Evolutionary governance choice for corporate social responsibility: a forestry campaign case in South Korea

Abstract

Firms select different governance types (e.g. internalisation, outsourcing or collaboration) for corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. This paper examined how the choive of CSR governance type is influenced by social factors and organisational experiences and how changes in these factors affect the governance choice. These questions are especially meaningful in the context of developing countries with weak institutional environments and recent social change. With the unique phenomenon that is not readily explainable in terms of the extant theoretical groundwork on CSR governance choice, a case study of a South Korean forestry campaign by Yuhan-Kimberly was analysed. It was found that social circumstances triggered Yuhan-Kimberly's initiation of forestry projects, but the absence of social infrastructure limited the choice of governance type early on. Lack of experience also constrained the governance choice. Over time, environmental change and the accumulation of organisational knowledge caused the choice of governance to evolve. This study contributes to the CSR governance choice literature by exploring social and organisational determinants other than economic efficiency and by applying a dynamic perspective.