What Discretion for Socially Responsible Engagement Do Top Managers Have? Issues and Perspectives of Corporate Governance

Abstract

From a socio-political perspective, this article examines the influence of corporate governance mechanisms at the organizational level on the engagement and discretion of top managers with regard to corporate social responsibility (CSR). An exploratory, empirical and qualitative study was conducted among 20 French top managers of listed companies, and our results highlight two main contributions. First, we identified three "types" of corporate governance system, each with a set of perceived consequences for the CSR engagement and discretion of these managers. Second, for each of the governance systems, we characterized the voluntary aspect the top managers’ engagement in and discretion for CSR. Our research provides new insights into how the motivations of both top managers and the most salient stakeholders in corporate governance codetermine CSR engagement. Top management discretion becomes redefined around a game of power and influence within the corporate governance system, which we describe.