The influence of CEO profile on corporate social responsibility companies. A qualitative comparative analysis

This paper, anchored in the principles of the upper echelons theory, strives to ascertain which CEO profiles configure high corporate social responsibility companies (CSR) among the best-performing companies worldwide. In addition, it considers the legal system that embeds the company. Based on a 5-year dataset (2015-2019), fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) was employed to ascertain the presence of CEO profiles related to the company's CSR, linking CEO characteristics and company CSR. The results show that CEOs promoted from outside the company, holding an engineering degree and an MBA, have ample experience and have been in the position for a long time, leading organisations within systems based on civil law, configure the best CSR companies. This multi-attribute approach to the study of CEOs could provide many fruitful lines of future research in the field of CSR.

Automated summary

This paper utilizes fsQCA to analyze the relationship between CEO profiles and company CSR, finding that CEOs promoted from outside the company with engineering and MBA degrees, significant experience, and long tenure, typically lead companies based on civil law systems and drive the development of the best CSR companies.