Antecedents in the path forward to corporate social responsibility. reflections about information asymmetry and cognitive distance

The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is commonly recognized as a multidimensional domain interested in the challenges related to corporate governance and management within the conceptual umbrella of sustainability. Managerial and organizational literature have provided several contributions about the advantages for companies related to CSR and they have defined several instruments for measuring e managing its impact on companies’ performance. Anyway, the large part of contributions interested in CSR is strongly focused on its implications, on the need for enforcing instruments and models for CSR, and on the market perceptions about companies’ CSR strategies. In few words, CSR studies seem to be only interested in the latter part of the value chain. On the other hand, low attention is paid to the elements and conditions able to promote, stimulate, and encourage companies’ CSR strategies. With the aim to enlarge the ongoing debate about CSR domain, the paper aims at investigating cognitive and information flows able to influence companies’ approaches and market expectations related to CSR. Through a literature review, the research streams about Information Asymmetry and Cognitive Distance are analyzed for defining a conceptual model able to explain possible antecedents in the path forward CSR. The relevant role of feedback processes in ensuring a long-term engagement in CSR strategies of both companies and market actors is underlined and explained in the light of systems perspective and several key points are emphasized as drivers on which policy makers, researchers, and practitioners should act for building a suitable, shared, and long-term oriented path for CSR.