Sustainability under pressure?: The role of corporate social responsibility in promoting organizational citizenship behaviour: The mediating role of affective commitment and the moderating effect of labor intensity

Abstract

Sustainable development goals (SDGs) bring additional challenges to organizations. As key players in promoting sustainable development, organizations must integrate social, environmental, and economic considerations into their daily activities and business strategies. Encouraging companies to adopt these principles is essential for the success of the 2030 Agenda, but the path forward is often complex (European Commission, 2011; Turker, 2009). Promoting and implementing corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices can help organizations promote organizational citizenship Behaviour (OCB) by fostering affective commitment (AC) among employees. This study explores the relationship between CSR, AC, and OCB, with labor intensity acting as a moderating variable. CSR is proposed to increase AC, which, in turn, enhances OCB. Furthermore, labor intensity is accessed as a factor that can weaken the strength of this mediated relationship, highlighting the challenges associated by high-intensity work environments. A correlational study was conducted with 280 employees from various organizations, using a time-lag survey with three waves over three weeks. The first wave measured CSR (Turker, 2009), the second wave captured AC (Meyer & Allen, 1997) and work intensification (Kubicek et al., 2015), and the third wave measured OCB (Organ, 1997). The variables showed a strong reliability, and data were analyzed through multiple regression using Process for SPSS, specifically Model 7, to test the moderated mediation model. The results show that CSR indirectly influences OCB through AC, but this effect is weakened in environments with high labor intensity. The index of moderated mediation confirmed that labor intensity significantly moderates the AC-OCB link. These findings emphasize the need to consider contextual factors, such as labor intensity, when evaluating the impact of CSR initiatives. For managers, this suggests that while CSR can enhance employee affective commitment and OCB, its efficacy may drop in labor-intensive environments, requiring more custom-made strategies to maintain positive outcomes.