Ellen Van Velsor

Leadership practices for corporate global responsibility

Purpose – The move of organizations towards corporate global responsibility (CGR) is often a major change process that requires leadership throughout the organization. Despite an array of studies on managerial competencies in this area, previous research on leadership for CGR has not studied the actual leadership practices that are employed in a companys journey to CGR. The paper aims to fill this gap and to show how leadership for CGR is enacted by individuals and organizations that are highly successful CGR leaders.Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a comparative case‐study approach of five multinational companies that are recognized as industry leaders for CGR. A total of 54 semi‐structured interviews with senior managers were complemented by ten focus groups and an examination of company reports, value charters and mission statements. Interviews as the main source of information were double‐coded in a three‐step process with the goal of knowledge development.Findings – The paper identifies ...