This paper investigates the priorities governing large companies in an emerging market regarding corporate social performance (CSP). The authors propose profile patterns of responsible managerial behavior and a framework for evaluating CSP relying on stakeholder theory. The study relies on a statistical analysis which is designed to examine the significance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practice as it emerges from company business strategies. Taking the form of an empirical study involving 87 managers, this work relies on the cluster analysis theory, identifying six behavioral patterns when considering CSR practices: “lethargic”, “compliant, “pragmatist”, “auditor”, “formalist”, and “performer”. The cluster typology indicates the complexity of CSR practices and highlights the role of CSR in company strategy development. The proposed assessment model is intended to empower CSP diagnosis, while supporting management towards achieving sustainable growth.

This article examines the interrelationship between legitimacy building efforts – the different ways in which social enterprises (SEs) conform to stakeholder expectations – and types of innovation – the different approaches by which they create social and economic value through product, process and business model innovation. Using a multi-case study research design of twenty SEs in Scotland and Romania, we find that the SEs adjusted their approach to legitimacy building depending upon the types of innovation and stakeholder involved. Also, while all SEs pursued pragmatic and moral legitimacy through conforming with their stakeholders’ expectations, the type of innovation shaped the way in which they prioritised one form of legitimacy over another to deal with the tensions involved in pursuing legitimacy with heterogeneous stakeholders. This finding emphasises the importance of innovation type when explaining how SEs balance the tensions involved in trying to conform to a wide range of heterogeneous stakeholders with different expectations.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a key factor for every large company that wants to keep the attention of the general public (customers, community, business partners, local authorities etc.). Even if CSR is not a binding mechanism, neglecting its importance may harm not only company's perception on the market, but also its strategic market approach. CSR approaches are undoubtedly influenced by the values, motivations, decisions, of those with management roles within companies, so it is important to identify the reasons underlying social involvement in terms of positive and negative aspects that follow out of this range of initiatives. Through this article the authors underline the Romanian context where companies must implement and develop CSR practices using secondary data analyses, and as well they present an empirical qualitative research based on 87 questionnaires. The research instrument used is a questionnaire developed by the authors and the respondents were top managers, HR managers and heads of CSR departments within large companies that operate in Romania. Being a research in progress, relevant discussions and conclusions can be drawn from this paper, providing a detailed image not only about the research process developed but also about the reasons that might determine companies to invest in CSR.

We model the relationship between corruption perceived by Romanian employees and their intention to leave the country. This research, based on a survey of 911 Romanian employees, connects migration with corruption. We construct a model that explains employees’ intention to migrate based on corruption that they perceive at the country level and multiple organizational variables, such as career satisfaction, observed organizational misconduct, turnover intention, and perceived organizational corruption. Tests of the model show that Romanian employees who perceive a high level of corruption in the country, have a low level of career satisfaction, and want to find another job are disposed toward migration rather than finding another job in Romania.

Purpose: This study adopts an identity perspective to investigate the cognitive and behavioral processes by which founders’ role identity shapes their firms’ responses to crisis through considering its function as an interpretative lens and as an information filter, and the influence these cognitive functions have on founders’ decision-making behavior to respond to crises. Design/methodology/approach: Founders of 15 high-technology firms were interviewed to investigate their expectations defining their role within their firms, how these expectations filter and frame the information they perceive relative to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their firm, the ensuing response behaviors and their outcomes on the firm. Findings: The analysis distinguishes three crisis response behaviors: surviving, mitigating and aligning, each leading to a different degree of change in firms’ product development: minor, incremental and major. Two mechanisms connect founders’ role identity with their response behaviors and outcomes: identity as a cognitive schema shaping the information founders perceive from their environment and identity affirmation encouraging decision-making behaviors that re-affirm the salient identity. Originality/value: These findings contribute to entrepreneurial behavior research at the intersection of identity and crisis management studies. They show empirically the different pathways (interpretation and filter focus) through which entrepreneurial cognition links founders’ identity with their firms’ responses to crises. The findings indicate that crises encourage founders to double down on their identity rather than triggering identity changes.

Purpose: This study aims to examine the entrepreneurship profiles of migrants and refugees relying on a neo-configurational approach that increases understanding of causal complexity, equifinality and causal asymmetry patterns to high entrepreneurial intentions in the two groups. Design/methodology/approach: Using a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis method, the authors analysed 52 respondents – migrants and refugees. The findings show the existence of equifinality in which different configurations can lead to high and low entrepreneurial intentions, underlying that traumatic experiences have a major role in entrepreneurial intention. It also demonstrates that core conditions are associated with refugee’s configurations and causal asymmetry. The cross-sectional character of this research impedes the searching for a better causal relationship. The lack of studies that approach the subject of refugees makes it challenging to develop a robust theory in this sense. Findings: The paper highlights five main configurations – two related to migrants’ profile and three related to refugees’ profile – that enable expanding the current knowledge and practices to better customize practices to increase entrepreneurial intention. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research using a configurational approach to explore migrant and refugee entrepreneurship intention profiles.