To adapt or not to adapt: The moderating role of openness to change in the effect of Corporate Social Responsibility on employee satisfaction and commitment.

Abstract

The demand for responsible business practices has been growing steadily for the past few decades among consumers, investors and employees. Because of this, corporations have started to increase Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices, which focuses on economic performance with respect for the social and environmental side. The effects of such practices on consumers, investors, and employees have been widely researched. Namely, employees viewing a CSR strategy as sincere are likely to increase their job satisfaction and commitment. A sincere CSR strategy asks for changes in the company’s routines and operations, and involvement of employees throughout the organization. As employees are central to the implementation of CSR policy, the question arises whether they are able to implement changes and experience effects of those changes, if employees are not open to that change. This study aims to find a model which predicts employee satisfaction and commitment using perceived CSR sincerity and employee openness to change. Using an cross-sectional between-subjects design (N = 109), a moderation analysis was performed with self-reported data to find the influence of openness to change on the effect of perceived CSR sincerity on employee satisfaction and commitment. An effect of perceived CSR sincerity on employee satisfaction and commitment is found, further supporting previous research. No significant results have been found on the moderating role of openness to change, nor on the direct effect of openness to change on employee satisfaction and commitment. Explanations for the results and implications of this research are discussed, before suggestions are made for future research.