance, Paris: Odile Jacob.Google Scholar
Orlitzki, M., Schmidt, F. L., and Rynes, S. L. (2003), ‘Corporate Social and Financial Performance: A Meta-Analysis’, Organization Studies, 24 (3): 403–441.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palpacuer, F. (2008), ‘Firme-réseau globale et réseaux transnationaux d'ONG: vers un nouveau mode de régulation?’, Revue de la Régulation, 2, http://regulation.revues.org/index1588.htmlGoogle Scholar
Palpacuer, F., Seignour, A., and Vercher, C. (2011), ‘Financialization, Globalization and White Collar Management: Towards a Market-Based HRM Model in Large Corporations in France’, British Journal of Industrial Relations, 49 (1): 583–586.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pavitt, K. (2005), ‘What are Advances in Knowledge Doing to the Large Industrial Firm in the “New Economy”?’, Revue d'Économie Industrielle, 110 (1): 15–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Porter, M. and Kramer, M. (2006), ‘Strategy and Society: the Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility’, Harvard Business Review Spotlight, 84 (12): 78–92.Google Scholar
Rajan, R. G. and Zingales, L. (2000), ‘The Governance of the New Enterprise’, in Vives, X. (ed.), Corporate Governance, Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 201–226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rigot, S. (2010), Stratégie et gouvernance des fonds de pension, PhD Thesis, Université Paris-Ouest La Défense.Google Scholar
Rubinstein, M. (2006), ‘Le développement de la responsabilité sociale de l'entreprise’, Revue d'Économie Industrielle, 113: 83–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rubinstein, M. (2008), Approche stratégique de la responsabilité sociale des entreprises, rentes de monopole et nouvelle gouvernance d'entreprise, Conférence EAEPE, CNAM, Paris.Google Scholar
Rubinstein, M. and Weinstein, O. (2000), ‘Corporate governance et efficience, entre institutions et organisations’, Colloque Institutions et Organisations Université d'Amiens.Google Scholar
Shleifer, A. and Vishny, R. W. (1997), ‘A Survey of Corporate Governance’, Journal of Finance, 52 (2): 737–783.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swaen, V. and Vanhamme, J. (2006), ‘Utilisation de l'argument citoyen dans les campagnes de communication des entreprises’, in Broise, P. and Lamarche, T. (eds.), Responsabilité sociale: vers une nouvelle communication des enterprises?, Lille: Septentrion, pp. 75–98.Google Scholar
Weinstein, O. (2010), Pouvoir, finance et connaissance. Les transformations de l'entreprise capitaliste entre XXe et XXIe siècle, Paris: La Découverte.Google Scholar
Williamson, O. (1981), ‘The Modern Corporation: Origins, Evolution, Attributes’, Journal of Economic Literature, 19 (4): 1537–1568.Google Scholar
Wu, M.-L. (2006), ‘Corporate Social Performance, Corporate Financial Performance and Firm Size: a Meta-Analysis’, Journal of American Academy of Business, 8 (1): 163–171.Google Scholar
Zingales, L. (2000), ‘In Search of New Foundations’, Journal of Finance, 55 (4): 1623–1653.CrossRefGoogle Scholar