Drama and discounting in the relational dynamics of corporate social responsibility

Georgiana Grigore*, Mike Molesworth, Andreea Vonțea, Abdullah Hasan Basnawi, Ogeday Celep, Sylvian Patrick Jesudoss

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)
26 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Employing theoretical resources from Transactional Analysis (TA) and drawing from interviews with managers dealing with social or environmental issues in their role, we explain how CSR activity provides a context for dramas in which actors may ignore, or discount aspects of self, others, and the contexts of their work as they maintain and reproduce the roles of Rescuers, Persecutors and Victims. In doing so, we add to knowledge about CSR by providing an explanation for how the contradictions of CSR are avoided in practice even when actors may be aware of them. Specifically, we theorise how CSR work can produce dramatic stories where adversity is apparently overcome, whilst little is actually achieved at the social level. We also add to the range of psychoanalytic tools used to account for organisational behaviours, emphasising how TA can explain the relational dynamics of CSR.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)65-88
Number of pages24
JournalJournal of Business Ethics
Volume174
Issue number1
Early online date3 Aug 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s).

Keywords

  • Corporate social responsibility
  • Discounting
  • Drama Triangle
  • Psychoanalysis
  • Transactional analysis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Business and International Management
  • Business, Management and Accounting(all)
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • Economics and Econometrics
  • Law

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