Abstract
Firms concerned with their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices not long ago now face the challenge of ensuring that their entire supply chains become socially and environmentally sustainable. This paper addresses this new challenge by proposing a theoretical framework regarding the process dissemination of CSR throughout the Global Value Chain (GVCs). More specifically, it seeks to identify the factors that enable a firm to influence its supply chain partners to engage in CSR practices and the strategies these firms are likely to employ to exert such influence. To accomplish this, dyadic inter-firm relationships are examined regarding the qualitative distribution of resources between the two firms, the roles this distribution determines for each, and the strategies they are likely to adopt concerning CSR diffusion. We develop a theoretical framework that employs Resource Dependence Theory
(RDT) to address the first two factors and Agency Theory (AT), examine the last, and propose several research propositions. Hence, our research contributes to the Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) literature by laying down some theoretical micro-foundations of how firms transcend their CSR initiatives to create more sustainable supply chains. Finally, we provide some managerial implications derived from our model.