Mary Gowan, dean of the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business and professor of management, co-authored a paper titled “Corporate Social Responsibility, Applicants’ Ethical Predispositions, and Organizational Attraction” that was presented at the recent Academy of Management meeting in Anaheim, Calif.
The paper was also selected for publication in the Best Paper Proceedings for the conference, which includes only 10 percent of the accepted papers at the meeting. The research, conducted with Lu Zhang of Penn State Harrisburg, examines how economic, ethical and legal responsibility, three types of corporate social responsibility (CSR), impact applicant attraction to organizations and likelihood of accepting a job offer.
The study findings suggest that as long as a minimum level of each type of CSR is present, a higher level of one type can compensate for a lower level of another type. Also, organizations should consider the fit between their CSR focus and the ethical predispositions of the applicants they seek so that they can tailor their message to attract those applicants.