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Date Published:
18/11/2020
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Tran, T. H., & Nguyen, T. T. H. (2021). CSR motivators of local firms in a developing country: a case study in Quang Ninh province, Vietnam. Journal of International Economics and Management, 20(3), 75-95. https://doi.org/10.38203/jiem.020.3.0017
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CSR motivators of local firms in a developing country: a case study in Quang Ninh province, Vietnam
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Abstract
This research explores firms’ motivators to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions from the middle managers’ perspective. In-depth interviews were conducted with 27 middle managers from Quang Ninh province in Vietnam. Using Carroll’s (1991) CSR pyramid model as the framework for qualitative data analysis, the research finds that, through the middle managers’ lens, firms are motivated to engage with CSR for necessity and sufficiency. The necessity components are profitability, competitive advantage, law compliance, and anti-bureaucracy achievements serving as the maintenance factors; and the sufficient components known as encouraging factors include employee retention, ethical image and reputation. The research contributes to the extension of Carroll’s (1991) CSR pyramid model to the context of local firms in a developing country.
Article Details
Keywords
CSR, Motivators, Vietnam
References
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Andromachi, A. (2012), “Managers' corporate social responsibility perceptions and attitudes across different organizational contexts within the non-profit–for-profit organizational continuum”, Journal of Change Management, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 467 - 494.
Baden, D. (2016), “A reconstruction of Carroll’s pyramid of corporate social responsibility for the 21st century”, International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Vol. 1 No. 8, pp. 1 - 15.
Berson, Y., Oreg, S. and Dvir, T. (2008), “CEO values, organizational culture and firm outcomes”, Journal of Organizational Behaviour, Vol. 29 No. 5, pp. 615 - 633. Bhattacharya, C.B., Korschun, D. and Sen, S. (2009), “Strengthening stakeholder– company relationships through mutually beneficial corporate social responsibility initiatives”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 85 No. 2, pp. 257 - 272.
Blaxter, L., Hughes, C. and Tight, M. (2010), How to research, Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press.
Bloom, P.N. and Gundlach, G.T. (2001), Handbook of marketing and society, Thousand Oaks, US: Sage.
Cacioppe, R., Forster, N. and Fox, M. (2008), “A survey of managers’ perceptions of corporate ethics and social responsibility and actions that may affect companies’ success”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 82 No. 3, pp. 681 - 700. Carroll, A.B. (1979), “A three-dimensional conceptual model of corporate performance”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 4 No. 4, pp. 497 - 505.
Carroll, A.B. (1991), “The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders”, Business Horizons, Vol. 34 No. 4, pp. 39 - 48.
Carroll, A.B. (1999), “Corporate social responsibility: evolution of a definitional construct”, Business and Society, Vol. 38 No. 3, pp. 268 - 295.
Chehimi, G.M., Hejase, A.J. and Hejase, N.H. (2019), “An assessment of Lebanese companies’ motivators to adopt CSR strategies”, Open Journal of Business and Management, Vol. 7 No. 4, pp. 1891 - 1925.
Davis, K. and Blomstrom, R.W. (1975), Business and society: environment and responsibility, New York, USA: McGraw-Hill.
Dusuki, A.W. and Yusof, T.F.M.T.M. (2008), "The pyramid of corporate social responsibility model: empirical evidence from Malaysian stakeholder perspective", Management and Accounting Review, Vol. 7 No. 2, pp. 29 - 54. Elkington, J. (1998), “Partnerships from cannibals with forks: the triple bottom line of 21st century business”, Environmental Quality Management, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 37 - 51.
Ehie, I.C. (2016), “Examining the corporate social responsibility orientation in developing countries: an empirical investigation of the Carroll's CSR pyramid”, International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 1 - 20.
Freeman, R.E. and Evan, W.M. (1990), “Corporate governance: a stakeholder interpretation”, Journal of Behavioral Economics”, Vol. 19 No. 4, pp. 337 - 359.
Hanson, J.L., Balmer, D.F. and Giardino, A.P. (2011), “Qualitative research methods for medical educators”, Academic Pediatrics, Vol. 11 No. 5, pp. 375 - 386.
