How do personal values about Corporate Social Responsibility affect Human Resource Management Practice? (PDF)

Master's Thesis from the year 2011 in the subject Leadership and Human Resources - Miscellaneous, grade: 72 (with distinction), Queen Mary University of London, course: International Human Resource Management, language: English, abstract: Abstract
Little research has been conducted into corporate social responsibility and its implications for
human resource management, in particular with regard to application and recruiting process. The
study recognizes the importance of CSR in current management practice and strategy and examines
the way in which personal values regarding CSR affect application and recruitment practices in
Germany. To this end the study explores how individuals understand and define CSR and asks
which factors influence this. Moreover, the findings show what role individual understandings of
CSR play in the application and recruiting process. The research seeks to understand the external
environment that decisions are taken within and thus highlights the impact of socio-economic
context on personal values regarding CSR in general and in specific regarding the first point of
contact between job applicant and targeted company. The theoretical lens applied makes use of
Carroll¿s (1991) pyramid of CSR and Festinger¿s (1962) theory of cognitive dissonance. The study
is qualitative and includes an analysis of 16 semi-structured interviews with business students and
HR-managers working in companies in Germany. The results are used to present a complex and
multifaceted model that reflects the variety of factors that should be taken into consideration during
the application and recruiting process.