Page 121 - Azerbaijan State University of Economics

THE JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SCIENCES: THEORY AND PRACTICE, V.81, # 2, 2024, pp. 117-142

More precisely, the goal of this research is to catch out how employees' perceptions
of CSR are influenced by responsible leadership through role modelling and how
employees' perspectives on CSR serve as a link between OCB and responsible
leadership. The perception of CSR by employees is a topic that has not received much
attention in CSR research (Lee et al., 2013).

Through the lens of SLT and Stakeholder Theory (Bandura, 1977; Carroll & Brown,
2018; Freeman, 1984), the researcher expands on CSR concept in relation to
employees engagement. Stakeholder theory states that businesses have obligations to
various stakeholder groups, including employees (Freeman & Dmytriyev, 2017; S.
Kim, 2023). While Stakeholders Theory highlights the importance of addressing the
needs of various stakeholders (Freeman, 1984; Maak & Pless, 2006), SLT explains
how employees learn and internalize CSR values by observing their leaders (Bandura,
1977). SLT also complements Stakeholder Theory by providing a framework for
understanding how leaders' actions serve as models for employees and other
stakeholders, encouraging behaviors that benefit a wide array of stakeholders.
Together, these theories assist explain why employees’ increase perception of CSR
gear to higher levels of OCB. Previous study on the indirect effect of responsible
leadership on employee OCB through the employee's perception of CSR activities has
not produced enough proof.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Responsible Leadership
Han et al. (2019) Responsible leadership is described as a group of behavioral traits
that take into consideration not just the benefits of the organization but also those of
stakeholders, like employees. A responsible leader finds harmony between leadership
qualities and social accountability by taking the requirements of the various
stakeholders in the company into account. A responsible leader seeks to balance the
interests and advantages of all stakeholders, including employees, in the economic,
social, and ecological spheres (Han et al., 2019b; Zhao & Zhou, 2019). Responsible
leadership has ramifications on several levels. Micrologically speaking, it can lead to
lower levels of unethical behavior and employee turnover and higher levels of job
satisfaction, organizational commitment, and work performance (Shi & Ye, 2016;
Voegtlin, 2011). Responsible leadership places a strong emphasis on leader ethics and
lives by moral standards, setting an example of moral behavior for staff members.
Additionally, workers typically view leaders as role models from whom they can
learn.

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