Herzig, S.E. and Jimmieson, N.L. (2006), “Middle managers' uncertainty management during organizational change”, Leadership and Organization Development Journal, Vol. 7 No. 8, pp. 628 - 645.
Hill, C.W. and Jones, T.M. (1992), “Stakeholder-agency theory”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 29 No. 2, pp. 131 - 154.
Huang, Y.F., Do, M.H. and Kumar, V. (2019), “Consumers' perception on corporate social responsibility: evidence from Vietnam”, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Vol. 26 No. 6, pp. 1272 - 1284.
Kuo, T.C., Kremer, G.E.O., Phuong, N.T. and Hsu, C.W. (2016), “Motivations and barriers for corporate social responsibility reporting: evidence from the airline industry”, Journal of Air Transport Management, Vol. 57, pp. 184 - 195.
Lacey, R., Kennett-Hensel, P.A. and Manolis, C. (2015), “Is corporate social responsibility a motivator or hygiene factor? Insights into its bivalent nature”, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 43 No. 3, pp. 315 - 332.
Lee, S., Seo, K. and Sharma, A. (2013), “Corporate social responsibility and firm performance in the Airline industry: the moderating role of oil prices”, Tourism Management, Vol. 38, pp. 20 - 30.
Maignan, I. (2001), “Consumers’ perceptions of corporate social responsibilities: a cross-cultural comparison”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 57 – 72. Mankelow, G. (2006), “What motivates small enterprises to participate in corporate social responsibility”, The Australasian Journal of Business and Social Enquiry, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 60 - 73.
Mankelow, G. and Quazi, A. (2007), “Factors affecting SMEs motivations for corporate social responsibility”, In 3Rs: Reputation, Responsibility and Relevance: Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy (ANZMAC) Conference 2007 (ANZMAC 2007) (pp. 2367 - 2374), Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy. Nejati, M. and Amran, A. (2009), “Corporate social responsibility and SMEs:
exploratory study on motivations from a Malaysian perspective”, Business Strategy Series, Vol. 10 No. 5, pp. 259 - 285.
Nguyen, T.A. and Tran, H.L. (2020), “The determinants of corporate social responsibility disclosure: evidence from Vietnam’s listed companies in chemical industries”, Journal of International Economics and Management, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 18 - 41.
Pisani, N., Kourula, A., Kolk, A. and Meijer, R. (2017), “How global is international CSR research? Insights and recommendations from a systematic review”, Journal of World Business, Vol. 52 No. 5, pp. 591 - 614.
Ren, C.R. and Guo, C. (2011), “Middle managers’ strategic role in the corporate entrepreneurial process: attention-based effects”, Journal of Management, Vol. 37 No. 6, pp. 1586 - 1610.
Roy, A., Vyas, V. and Jain, P. (2013), “SMEs motivation: corporate social responsibility”, SCMS Journal of Indian Management, Vol. 10 No. 1, p. 11 - 21.
Smirnova, Y. (2012), “Perceptions of corporate social responsibility in Kazakhstan”, Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 404 - 417.
Solomon, R.C. (1993), Ethics and excellence: cooperation and integrity in business, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
van Marrewijk, M. (2003), “Concepts and definitions of CSR and corporate sustainability: between agency and communion”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 44, pp. 95 – 105.
Visser, W. (2006), “Revisiting Carroll's CSR pyramid: an African perspective”, in Huniche, M. and Pedersen, E.R. (Eds), Corporate Citizenship in Developing Countries – New Partnership Perspectives, Denmark: Copenhagen Business School Press.
Visser, W. (2008), “Corporate social responsibility in developing countries”, in Crane, A., Matten, D., McWilliams, A., Moon, J. and Siegel, D.S. (Eds), The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility, New York, US: Oxford University Press.
Vlachos, P.A., Panagopoulos, N.G. and Rapp, A.A. (2013), "Feeling good by doing good: employee CSR-induced attributions, job satisfaction, and the role of charismatic leadership", Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 118 No. 3, pp. 577 - 588.
Wang, H., Gibson, C. and Zander, U. (2020), “Editors’ comments: is research on corporate social responsibility undertheorized?”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 45 No. 1, pp. 1 - 6.
