The HR role in corporate social responsibility and sustainability: A boundary‐shifting literature review
Abstract
Although research on human and social sustainability has flourished in the past decade, the role that human resource management departments play (or should play) in facilitating more socially responsible and sustainable organizations remains unclear. In practice, this lack of clarity is due to the multiple features and dimensions of potential HR contributions to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate sustainability (CS), as well as widespread failure to integrate HR and CSR functions. Theoretically, the absence of a framework that articulates the HR role in CSR and CS and the substantial separation between HRM and CSR/CS studies among academics act as a reinforcing mechanism. The present study contributes to the growing research on this topic, presenting a framework and a typology to classify the potential HR roles in CSR and CS and comprehensively reviewing the literature at the intersection of HR with CSR and CS. The results of the review provide a broader perspective on the role HR might play in CSR and CS as well as its impact beyond organizational boundaries.
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Since then an extensive amount of literature has been published on Sustainable HRM.
“Since then an extensive amount of literature has been published on the topic (for recent reviews, see De Stefano, Bagdadli, & Camuffo, 2018;Podgorodnichenko, Edgar, & McAndrew, 2019).”
From Common Good HRM: A paradigm shift in Sustainable HRM? (2020) · cites this paper as De Stefano, Bagdadli, & Camuffo, 2018
Leaders who effectively implement sustainability-driven HR policies create work environments that promote inclusivity, engagement, and ethical decision-making.
“Leaders who effectively implement sustainability-driven HR policies create work environments that promote inclusivity, engagement, and ethical decision-making (De Stefano et al., 2018).”
From Evaluation of the Sustainability of Organizational Welfare and Human Resources to Improving Long-Term Performance (2025) · cites this paper as De Stefano et al., 2018
Integrating environmental and social sustainability into HR strategies fosters corporate responsibility and enhances employer reputation.
“Stefano et al. (2018) argue that integrating environmental and social sustainability into HR strategies fosters corporate responsibility and enhances employer reputation.”
From Evaluation of the Sustainability of Organizational Welfare and Human Resources to Improving Long-Term Performance (2025) · cites this paper as Stefano et al. (2018)
This study's findings diverge slightly from those of De Stefano et al. (2018), who suggested that many companies still struggle to fully integrate HR sustainability with ESG policies.
“However, despite these consistencies, this study's findings diverge slightly from those of De Stefano et al. (2018), who suggested that many companies still struggle to fully integrate HR sustainability with ESG policies.”
From Evaluation of the Sustainability of Organizational Welfare and Human Resources to Improving Long-Term Performance (2025) · cites this paper as De Stefano et al. (2018)
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Common Good HRM: A paradigm shift in Sustainable HRM?
Aust, I., Matthews, B., & Muller-Camen, M. (2020) · Human Resource Management Review · doi:10.1016/j.hrmr.2019.100705 · Cited by 531 · see citing works
Ren, S., Cooke, F. L., Stahl, G. K., Fan, D., & Timming, A. R. (2023) · Human Resource Management · doi:10.1002/hrm.22169 · Cited by 148 · see citing works
R.A, R. A., Hardy, H., Asrul, A., Maslim, M., & Megawaty, M. (2025) · PARADOKS Jurnal Ilmu Ekonomi · doi:10.57178/paradoks.v8i2.1157 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Best practices in sustainable organizational welfare highlight companies' need to view welfare investments not as an expense but as a driver of business sustainability (De Stefano et al., 2018).”
Influential
- Authors
- De Stefano, F., Bagdadli, S., & Camuffo, A.
- Affiliations
- Bocconi University Milan Italy
- Bocconi University (IT)
- Invernizzi Center for Research in Innovation, Organization, Strategy & Entrepreneurship Milan Italy
- Corresponding author
- Camuffo, Arnaldo
- Venue
- Human Resource Management
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2017-11-15
- Volume
- 57
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 549-566
- ISSN
- 0090-4848 (ISSN-L)
- 1099-050X
- OpenAlex
- W2769338105
- Cited by
- 193
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 23 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 35 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 3
- FWCI
- 17.35
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Human Resource Management (publishedVersion)
- Archivio istituzionale della Ricerca - Bocconi (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Environmental Sustainability in Business
- Keywords
- corporate social responsibility, corporate sustainability, organizational boundaries
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