Introduction
Corporate social responsibility is an essential component of the work of any business company as it forms its image and enhances the trust of its stakeholders. Besides, often, this aspect is reflected by company employees both in the working environment and in everyday life, since they represent the interests of the company. The leader also has to provide incentives for employees to perform their work duties at a high level; however, an ethical leader also contributes to the development of workers as moral and responsible individuals. For this reason, De Roeck and Farooq study in detail the relationship between employee social behavior, ethical leadership, and corporate social responsibility by considering all aspects that influence the results of the research.
Summary
De Roeck and Farooq (2017) analyze literature that studies corporate social responsibility (CSR) and come to the conclusion that the issue of its impact on employee behavior is not well understood. In their work, “Corporate social responsibility and ethical leadership”, they suggest that companies that undertake actions and promote the principles of CSR arouse the desire in employees to do socially useful things. In addition, the example of an ethical leader who promotes high social standards also has an impact on the socially beneficial behavior of employees. For this reason, scientists conduct surveys in 35 different companies to analyze the interdependence of these three factors (De Roeck & Farooq, 2017). As a result, they confirm their hypotheses and find that CSR enhances employee participation in environmental initiatives, and ethical leadership develops social engagement (De Roeck & Farooq, 2017). Thus, scientists in an empirical way find conformations of their hypotheses and contribute to the study of corporate social responsibility.
Analysis of the Literature Review and Hypotheses
This study is an example of a well-developed and organized work as scientists take into account all the nuances to obtain the most accurate results. The authors analyze the literature on corporate social responsibility and ethical leadership precisely and carefully. De Roeck and Farooq (2017) note, that although some sources mention the influence of these concepts on the social behavior of employees, there is no definitive empirical evidence to support the theory. For this reason, the authors highlight the main aspects of both SCR and ethical leadership and put forward their hypotheses. Many confirming theoretical facts make hypotheses sound, logical, and understandable, and also determine their scope. In addition, academic research allows the authors to determine the survey questions that are necessary to understand the relationship of all components of the study accurately.
Review of Methods of Data Collection and Analysis
The method of collecting and analyzing data is also logical and suitable for research, since the survey is the most convenient and affordable way to obtain information. A positive feature is that scientists verbally and in writing warned survey participants about the confidentiality of information, as well as that the questions did not have a right or wrong answer (De Roeck & Farooq, 2017). This explanation reduced the possibility of data distortion and inaccuracy of results. Besides, the right choice was an additional call to the survey participants, which allowed to get more answers (De Roeck & Farooq, 2017). At the same time, confirmatory factor analysis contributed to more accurate results and reduced the possibility of error.
However, the drawbacks of the survey are the limited selection, the possibility of bias of the participants towards themselves, as well as the personal characteristics of the respondents that the authors do not consider. Only 359 people took part in the research, which, although sufficient for this study, can still distort the data in general (De Roeck & Farooq, 2017). A larger sample of respondents could provide more accurate results and less chance of mistake.
Besides, the survey was conducted only in South Africa, so scientists could not take into account ethnic and national characteristics of behavior; however, the researchers noted this point as a limitation of the study (De Roeck & Farooq, 2017). Also, even though the participants were aware that the questions did not have the correct answers, they could subconsciously choose responses that increased their participation in social initiatives or misrepresented data about their leader. Therefore, the data may be partially distorted; nevertheless, at the moment, a more accurate method of obtaining data for such research does not exist. In addition, the study does not consider the attitudes of participants to social initiatives, the level of responsiveness, empathy, and other traits of character. However, the scientists noted that personal characteristics are crucial for determining the behavior of workers. They also included demographic data in the analysis, but the research format itself does not allow them to take this aspect into account.
Critique of the Discussion and Implication of the Results
The discussion part is quite brief, but it fully reveals the significance of the results obtained and provides confirmation of the hypotheses put forward. This part’s statements and facts help to summarize the essence of the entire study and understand its central topics. Besides, the authors fully described the theoretical and practical contribution of the findings, and it is difficult to add other points. The main theoretical application of the research results is complementing and filling gaps in knowledge about SCR at the organization level and its impact on employees’ social behavior. The authors also note that findings can explain the effect of ethical leadership on employee involvement in social initiatives at work and beyond (De Roeck & Farooq, 2017). This theoretical base allows applying the results in practice to improve the image of the company due to the high level of social responsibility of employees, as well as to conduct training for leaders. Thus, the authors describe all the areas in which the study can contribute.
Analysis of Limitations
De Roeck and Farooq (2017) also analyze in detail the limitations of the study by describing the disadvantages of data collection mentioned above. They recognize that conducting a survey in only one country, as well as the human bias factor, can influence the results of the research. However, at the same time, the authors suggest further ways to develop the study, which include other mediating mechanisms, moderators, and sources of influence on the behavior of employees related to social responsibility (De Roeck & Farooq, 2017). Thus, the authors intend to use the limitations of this study for its development and the expansion of the research issues.
Conclusion
Therefore, this study is related to the topics that are necessary for management sphere and covers all the issues proposed by the authors for the research. Although the methods of collecting information have some drawbacks, they are associated with objective limitations and not the omissions of the authors. The analysis of the literature, the developed method of data analysis and collection, and the described implications of the results demonstrate a deep understanding of the topic by authors and the thoroughness of the study. In addition, both findings and limitations of this work can be used to expand research in this topic or issues related to it.
Reference
De Roeck, K. D., & Farooq, O. (2017). Corporate social responsibility and ethical leadership: Investigating their interactive effect on employees’ socially responsible behaviors. Journal of Business Ethics, 151(4), 923–939.