Marc Fawaz

Abstract

Strategic and Corporate Social Entrepreneurship (SCSE) is a practice intended to support corporate endowments in developing effective, executable and impactful forms of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), which is a movement designed to encourage companies to engage in sustainable development, working toward ensuring social, environmental, and financial benefits for society and the environment. SCSE is grounded in a conceptual framework based on the three pillars of corporate responsibility: (a) social, (b) environmental, and (c) financial. Social Entrepreneurship (SE) literature from the last two decades reveals that a comprehensive theoretical framework for SE does not exist, and that most existing SE concepts fail to consider the important role of change agents. The purpose of this study was to determine best practices in corporate policies for creating, implementing, and measuring CSR. More specifically, this study compared corporate responsibilities and policies based on a review of (a) qualitative data pertaining to CSR located on selected corporations' websites and (b) literature on Corporate Social Responsibility, Strategic and Corporate Social Entrepreneurship, Corporate Entrepreneurship, Social Entrepreneurship, and both historical and contemporary leadership. The study also pointed to leadership theories and attributes that may be best suited to implementing CSR best practices. Analysis of this study's findings provided a detailed comparison of corporate responsibilities and policies for creating, implementing, and measuring CSR for the seven companies included in the study's purposive sample: Apple, Allergan, Alibaba, BMW, Disney, FedEx, and Google. For these companies, most contemporary, global CSR leaders were (a) global, (b) ethical, and (c) transformational. These leaders acted as transformational change agents and demonstrated four overarching best CSR practices for publicly-traded, global corporations: (a) creating a clear mission, (b) having a global outlook, (c) setting measurable goals, and (d) leading ethically. Most importantly, this study shows that of the seven global corporations included in the study, the three companies demonstrating the most impactful and comprehensive best CSR practices—Apple, BMW, and Disney—employed female CSR leaders. Gender appears to have played a role in successfully leading CSR initiatives, and so it seems highly advantageous for global companies to be selective with CSR leaders.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Dissertations (Ph.D.) -- Global leadership and change; Social entrepreneurship; International business enterprises; Business ethics

Date of Award

2018

School Affiliation

Graduate School of Education and Psychology

Department/Program

Education

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctorate

Faculty Advisor

Schmieder-Ramirez, June;

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