Key Players in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Institutionalization: An Analysis of Multinational Companies’ Interorganizational Positioning via CSR Reports

Drawing on institutional theory, we position CSR reports as a crucial communication practice that provides evidence of shared norms, values, and relationships among organizations operating within the institutionalized environment. Through Fortune Global 500 companies’ CSR reports published in 2018 and using named entity recognition, we analyzed interorganizational networks to understand the driving forces behind CSR institutionalization. After fitting exponential random graph models (ERGMs) to the network, we found that standards-setting organizations played the most prominent role. In addition, we identified distinct sectoral preferences in companies’ interorganizational positioning in relation to legitimacy-granting organizations such as (inter)governmental agencies and financial organizations. We discuss the implications of the emphasis on standardization, sectoral differences, and network dynamics among various legitimacy-granting organizations on CSR institutionalization and CSR reporting as communicative constitution of institutional legitimacy.