The Many Faces of CSR: Toward a Typology of Generic CSR Strategies

Managers struggle to develop cohesive and effective CSR strategies because many different perspectives on CSR exist, but the CSR literature lacks a unifying framework to reconcile these different perspectives. To take a step in this direction and help managers evaluate potential trade-offs between different CSR strategies, we use an abductive, multi-method, and firm-centered approach to develop a typology of generic CSR strategies. We begin with a thematic analysis of the CSR literature through the year 2023, identifying five core themes that characterize all CSR strategies: CSR communication, guardrails, actions, controversies, and impacts. We then use latent profile analysis on a 20-year panel of 461 S&P 500 firms to reveal a typology of five generic CSR strategies, which we call the opportunist, conformist, utilitarian, deontic, and integrationist strategies, each of which reflects a distinct pattern vis-à-vis the CSR themes. Finally, we draw on moral philosophy to theorize the unique moral core of each strategy to distinguish the strategies according to their philosophical merit but simultaneously maintain a central organizing theme across the strategies that connects them conceptually. Overall, we advance CSR research by providing a foundation that researchers and managers can build on when seeking to understand different CSR strategies.