Underneath organizational health and knowledge sharing

Purpose This research excursion through shipping companies in Vietnam seeks to examine if corporate social responsibility (CSR) influences trust, which in turn engenders the chain of effects from upward influence behavior through organizational health to knowledge sharing. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach which contributed to the analysis of 412 responses returned from self‐administered structured questionnaires dispatched to 635 middle level managers. Findings From the findings emerged a model of organizational health and its levers such as CSR, trust, and upward influence behavior. Ethical CSR was found to nurture high level of trust in the organization. Originality/value Through the findings of the research, the insight into the CSR‐based model of organizational health highlights the role of ethical CSR, trust, and organizationally beneficial upward influence tactics in building organizational health in shipping companies in the Vietnam business setting.