Authentic leadership’s influence on strategic corporate social responsibility in South Africa: mediated by participative decision-making

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of authentic leadership on strategic corporate social responsibility (CSR) in a less researched environment. This study set out to fill that gap in researching the direct influence of employees’ perceptions about the authenticity of their leaders as well as indirect effect through participative decision-making on strategic CSR which means the genuine intention to benefit society. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative research approach was followed, with an online survey to employees in large South African corporations across various industries that were mostly more than 10 years old. There were 1,417 useable questionnaires. Structural equation modelling was used to test proposed hypotheses of mediation effects. Findings The results revealed that authentic leadership has a significant indirect effect through participative decision-making on employees’ perceptions around strategic CSR – that is, whether their corporations are genuinely socially and environmentally responsible. Research limitations/implications The data collected were cross-sectional, and survey-based in the South African corporate environment; therefore, limited generalisations can be made, and causality could not be claimed. Practical implications Authentic leadership and participative decision-making are required to significantly influence employees’ perceptions about companies’ genuine interest in benefiting external stakeholders. Consistency between leaders’ words and deeds is important for employees, and therefore, companies must be socially responsible towards employees. Originality/value The main contribution of this research lies in showing that perception of leaders’ authenticity was enhanced when employees were allowed to participate in decision-making, which then increased positive perceptions about the organisation’s CSR focus. The study highlights similarities between authentic leadership and the African humanism philosophy of Ubuntu.