Welsh, E. (2002), “Dealing with data: using Nvivo in the qualitative data analysis process”, Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung: Qualitative Social
Research, Vol. 3 No. 2, available at http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114fqs0202260 (accessed March 04, 2020).
Wood, D.J. (2010), “Measuring corporate social performance: a review”, International Journal of Management Reviews, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 50 - 84.
Young, S. and Marais, M. (2012), “A multi level perspective of CSR reporting: the implications of national institutions and industry risk characteristics”, Corporate Governance: An International Review, Vol. 20 No. 5, pp. 432 - 450.
Andromachi, A. (2012), “Managers' corporate social responsibility perceptions and attitudes across different organizational contexts within the non-profit–for-profit organizational continuum”, Journal of Change Management, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 467 - 494.
Baden, D. (2016), “A reconstruction of Carroll’s pyramid of corporate social responsibility for the 21st century”, International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Vol. 1 No. 8, pp. 1 - 15.
Berson, Y., Oreg, S. and Dvir, T. (2008), “CEO values, organizational culture and firm outcomes”, Journal of Organizational Behaviour, Vol. 29 No. 5, pp. 615 - 633. Bhattacharya, C.B., Korschun, D. and Sen, S. (2009), “Strengthening stakeholder– company relationships through mutually beneficial corporate social responsibility initiatives”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 85 No. 2, pp. 257 - 272.
Blaxter, L., Hughes, C. and Tight, M. (2010), How to research, Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press.
Bloom, P.N. and Gundlach, G.T. (2001), Handbook of marketing and society, Thousand Oaks, US: Sage.
Cacioppe, R., Forster, N. and Fox, M. (2008), “A survey of managers’ perceptions of corporate ethics and social responsibility and actions that may affect companies’ success”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 82 No. 3, pp. 681 - 700. Carroll, A.B. (1979), “A three-dimensional conceptual model of corporate performance”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 4 No. 4, pp. 497 - 505.
Carroll, A.B. (1991), “The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders”, Business Horizons, Vol. 34 No. 4, pp. 39 - 48.
Carroll, A.B. (1999), “Corporate social responsibility: evolution of a definitional construct”, Business and Society, Vol. 38 No. 3, pp. 268 - 295.
Chehimi, G.M., Hejase, A.J. and Hejase, N.H. (2019), “An assessment of Lebanese companies’ motivators to adopt CSR strategies”, Open Journal of Business and Management, Vol. 7 No. 4, pp. 1891 - 1925.
Davis, K. and Blomstrom, R.W. (1975), Business and society: environment and responsibility, New York, USA: McGraw-Hill.
Dusuki, A.W. and Yusof, T.F.M.T.M. (2008), "The pyramid of corporate social responsibility model: empirical evidence from Malaysian stakeholder perspective", Management and Accounting Review, Vol. 7 No. 2, pp. 29 - 54. Elkington, J. (1998), “Partnerships from cannibals with forks: the triple bottom line of 21st century business”, Environmental Quality Management, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 37 - 51.
Ehie, I.C. (2016), “Examining the corporate social responsibility orientation in developing countries: an empirical investigation of the Carroll's CSR pyramid”, International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 1 - 20.
Freeman, R.E. and Evan, W.M. (1990), “Corporate governance: a stakeholder interpretation”, Journal of Behavioral Economics”, Vol. 19 No. 4, pp. 337 - 359.
Hanson, J.L., Balmer, D.F. and Giardino, A.P. (2011), “Qualitative research methods for medical educators”, Academic Pediatrics, Vol. 11 No. 5, pp. 375 - 386.
Herzig, S.E. and Jimmieson, N.L. (2006), “Middle managers' uncertainty management during organizational change”, Leadership and Organization Development Journal, Vol. 7 No. 8, pp. 628 - 645.
Hill, C.W. and Jones, T.M. (1992), “Stakeholder-agency theory”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 29 No. 2, pp. 131 - 154.
Huang, Y.F., Do, M.H. and Kumar, V. (2019), “Consumers' perception on corporate social responsibility: evidence from Vietnam”, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Vol. 26 No. 6, pp. 1272 - 1284.
