Impact of Executive Citizenship and Organizational Commitment on Corporate Social Responsibility : Malaysian Evidence

The practice of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is considered insufficient in emerging economies where social problems outpace economic growth (Ramasamy & Ting, 2004). In Malaysia, firms have a strong incentive to engage in CSR to enhance their reputation and legitimacy as a consequence of the government’s significant influence on commercial activities. This study examines the impact of firm leaders on CSR practice in Malaysian firms. Our study addresses this issue by using upper echelons theory and social identity theory variables to determine which of the CEO characteristics and attitudes are associated with economic CSR, legal-ethical CSR, as well as discretionary CSR in Malaysian firms. We theorize that CSR engagements in the form of altruistic behavior at firm level, with executives being part of the upper echelon, would tend to be expressing their altruistic values at individual level through the firm if they are affectively committed to their company. Using a sample of 151 Malaysian firms that took part in an annual CEO survey in 2010, the study measures executive citizenship as CEOs’ having critical attitude towards public issues such as public transportation, public education, and crime. Our results show that executive organizational commitment has a significant positive impact on firm economic CSR, legal-ethical CSR, and discretionary CSR. We also find that executive citizenship is significantly and positively related to firm’s legal-ethical CSR. Further, the upper echelons theory variable executive tenure is significantly and positively associated with discretionary CSR