In the roles of an employer, how would you handle a situation where employees have taken on a greater sense of social responsibility than that is immediately apparent in your organization? How would you handle the potential tensions? Do you think it is important to adjust the organization’s social responsibilities, or demand that the employees fall in line with the organization’s stance? To what extent do you think that the absence of shared commitment might damage the organization?

As discussed in the Manager’s Notebook, “A Larger Purpose: Social Responsibility in the Recruitment and Hiring Process ,” social responsibility commitments can make an organization a more attractive employer. Furthermore, fit between an individual’s values and interests and the organization’s social responsibility commitments is associated with other positive outcomes, such as higher job performance and worker commitment. These positive outcomes can’t be expected to materialize just from a policy statement regarding social responsibility. If managed well, however, social responsibility efforts can be a source of competitive advantage for an organization by attracting applicants and improving the chances that they will join as motivated workers.