Harmonious CSR and sustainable business excellence in sports-organization: evaluating the moderating effect of fan engagement

Purpose: This study aims to develop and empirically test a conceptual model to examine harmonious corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of sports firms that are focused on sports education, community development and sustainable livelihoods and their effects on organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) and sustainable business excellence (SBE). Design/methodology/approach: A conceptual model is proposed, which is derived from stakeholder theory and social identity theory, along with related literature. The conceptual model was validated using mediation and moderation analysis of the survey data from 384 respondents. PLS-SEM was used to assess the measurement constructs and to examine the structural path relationships hypothesized in the proposed research framework. Findings: The proposed model supports the hypotheses that harmonious CSR in sports, communities and livelihoods nurtures greater OCBs, which improves organizational performance and SBE. Furthermore, it was found that perceived corporate reputation does not moderate the OCB−performance link, whereas fan engagement moderates the performance–sustainability relationship. The findings extend stakeholder theory and social identity theory and they provide practical guidance on optimizing harmonious CSR strategies. Research limitations/implications: This study has focused on a specific context, limiting the generalizability of the findings. This provides opportunities for future researchers to explore the applicability of the findings across different countries, enriching the outcomes with more generalizability. This study depends on cross-sectional data inviting defects of causality and endogeneity. Practical implications: There are several practical implications of this study. Sports organizations should engage their stakeholders in CSR activities that will lead to improvement in business performance. Moreover, sports organizations could improve their corporate reputation through investing in harmonious CSR activities for the well-being of society. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to be conducted on how harmonious CSR activities could achieve better sustainable business outcomes for sports organizations by fostering a culture of social responsibility and thereby improving overall organizational performance. This was a gap in previous research, which has been duly addressed in this study.