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There is much research published on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR); what it means, what it looks like, how to do it and the benefits for an organization. There is a lot less research on Corporate Social Irresponsibility (CSI) although people have experienced this facet more frequently.
This book offers a timely, interdisciplinary exploration of how corporate executives navigate the moral ambiguity between CSR and CSI. While CSR is often idealized as ethical and strategic, and CSI dismissed as aberrant or deviant, this work challenges that binary by showing how both can co-exist within the same organizations, leadership decisions, and legitimacy strategies.
Drawing from executive psychology and behavioral ethics the book advances a new conceptual framework: corporate social behavior is shaped not by fixed moral commitments but by the dynamic interplay between psychological characteristics, contextual pressures and the strategic management of legitimacy. The research offers a realistic, behaviorally grounded lens for scholars, practitioners, and educators seeking to understand the contradictions of modern corporate leadership. It is especially relevant in today’s climate of increasing scrutiny of corporate virtue signalling, reputational risk, and executive accountability.
Pier Luigi Giardino is a Ph.D. candidate in Management at the University of Trento. His research addresses behavioural strategy, strategic decision-making and managerial psychology. He currently serves as Communications Director for the Management History Division at the Academy of Management (2023-2027).
Matteo Cristofaro is an Associate Professor of Management at the University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’. His research focuses on behavioural strategy, strategic decision-making, and organisational adaptation. He currently serves as Chair of the Management History Division at the Academy of Management (2023-2027) and Vice President of Education at the International Federation of Scholarly Associations of Management.
Introduction
Chapter 1. When the Same Leaders Do Both: A Behavioral Strategy Review of CSR–CSI
Chapter 2. The CSR Mask of Corporate Irresponsibility: Inside the Historical Case Anatomy of Theranos’s CSR Rhetoric and CSI Practice
Chapter 3. Justifying the Questionable: An Experimental Study of Executive Framing in Ambiguous Ethical Contexts
Chapter 4. Executive Ambivalence in Theory and Practice: A Solid Agenda
Conclusion