THE ROLE OF MIDDLE MANAGERS IN DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENATTION OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY / SUSTAINABILITY

We study the emergence of strategic ambiguity in shedding light on CSR operationalization process. We expect middle managers as crucial stakeholders to use strategic ambiguity, proposing ideas, tools and actions in order to make the ambiguity concrete. The research is carried out in one of the CSR leading organizations, operating in the energy industry using an ethnographic qualitative approach. The findings suggest a number of drivers for middle managers to be involved in operationalization of strategic ambiguity. In addition we highlight the importance of organizational culture in order for proposed drivers to be effective. We discuss our findings inline with current debates about how CSR is developed internally, as well as contributing to the practice adoption and implementation studies.