Mary Gowan, professor of management in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business, is the co-author of a study published in the most recent issue of the Journal of Business and Psychology.
The paper, “Corporate Social Responsibility, Applicants’ Individual Traits, and Organizational Attraction: A Person–Organization Fit Perspective,” was co-authored with Lu Zhang, assistant professor of management at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in Ulsan, Republic of Korea.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives are a major investment for many organizations. These organizations need to understand how applicants perceive CSR efforts if they want to maximize applicant attraction. This study is the first to address this issue by examining how job applicants form their perceptions of organizations based upon different configurations of the economic, legal, and ethical aspects of CSR. In addition, the study is the first to examine how individual differences in ethical predispositions and Machiavellianism influence the relationship between CSR and applicant attraction. Overall, the results suggest that organizations may be able to maximize the utility of their CSR investments by selectively conveying CSR information in their recruitment brochures so that their ideal applicants will find the organization attractive.
The paper is available in the September issue of the journal (J Bus Psychol (2012) 27:345–362). The Journal of Business and Psychology (JBP) is an international journal that publishes high quality research designed to advance organizational science and practice. The journal has a 13% acceptance rate for research submissions.