Drama and discounting in the relational dynamics of corporate social responsibility

Grigore, G., Molesworth, M., Vonțea, A., Basnawi, A. H., Celep, O. and Sylvian, P. J. (2021) Drama and discounting in the relational dynamics of corporate social responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics, 174 (1). pp. 65-88. ISSN 1573-0697 doi: 10.1007/s10551-020-04591-5

Abstract/Summary

Employing theoretical resources from Transactional Analysis (TA) and drawing from interviews with managers dealing with social or environmental issues in their role, we explain how CSR activity provides a context for dramas in which actors may ignore, or discount aspects of self, others, and the contexts of their work as they maintain and reproduce the roles of Rescuers, Persecutors and Victims. In doing so, we add to knowledge about CSR by providing an explanation for how the contradictions of CSR are avoided in practice even when actors may be aware of them. Specifically, we theorise how CSR work can produce dramatic stories where adversity is apparently overcome, whilst little is actually achieved at the social level. We also add to the range of psychoanalytic tools used to account for organisational behaviours, emphasising how TA can explain the relational dynamics of CSR.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/93842
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Henley Business School > Marketing and Reputation
Publisher	Springer
Download/View statistics	View download statistics for this item