Impacts of Feminist Ethics and Gender on the Implementation of CSR Initiatives

Abstract

Nowadays women often lead teams, hold high positions in top management, plan and make important strategic decisions in firms or groups. However, little attention in scientific literature has been paid to gender difference in implementing CSR practices of firms. Implementing CSR practices successfully in many cases depends on the gender difference of top management. The object of this study is the importance of ‘feminine gaze’ with respect to gender difference in implementing CSR in firms. This study aims at supplementing feminist ethical – and in part, epistemological – concerns with empirical studies considering the role of women in the top management of firms, then the impact of gender on implementation of CSR initiatives was analysed, and the main drivers linked to gender for the implementation of CSR initiatives were assessed in this study based on the comprehensive literature review. The study confirmed the positive impact of woman representation on the development of CSR initiatives in the firm. The number of women in BOD and employee positions from all stakeholders including customers’ perspectives have positive impacts on the penetration of CSR initiatives, and can be considered as an important driver of CSR in the firms.