Senior Management Preferences and Corporate Social Responsibility

The purpose of this article is to examine whether or not having senior managers who are personally committed to socially responsible causes is either necessary or sufficient for firms to implement socially responsible activities. While not denying that having such senior managers may increase the probability that a firm will pursue a socially responsible agenda, this article concludes that senior manager commitment to socially responsible causes is neither necessary nor sufficient for a firm to implement socially responsible activities. This article has important practical implications for those seeking to increase the amount of socially responsible corporate behavior in the economy. In particular, the arguments developed here suggest that efforts that focus exclusively on changing the social responsibility preferences of senior managers in firms may be misguided, and at the least should be augmented by efforts focused on different firm stakeholders.