Kuo, T.C., Kremer, G.E.O., Phuong, N.T. and Hsu, C.W. (2016), “Motivations and barriers for corporate social responsibility reporting: evidence from the airline industry”, Journal of Air Transport Management, Vol. 57, pp. 184 - 195.
Lacey, R., Kennett-Hensel, P.A. and Manolis, C. (2015), “Is corporate social responsibility a motivator or hygiene factor? Insights into its bivalent nature”, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 43 No. 3, pp. 315 - 332.
Lee, S., Seo, K. and Sharma, A. (2013), “Corporate social responsibility and firm performance in the Airline industry: the moderating role of oil prices”, Tourism Management, Vol. 38, pp. 20 - 30.
Maignan, I. (2001), “Consumers’ perceptions of corporate social responsibilities: a cross-cultural comparison”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 57 – 72. Mankelow, G. (2006), “What motivates small enterprises to participate in corporate social responsibility”, The Australasian Journal of Business and Social Enquiry, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 60 - 73.
Mankelow, G. and Quazi, A. (2007), “Factors affecting SMEs motivations for corporate social responsibility”, In 3Rs: Reputation, Responsibility and Relevance: Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy (ANZMAC) Conference 2007 (ANZMAC 2007) (pp. 2367 - 2374), Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy. Nejati, M. and Amran, A. (2009), “Corporate social responsibility and SMEs:
exploratory study on motivations from a Malaysian perspective”, Business Strategy Series, Vol. 10 No. 5, pp. 259 - 285.
Nguyen, T.A. and Tran, H.L. (2020), “The determinants of corporate social responsibility disclosure: evidence from Vietnam’s listed companies in chemical industries”, Journal of International Economics and Management, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 18 - 41.
Pisani, N., Kourula, A., Kolk, A. and Meijer, R. (2017), “How global is international CSR research? Insights and recommendations from a systematic review”, Journal of World Business, Vol. 52 No. 5, pp. 591 - 614.
Ren, C.R. and Guo, C. (2011), “Middle managers’ strategic role in the corporate entrepreneurial process: attention-based effects”, Journal of Management, Vol. 37 No. 6, pp. 1586 - 1610.
Roy, A., Vyas, V. and Jain, P. (2013), “SMEs motivation: corporate social responsibility”, SCMS Journal of Indian Management, Vol. 10 No. 1, p. 11 - 21.
Smirnova, Y. (2012), “Perceptions of corporate social responsibility in Kazakhstan”, Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 404 - 417.
Solomon, R.C. (1993), Ethics and excellence: cooperation and integrity in business, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
van Marrewijk, M. (2003), “Concepts and definitions of CSR and corporate sustainability: between agency and communion”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 44, pp. 95 – 105.
Visser, W. (2006), “Revisiting Carroll's CSR pyramid: an African perspective”, in Huniche, M. and Pedersen, E.R. (Eds), Corporate Citizenship in Developing Countries – New Partnership Perspectives, Denmark: Copenhagen Business School Press.
Visser, W. (2008), “Corporate social responsibility in developing countries”, in Crane, A., Matten, D., McWilliams, A., Moon, J. and Siegel, D.S. (Eds), The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility, New York, US: Oxford University Press.
Vlachos, P.A., Panagopoulos, N.G. and Rapp, A.A. (2013), "Feeling good by doing good: employee CSR-induced attributions, job satisfaction, and the role of charismatic leadership", Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 118 No. 3, pp. 577 - 588.
Wang, H., Gibson, C. and Zander, U. (2020), “Editors’ comments: is research on corporate social responsibility undertheorized?”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 45 No. 1, pp. 1 - 6.
Welsh, E. (2002), “Dealing with data: using Nvivo in the qualitative data analysis process”, Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung: Qualitative Social
Research, Vol. 3 No. 2, available at http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114fqs0202260 (accessed March 04, 2020).
Wood, D.J. (2010), “Measuring corporate social performance: a review”, International Journal of Management Reviews, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 50 - 84.
Young, S. and Marais, M. (2012), “A multi level perspective of CSR reporting: the implications of national institutions and industry risk characteristics”, Corporate Governance: An International Review, Vol. 20 No. 5, pp. 432 - 450.