The coevolutionary process of restaurant CSR in the time of mega disruption

Juanjuan Ou; IpKin Anthony Wong; GuoQiong Ivanka Huang

doi:10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102684

The coevolutionary process of restaurant CSR in the time of mega disruption

Int J Hosp Manag. 2021 Jan:92:102684. doi: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102684. Epub 2020 Oct 8.

Authors

Juanjuan Ou^{1

2}, IpKin Anthony Wong³, GuoQiong Ivanka Huang³

Affiliations

¹ International College, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, No 2, North Baiyun Road, Baiyun District, Guangzhou, China.
² Lancaster University, United Kingdom.
³ School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-Sen University, Tangzhou Rd. 1, Zhuhai, China.

Abstract

This study investigates how US foodservice conglomerates have embarked on corporate social responsibility (CSR) measures to circumvent dire situations during the COVID-19 pandemic. It explores the evolution of CSR practices from restaurant enterprises to rescue and salvage their stakeholders. By analyzing press releases from ten restaurant chains in three different crisis phases (incubation, acceleration, and climax) through corpus linguistics, we identify a CSR progression mechanism that coevolves with the aftermath of the crisis among their stakeholders. This study improvises the CSR- as-process view to highlight the time-variant dynamic nature of CSR development over the course of major disruption.

Keywords: Coevolution; Corporate social responsibility; Corpus linguistics; Crisis management; Restaurant.