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Corporate volunteering climate: mobilizing employee passion for societal causes and inspiring future charitable action

Rodell, Jessica B., Booth, Jonathan E. ORCID: 0000-0002-8563-4613, Lynch, John W. and Zipay, Kate P. (2017) Corporate volunteering climate: mobilizing employee passion for societal causes and inspiring future charitable action. Academy of Management Journal, 60 (5). pp. 1662-1681. ISSN 0001-4273

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Identification Number: 10.5465/amj.2015.0726

Abstract

As a society, we grapple with a host of national and global social issues — ranging from hunger and poverty to education to financial stability. Today’s corporations are playing an increasing role in efforts to address such concerns, predominantly through corporate volunteering. Yet, because research on corporate volunteering has been primarily focused on the individual volunteer experience, we still know relatively little about how corporate volunteering can help address grand challenges. In this study, we introduce the concept of corporate volunteering climate in order to examine the broader, more system-level functioning of corporate volunteering in workplaces. Drawing on the sensemaking process, we theorize about how a corporate volunteering climate develops — to what extent is it driven by company-level policies versus employee convictions for a cause? We also explore the potential influence of corporate volunteering climate for volunteers and non-volunteers, both in terms of the workplace (through employee affective commitment) and in terms of the broader community (through employee intentions to volunteer, both in corporate opportunities and on personal time). The results of a study conducted with United Way Worldwide suggest that corporate volunteering climate not only arises through either employees’ belief in the cause or corporate policies, but also that these forces act as substitutes for one another. Moreover, by fostering a sense of collective pride among employees, this climate is related to affective commitment, as well as both corporate and personal volunteering intentions.

Item Type: Article
Official URL: http://aom.org/amj/
Additional Information: © 2017 Academy of Management Journal
Divisions: Management
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
H Social Sciences > HF Commerce
H Social Sciences > HG Finance
Date Deposited: 20 Feb 2017 11:45
Last Modified: 15 Sep 2023 15:45
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/69524

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