Toward an integrated model of leadership for corporate responsibility and sustainable development: a process model of corporate responsibility beyond management innovation

Purpose – The literature on corporate responsibility (CR) increasingly recognizes the importance of leadership in support of organizational change. This is particularly the case when CR provides the basis for the business contribution to sustainable development, which is understood to involve organizational and social innovation leading to change. The paper draws on theoretical and empirical studies to examine leadership for CR as a particular example of management innovation. Design/methodology/approach – The paper develops a model of leadership for CR as the business contribution to sustainable development by confronting and integrating the literatures on management innovation and leadership for CR. The proposed model is consistent with the direction, alignment, commitment (DAC) framework that fosters a culture of organizational leadership relevant to the specific case of business and sustainable development. Findings – The process model described in the paper connects leadership in organizational change with literature on management innovation. The paper draws on theoretical and empirically grounded literature on management, corporate responsibility and organizational psychology. It puts forward a sequence of mechanisms that contribute to successful change and discusses how they are linked. This sequence provides a process model of leadership practices for CR as the business contribution to sustainable development viewed as a particular form of management innovation, which involves the advancement of leadership practices for CR as organizational and social change. Research limitations/implications – The model is useful as a reference to practice and as a basis for leadership development. In terms of theory the model needs to be more thoroughly tested in empirical settings to understand better the interdependencies between leadership practices for CR and management innovation. Originality/value – This process model is the first attempt to develop a comprehensive understanding of CR in a management innovation framework. In doing this it moves beyond the recent focus on leadership skills and competences of individuals.