Employees, Internal Social Responsibility, and Corporate Sustainability

Dear Colleagues,

More and more companies and institutions claim to be committed to sustainability, a multidisciplinary concept comprising social, environmental, and economic issues, and involving both an internal and external dimension (Sánchez-Hernández et al., 2016a). Indeed, an increasing number of sustainable policies and actions are aimed at external target audiences. Meanwhile, evidences of the incorporation of sustainable and responsible principles into internal management in organizations are not so common (Sánchez-Hernández and Grayson, 2012; Vázquez-Burguete et al., 2014), even when evidence also shows that most effective external actions are supported by the prior commitment of employees to responsibility and sustainability (De Stefano et al., 2018; Pérez et al., 2018), then suggesting that there is still much to be done (Vázquez-Burguete et al., 2008; Grayson and Sánchez-Hernández, 2010; Vázquez-Burguete et al., 2013; Sánchez-Hernández et al., 2016b; 2020).

This Special Issue on “Employees, Internal Social Responsibility, and Corporate Sustainability” aims to explore, discuss, and analyze how sustainable principles are being adopted in human resource management and internal marketing in all organizations in any sector (private, but also public, third and fourth sectors) as well as how this has been contributing and can contribute in the near future to the achievement of successful sustainable practices.

The guest editors welcome theoretical and empirical contributions focused on, but not limited to, the following topics:

- Internal Social Responsibility actions and campaigns in public, private, nonprofit, and hybrid organizations

- Internal marketing actions and policies dealing with sustainability principles

- Human Resource Management approaches to sustainability

- The Human Resource Department role in Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainability

- The journey to Green/Sustainable labor practices fostering employees well-being

- Labor relations and the legal support for internal management practices and procedures based on sustainability

-The incorporation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to Human Resource Management and internal marketing practices

References

- De Stefano, F.; Bagdadli, S.; Camuffo, A. The HR role in corporate social responsibility and sustainability: A boundary‐shifting literature review. Human Resource Management 2018, 57(2), 549–566.

- Grayson, D.; Sánchez-Hernández, M.I. Using internal marketing to engage employees in corporate responsibility. Working Paper Series. Doughty Center for Corporate Responsibility, UK, 2010.

- Pérez, S.; Fernández-Salinero, S.; Topa, G. Sustainability in organizations: perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibility and Spanish employees’ attitudes and behaviors. Sustainability 2018, 10, 3423.

- Sánchez-Hernández, M.I.; Grayson, D. Internal marketing for engaging employees on the corporate responsability journey. Intangible Capital 2012, 8(2), 275–307.

- Sánchez-Hernández, M.I.; Gallardo-Vázquez, D.; Barcik, A.; Dziwiński, P. The effect of the internal side of social responsibility on firm competitive success in the business services industry. Sustainability 2016a, 8, 179.

- Sánchez-Hernández, M.I.; Stankevičiūtė, Ž.; Robina-Ramírez, R.; Díaz-Caro, C. Responsible job design based on the Internal Social Responsibility of local governments. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2020, 17(11), 3994.

- Sánchez-Hernández, M.I.; Vázquez-Burguete, J.L.; García-Miguélez, M.P. New tools fostering human potential through internal social responsibility. Human Resources Management & Ergonomics 2016b, X(1), 86–96.

- Vázquez-Burguete, J.L.; Gutiérrez-Rodríguez, P.; García-Miguélez, M.P. Chance or necessity for applying internal marketing in public sector? Some evidences from local Spanish administrations. In Marketing in dynamic environments: contemporary research advances; Veloutsou, C., Papadopoulos, N., Eds.; Athens Institute for Education and Research: Athens, Greece, 2008; pp. 381–392.

- Vázquez-Burguete, J.L.; Lanero-Carrizo, A.; García-Miguélez, M.P. Expectations of responsible human resources management in three institutional contexts. A survey study in Spain. Human Resources Management & Ergonomics 2013, VII(1), 115–127.

- Vázquez-Burguete, J.L.; López-Aza, C.; Lanero-Carrizo, A. Responsible human resources management in the university – a view of Spanish students. Human Resources Management & Ergonomics 2014, VIII(1), 118–128.

Prof. Dr. José Luis Vázquez-Burguete
Prof. Dr. M. Isabel Sánchez-Hernández
Prof. Dr. María P. García-Miguélez
Prof. Dr. Ana Lanero-Carrizo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• corporate responsibility
• internal marketing
• internal social responsibility
• responsible human resource management
• sustainability