Stakeholder pressure and CSR adoption: The mediating role of organizational culture for Chinese companies

•The driving factors in the adoption of CSR practices are investigated for Chinese firms.•The stakeholder theory is used.•We examine the mediating role of CSR-oriented organizational culture.•The empirical findings show a fully mediating role of CSR-oriented organizational culture.

This empirical study investigates the driving factors in the adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices by Chinese firms. Following the stakeholder theory, the hypothesis of this study is that stakeholder pressures positively impact Chinese firms’ adoption of CSR practices. Studies on the relationship between stakeholder pressure and CSR practices have been inconclusive. In order to identify the missing links amid those inconclusive results, this study examines the mediating role of CSR-oriented organizational culture in the relationship between stakeholder pressure and the adoption of CSR practices. The empirical findings provide strong evidence that a CSR-oriented organizational culture has a fully mediating role on the relationship between stakeholder pressure and the adoption of CSR practices. These results suggest that Chinese companies should promote a well-established CSR-oriented culture within a CSR paradigm shift more effectively and thus gain a sustainable competitive advantage over their competitors.