A Personal Social Responsibility Framework For Leadership Action Within Organizations
Monarch is happy to announce the recently authorised research proposal by PhD Candidate Ms. Catherine Echeozo. Her research focuses on the important issue of Personal Social Responsibility as a foundation for Social Responsibility and the attainment of Sustainability goals.
The Research
Environmental degradation remains one of the most pressing existential threats confronting humanity (Dalby, 2022). The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2025 ranks environmental hazards among the top global threats for the next decade, occupying four of the first five positions (Global Risks Report 2025). Global efforts to address these risks began with the 1972 United Nations (UN) Stockholm Conference and were institutionalized through the adoption of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015. However, according to the UN SDG Progress Report 2025, only 35% of these goals are currently on track, signaling the inadequacy of existing approaches.
The private sector, responsible for generating approximately 67% of global GDP, plays a pivotal role in addressing environmental and social challenges (Obel & Kallehave, 2022). Yet despite the sector’s substantial engagement, estimated at $16.6 trillion in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) spending (Ajaz et al., 2024), evidence suggests that CSR has failed to achieve its intended impact (Barnett et al., 2020; Tamvada, 2020; Velte, 2022). The available global savings of $22 trillion per year further reveal that the constraint lies not in financial capacity but in strategic and moral direction (Divakaran et al., 2016). Scholars increasingly argue that CSR’s limited effectiveness stems from its misplaced emphasis on institutions rather than on the individuals who lead them (Henderson, 2010).
The contemplated research contends that the foundational text of modern CSR, Howard Bowen’s Social Responsibilities of the Businessman (1953), has been misinterpreted, as its moral appeal was directed at the businessman rather than the corporation. Consequently, seventy years of CSR practice may have targeted the wrong locus of accountability, constraining meaningful progress toward the SDGs. The contemplated study proposes a paradigm shift from CSR to Personal Social Responsibility (PSR), positioning the acting individual: leaders of organizations, as the conscious moral agents responsible for advancing sustainable development (Marek & Jabłoński, 2021).
The contemplated research will attempt to develop a PSR framework through a quadrilateral literature synthesis integrating four interdisciplinary domains: CSR/PSR, Catholic Social Thought and Social Justice, Personal Leadership Theory, and Congruency Theory. A qualitative methodology, employing semi-structured interviews with leaders across businesses, non-governmental organizations, and governments (BNGGs), will explore how individual leadership ethics can realign organizational practices toward a sustainable future.
The Researcher
Ms. Catherine Echeozo is a Dual PhD / DOL Combined Program Candidate. She holds an MBA from the University of Maryland and a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from the University of Nigeria. She is the Founder and Director of Cathingens an Organization that inspires and supports women, children and youth from challenged homes. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria. At present, she holds Non-Executive Board positions at various institutions including: the Council of the Nigerian Stock Exchange; Stanbic IBTC Pension Fund Managers Limited; and, Guaranty Trust Bank Holding Company Plc. She has been appointed External Member of the Investment Committee of CDC Group Plc. and Member of the Board of Trustees of First Cardiology Consultants Foundation, and ICAN University. She is also Member of the Finance Council of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos. During her career in Corporate Banking she has held managerial and executive positions with Guarantee Trust, Ecobank Nigeria and Continental (Chase) Merchant Bank. During her two decade tenure at Guarantee Trust Ms. Echeozo held the positions of Deputy General Manager, General Manager, Executive Director and Deputy Managing Director. Her specialty is within the Oil & Gas and Telecom Groups. She has attended the Governance program at UCLA Anderson School of Management; Driving Corporate Performance at Harvard Business School Executive Education, Orchestrating Winning Performance at IMD International in Switzerland, and Executive Education Program at Columbia Business School.