Abstract
Companies committed to corporate social responsibility (CSR) should ensure
that their managers possess the appropriate competencies to effectively
manage the CSR adaptation process. The literature provides insights into
the individual competencies these managers need but fails to prioritize them
and adequately contextualize them in a manner that makes them meaningful
in practice. In this study, we contextualized the competencies within the
different job roles CSR managers have in the CSR adaptation process. We
interviewed 28 CSR managers, followed by a survey to explore the relative
importance of the competencies within each job role. Based on our analysis,
we identified six distinct managerial roles, including strategic, coordinating,
and stimulating roles. Next, we identified per role key individual CSR-related
competencies as prioritized by the respondents. Our results show that the context, as indicated in this study by CSR managers’ job roles, indeed
influenced the importance of particular CSR-related competencies, because
each role seems to require a different combination and prioritization of these
competencies. Moreover, the results suggest that the relative importance of
these competencies within each role may be driven by business logic rather
than an idealistic logic. The results are presented as a competence profile
which can serve as a reflection tool and as a frame of reference to further
develop the competence profile for CSR managers.