The expectation that organisations will act in a socially responsible manner under the guise of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is now one of the most significant contextual influences organisations face. This is particularly relevant to organisations located in industries that have the potential for significant environmental impact such as the cement industry. One often-acknowledged key element in CSR is the role of people in the successful implementation of CSR policy and practice. However, CSR research is rarely focused on the influence of people management in this process. This research has specifically brought back into focus the complexities, tensions and contradictions evident in the employment relationship via insights from the field of Human Resource Management (HRM) and the utilisation of the HR Causal Chain Model (Purcell et al., 2009) as a broad research framework. Using a single-case systematic combining approach (Dubois & Gadde, 2002, 2014) within a social constructionist perspective, this study aimed to address the question: How does Corporate Social Responsibility policy and initiatives influence Human Resource practices and stakeholder experiences? The case organisation used in this study was an Australian cement manufacturing plant, known for the purposes of this research as CementCo. The study utilised in-depth interviews, observation, analysis of secondary documentation, and thematic analysis to explore both the intended HR and CSR policies and practices of CementCo, and the processes involved in how these practices are enacted by line managers and experienced by employees in consideration of workplace culture and subcultures. The process-based approach provides significant insights into the HR and CSR implementation process and the 'black box' of HRM research. The findings demonstrate that while it is important to design and commit to strategically aligned and integrated HR and CSR strategies and policies, the dynamic and unpredictable process of implementation has a much larger impact on the success of these strategies than is recognised in contemporary CSR research. As such, one of the key contributions of this research is that within HRM and HRM-CSR research the implementation process should be considered, and it should be considered as a process that relies on the actions and attitudes of multiple stakeholders. The study has acknowledged and embraced the complexities, tensions and contradictions often neglected in mainstream HRM, and more broadly the organisation of work and people. It has explored the realities of organisational life, the perspectives and perceptions of those often forgotten in mainstream literature, and the processes of how work is organised and how people are managed. It has also contributed to the broadening of the field through the inclusion of more than just traditional HR functions, by exploring HR's broader role in the organisation and its social responsibility. In doing so, this study has shifted the HR research approach to one that incorporates the broader realities, processes, experiences, and perceptions, and thus redefined what a HR thesis can look like.
Date of Award | 2017 |
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Original language | English |
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- social responsibility of business
- personnel management
- case studies
- Australia
The influence of corporate social responsibility policy and initiatives on human resource management practices and experiences
Barker, B. (Author). 2017
Western Sydney University thesis: Doctoral thesis