Towards the seeking of hrm policies with a socially responsible orientationA comparative analysis between Ibex-35 firms and fortune’s top 50 most admired companies

Abstract

During the last decades, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is being considered between academics and professionals as a strategic tool able to increase organizational competitiveness and financial performance. Those companies that are meeting the social, ethical and environmental concerns of their stakeholders (shareholders, employees, customers, Government, citizens, etc.) are obtaining great rewards because CSR actions are consistent with institutional values required by society and consequently can improve variables such as the legitimacy, reputation and market value. Concretely, in the organizational internal scope, employees represent one of the most relevant internal stakeholder for acquiring competitive advantages derived from CSR actions through enhancements in their commitment, sense of belonging, working environment and well-being. Taking this framework into account, this study raises a twofold aim. Firstly, to explore how the introduction of a socially responsible orientation in Human Resource Management (HRM) can cause a strength factor and a source of differentiation for firms. Secondly, to build a configuration of socially responsible human resource policies, following the social standards such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and ISO 26000. To support these objectives, we based our research on institutional perspective and stakeholder's theory. The method used has been a comparative analysis of socially responsible human resource policies in social disclosures and CSR reports from IBEX-35 firms and Fortune’s Top 50 Most Admired Companies.