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MASTER THESIS
CSR in the Philippines
A multi-level analysis of organisational and individual level
drivers to engage in (joint) CSR activities.
Student: Lara de Koning Student number: 10122338
Master Business Administration: International Management Supervisor: Arno Kourula
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Abstract
This research investigates the factors that play a role in the establishment of (joint) CSR activities by multinational enterprises in the Philippines. Theories from various disciplines are used as background to analyse the drivers behind CSR activities, as well as drivers to engage in CSR partnerships. We discuss how organisational theory and organisational economics can shed a light on the drivers behind CSR business partnerships and more specifically, research gaps revealed by Aguinis and Glavas (2012) are addressed by taking a multi-level view on CSR drivers in the context of a developing country. Additionally, we have used the model of interorganizational relationships by Parmigiani & Rivera-Santos (2011).
We have conducted an exploratory qualitative research in which ‘organisational level’ drivers and ‘individual level’ drivers in CSR are compared. From an organisational point of view, interviews with six companies that engage in CSR activities are analysed and compared. Also the different motives and processes are analysed to engage in a CSR partnership.
From an ‘individual level’ point of view, twelve interviews with employees of a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company are discussed and provide an insight in individual drivers to engage in CSR, as well as in the effects of a CSR partnership that has been established between a contractor with its client. Patterns and insights in the process and implications of CSR activities are presented in a framework based on the research of Aguinis and Glavas (2012).
The findings show that instrumental drivers to achieve competitiveness are organisational drivers, and individuals are driven by their values and the need to help. The differences between these two are based on differences in the importance of issues, which can be related to their primary stakeholders. Next to this, the findings show positive effects of engaging in CSR partnerships. A framework presents the different drivers and outcomes of a CSR partnership. What seemed of great importance are the process factors that influence the success of the CSR activities internally and in effect on the partnership quality.
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Foreword
I would like to thank everyone that made this research possible. All the kind and helpful people that assisted us in this research when we were in the Philippines. You have welcomed us into Manila and showed us how it is like in the Philippines. I really appreciate your openness and collaboration in the research. Special thanks to my fellow SEFA ‘Dackie’ researchers Marloes, Michalli and Rico. We worked hard and had a great time. Also Frank, Fausta, Huug, and Han without you this research was never possible thank you so much, I learned a lot from you.
I want to thank Arno Kourula for your supervision. Thank you for taking me on-board with this topic. I really appreciated our meetings where we could discuss the topic of CSR endlessly. Also the great stories and advise of Sietze, thank you for your support. Masja, for always being there to help me. And finally, to all my dear friends that pushed me, studied with me and helped with this thesis. Special thanks goes out to my family, my sister, and especially my father for your patience, support and all the help you have done to make me graduate.
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T
ABLE OFC
ONTENTSINTRODUCTION ... 5
Research gap ... 7THEORY ... 8
The concept of CSR ... 8 Drivers for CSR ... 9 Institutional drivers ... 10 Organisational drivers ... 11 Individual drivers ... 12Multilevel and Multidisciplinary model of Corporate Social Responsibility ... 12
Partnerships in CSR ... 13
Why companies engage in a partnership ... 13
Theoretical model ... 17
METHOD ... 18
Research design ... 19 Sampling ... 20 Data gathering ... 21 Interviews ... 21 Data Analysis ... 22 Evaluation of quality ... 25EMPIRICAL FINDINGS ... 26
Context of the research ... 26
ORGANISATIONAL LEVEL ... 27
Per-case analysis ... 27
Per-case example: BPO 2 ... 28
Cross-case analysis ... 30
Drivers to engage in CSR ... 31
Processes of CSR ... 36
Partnership in CSR ... 37
INDIVIDUAL LEVEL ... 41
Nested case analysis ... 43
Employee drivers to engage in CSR activities ... 43
Effects of CSR ... 44
Effects of CSR partnerships ... 45
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DISCUSSION ... 48
CONCLUSION ... 52
REFERENCES ... 54
APPENDIX ... 58
1.1 BPO 3 company ... 58 1.2 BPO 1 company ... 59 1.3 Technology company ... 60 1.4 Oil company ... 62 1.5 Dairy company ... 64 2.0 Coding Scheme ... 66 3.0 Interview Guide ... 67Tables and Figures
Table 1. (page 21) Interviewee list.
Table 2. (page 24) Categories of codes and Axial codes.
Table 3. (page 28) Employees, Revenues and HQ locations of case-companies.
Figure 1. (page 13) Multilevel and Multidisciplinary model of Corporate Social Responsibility (Aguinis & Glavas, 2012)13
Figure 2. (page 15) The two pure interorganizational relationship (IOR) forms and their distinctive traits. (Parmigiano & Riviera-Santos, 2011)
Figure 3. (page 18) Theoretical model Figure 4. (page 20) Research design
Figure 5. (page 30) Per-case model BPO 3.
