<p> This qualitative, phenomenological study provides a detailed look at corporate social responsibility (CSR) among selected U.S. Fortune 500 global corporations that show evidence of advanced stages of CSR development, herein referred to as <i>it</i>CSR. While CSR broadly conveys business' role in society, <i>it</i>CSR is a construct meant to indicate business' ideal contribution in society that epitomizes meaningful triple bottom line (TBL) impact. Using the Global Leadership Network Framework of business strategy, leadership, operational excellence, and engaged learning, this research explored what motivates executives to develop <i>it</i>CSR and the success strategies for instituting <i>it</i>CSR practices at America's largest publicly-traded multinational corporations (MNCs). The findings are particularly relevant in comparing the values, practices, initiatives, and drivers of <i> it</i>CSR development among the leading American global companies. Consequently, this study identified 10 U.S. Fortune 500 global corporations that met the <i> it</i>CSR criteria for this study from an analysis that included (a) cross-referencing five indices/lists that measure various parameters of the <i> it</i>CSR criteria, and (b) evaluating total trailing financial returns for 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year periods compared to the S&P 500 Index results. Overarching themes from the study include: a) a strong presence of core ideologies has been in place from the origin of each company and represent the essence of the corporate character, and thus its soul; b) the core ideologies are centered on improving life and communities and are grounded in circular wisdom, eudaemonics, and virtuousness, all tied to ethical governance and a moral consciousness; c) there is purposeful connectivity cultivated by leadership for all levels of employees to engage in a shared responsibility; d) executive efficacy in <i>it</i>CSR efforts and undertaking cannot be underscored enough, even though leadership may manifest in different ways; e) it is necessary to embrace and promote <i>it</i>CSR development as a continuous, never-ending, imperfect journey; f) it is necessary to activate all aspects of the business' operations, and at the same time, recognize that the process is more of an art than a science; g) including the customer on the <i> it</i>CSR journey is predicated on authenticity, vulnerability, and risk-taking; h) developing multi-stakeholder partnerships is proactive, strategic, selective, action-oriented, focused on collaborative learning, and absolutely designed for meaningful and sustainable triple bottom line impact; and i) <i> it</i>CSR development operates from a platform of innovation.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:3567736 |
| Date | 22 August 2013 |
| Creators | Berger, Denise D. |
| Publisher | Pepperdine University |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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