Abstract
This chapter seeks to contribute to the corporate social responsibility (CSR) discourse of “doing well by doing good” in the domain of Global Information Technology Outsourcing (GITO). Matten and Moon (2008) define CSR as a “clearly articulated and communicated set of policies and practices of corporations that reflect business responsibility for some of the wider societal good” (p. 405). Authors including Bishop and Green (2008), Emerson (2003), and Porter and Kramer (2006, 2011) have all argued for a “doing well by doing good” approach to corporate social responsibility that utilizes pro-market strategies to increase returns on philanthropic investment. They posit that corporations that embrace social concerns create a “win-win” outcome for both parties (Falck and Heblich 2007). However, Ahmad and Ramayah (2013) highlight the controversy that exists, questioning whether ventures that devote resources and effort in trying to improve society will suffer in terms of performance, or whether enterprises that “do good” will also “do well,” and thus be successful both financially and socially. This issue remains inconclusive, as prior studies have presented mixed results (Roper and Parker 2013), highlighting the need for further empirical research. Furthermore, prior studies have largely been situated within a firm hierarchy or strategic alliance, and there is a paucity of literature exploring how the “doing well by doing good” approach to CSR might prevail in market-based interfirm outsourcing relationships. GITO presents an interesting context in which to study this phenomena, as it involves the subcontracting of IT services by transacting partners (client to a vendor) with some or all of the tasks undertaken in a different country (Sahay, Nicholson, and Krishna 2003).
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© 2016 Brian Nicholson, Ron Babin and Steve Briggs
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Nicholson, B., Babin, R., Briggs, S. (2016). Exploring the Effects of Liminality on Corporate Social Responsibility in Interfirm Outsourcing Relationships. In: Nicholson, B., Babin, R., Lacity, M.C. (eds) Socially Responsible Outsourcing. Technology, Work and Globalization. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-55729-2_9
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