Rui Yang

I come from a research background of Business Organisation and Society. I am particularly interested in international and strategic corporate social responsibility (CSR). During my Ph.D. at University of Bath, I have studied strategic CSR with a particular focus on corporate community involvement (CCI) in the context of the Chinese business environment. My research emphasises the importance of cultural norms (guanxi) as a motivation for CCI in China. It seeks to understand how companies’ CCI behaviours are strategically tailored to initiate guanxi, and furthermore, facilitate inter-organisational relationship development with key stakeholders in China. By doing so, my research extends the research perspective of international and strategic CSR from the prevailing shareholder perspective to a new inter-organisational relationship building perspective and thus shows a different face of CSR.

My current research focuses on two areas. First, the motivation and management of corporate social responsibility (CSR); key themes emphasise the role of institutional and cultural processes as stimulants of CSR, and the oragnisation and management of CSR in the emerging economies. Second, the interface between the cultural and institutional environment in China and the Chinese operations of Multinational firms; key issues include the relationships between ethical conduct and guanxi and the impact of institutional and cultural factors on the management of relationships in China.