Research seminar by Ante Glavas from SKEMA Business School, invited by Valérie Swaen
Building on signaling theory, we theorize on and test whether signals of corporate social responsibility (CSR) improve employee performance and why. We conducted two studies within a large financial firm whose main CSR strategy was to invest in CSR at the branch level, specifically through sustainable building and related trainings of employees on why such buildings were important as well as to also improve employees own’s sustainable behaviors. In our base line study, Study 1, through a multilevel, longitudinal, quasi-experimental study of 135 branches, we compared branches that received third-party certification – which in signaling theory is important because it can increase an employee’s belief that these are true signals, credible, and consistent – for their CSR to those branches that did not have third-party CSR certification, even though the branches used similar sustainable building practices. Analyses revealed that, after controlling for market and other factors, employees in branches with third-party CSR certification had higher aggregated employee engagement and in-role performance. We used direct employee performance measures finding an increase of $461,300 more in sales per employee per year. In Study 2, we examined the underlying mechanisms in a multilevel model in which we surveyed 989 employees and 165 branch managers in 259 branches, finding that CSR certification sent signaling effects to employees of the values of the firm, which was then positively related to extra-role performance. This resulted in CSR values alignment which mediated the relationship between awareness of CSR and extra-role performance, and was moderated by perceived supervisor values related to CSR. Potential dark sides we found are that employee perceptions of CSR were more important than reality, and that these could potentially be manipulated by signals sent from the organization.
Ante Glavas is a Professor at SKEMA Business School based in the SKEMA Centre for Sustainability Studies and affiliated with the SKEMA Transformation Academy. He earned his Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from Case Western Reserve University.
Teaching: He teaches primarily on leading change for environmental and social responsibility. In addition, he has taught courses on entrepreneurship, international management, leadership, and organizational behavior. For his teaching, he has received awards such as James Dincolo Outstanding Teaching Award for best management professor when he was at the University and Notre Dame and Forbe’s “10 Most Innovative Business School Courses” when he was at Case Western Reserve University.
Research: His research focuses on how employees can influence, and be influenced by, their organization’s net positive impact on society and the planet. He has received research awards such as the SAGE 10-Year Impact Award given to one of the three most impactful articles from SAGE’s 1,000+ journals – specifically this was for a co-authored review of Corporate Social Responsibility / Sustainability. His research has been covered in media outlets such as CBS, CNN Money (at the time it was a merger between CNN, Fortune, and Money), Fast Company, GeekWire, GreenBiz, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal.
Other: Prior to going into academia, he worked in the area of social responsibility and sustainability in numerous sectors such as being a senior manager in Diageo (a Fortune 500 company), founded the first private graduate business school in Croatia (based on sustainability principles), founded two social enterprises, trained and consulted to over 100 organizations, conducted work in over 50 countries, served on the boards of numerous non-profits, and lived and worked in six countries. For his work in contributing to society, he received numerous awards such as a Medal of Honor from the President of Croatia.
For the full CV, see: https://www.skema.edu/sites/default/files/cv/documents/cv_22933_en.pdf