Organizational antecedents of a mining firm's efforts to reinvent its CSR

Abstract

This article reports a case study of how organizational antecedents, specifically leadership choices, decisions, culture, and organizational learning, impact and construct the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of a Canadian mid-tier mining firm operating in Ghana. The primary objective of the article is to demonstrate, through an in-depth study of a single case, that organizational- and firm-level antecedents are a powerful tool for understanding how ethical, socially responsible, and community-relevant behaviors of a mining firm in a developing area come to be constructed. The article thus contributes to the conceptual and applied literatures on CSR by suggesting that much as the voice of moral suasion, advocacy, and critical censure have been important motive forces behind CSR efforts, it seems that the sustainability and community relevance of CSR efforts are linked to identifiable internal response mechanisms that dispose or enable firms to behave in responsible ways.