Figure 6. (page 36) Aggregation of ‘organisational level’ drivers to engage in CSR activities. Figure 7. (page 38) Aggregation of drivers to engage in a CSR partnership
Figure 8. (page 42) Aggregation of individual level drivers to engage in CSR and effects of CSR partnership.
Figure 9. (page 47) ‘Organisational level’ and ‘individual level’ drivers, processes and outcomes specific for the case-study
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INTRODUCTION
More and more importance is given these days to the responsibilities of organisations. The media frequently expose the negative effects that corporations can have on their surroundings. This provides pressure on company policies and their business activities.
A well-known example is the sweatshop-scandal of the Nike Corporation. Interference of non-governmental organisations (NGO) resulted into extensive media attention to the scandal. Nike was accused of child labour, low wages and very poor working conditions. Their successful business model, that was based on outsourcing manufacturing to low wage countries, was attacked on the working conditions for employees. As a result stock value and sales decreased, and also a more lasting problem: reputational damage (Lipschutz, 2004). This example shows that organisations these days are affected by different pressures that come from internal and external stakeholders.
The extensive attention and public response to unethical business activities have led to an emerging concept that is called Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The concept started to evolve in the 1950’s by North American companies that engaged in philanthropic activities. In the mid 1990’s CSR progressed to a concept that was based on the impact of business models on stakeholders (Waddock, 2008). The current concept is that companies have responsibilities regarding their impact on the environment, their social and ethical responsibilities towards their employees, and externally to clients, suppliers and governments. Nowadays CSR is a very relevant topic for businesses because of the negative or positive effects it can have, dependent on their performance in this field.
Within businesses, different people are involved with the CSR activities. Ethical behaviour has to be taken into consideration by everyone working. But external issues demand more attention and planning. Considering the many influences a company can have on its environment, more attention is drawn to the mapping of theses influences and the decision-making regarding this (Trapp, 2014; Wiig & Kolstad, 2010). Managers encounter pressures from multiple stakeholder groups, often in a conflicting manner (McWilliams & Siegel, 2001). Demands from external pressure groups can be important, but also the relevance of topics important to employees are not to be neglected (Aguinis & Glavas, 2012).
Multinational enterprises (MNE) have great and influential power in countries where they are active, which also causes multiple stakeholder and institutional pressures regarding their business activities (Kolk & van Tulder, 2009). Firms are increasingly confronted not only with problems they cause, but also as being important in the solution to social and environmental issues. CSR is a way for companies to use their power in a positive way. Not only to create value for their business but also to have a positive influence on society. For example, CSR can be driven by possible organisational benefits, that are the result of engaging in social activities (Aguinis & Glavas, 2012). This shows the current tendency of the integration of business and society. Porter and Kramer (2006) introduced the concept of ‘shared value’,
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where companies and society are dependent on each other and can mutually create improved circumstances for each other.
Nevertheless, this seems a challenge for MNEs and their worldwide subsidiaries. The reason for this is that MNE’s are increasingly active in developing countries, where the local environment is structurally different from their home country (Kostova & Roth, 2002). The economic, environmental, institutional and cultural differences demand for a more detailed assessment of what is most needed and what is important in the host country.
Local factors are important to take into consideration. CSR does vary among countries and especially MNE’s seem to have to adapt to the country where they operate, taking into account not only business purposes but also those of society and their employees (Chapple & Moon, 2005). This expresses the interest into a multi-level analysis, top-management strategy and individual views of employees, on CSR strategies of businesses.
This expresses the motivation for this research. To create a better understanding of factors that have to be taken into account when developing a CSR strategy. As CSR becomes more important for MNE’s, it is relevant to study how a CSR strategy can be created that best serves its intended purpose. But the development of this purpose is already the first challenge. Should it serve only social goals or is it legitimized to engage in CSR activities that also serve a business goal? The interest specially goes out to the characteristics of developing countries that play a role in the establishment of CSR strategies. Stakeholder views are created in a different context and will probably have other needs. The question arises if MNEs have the knowledge and skills to address these local needs, or do they need to engage in a partnership to create relevant CSR initiatives?
Therefore the research has been done on external and internal influences that motivates an organisation to engage in CSR activities. In order to create a complete view not only the organisational, but also individual views on CSR will be taken into account in this analysis.
“What are the drivers that influence the decision to engage into CSR activities and to do this in a partnership?”
In this case the study is performed in the Philippines. Multiple companies are interviewed to create an insight into the different CSR strategies that are undertaken and the underlying reasons that have shaped its purpose. Next to this an in-depth analysis done regarding the motivations of several individuals working at the same firm. These are compared with the drivers and intended outcomes that are expressed from an organisational level view. A goal is to create a basis on which better understanding and alignment of the higher management and employees can be reached regarding CSR activities.
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Research gap
The concept of CSR emerged in business literature in the 1950’s (Bowen, 1953). Ever since, no consensus on theoretical foundation has been found and there seems to be a lack of a clear dominant paradigm. One reason for this is that some researchers considered that CSR research was badly executed (McWilliams & Siegel, 2000). Empirical research was founded on an unclear theoretical basis and findings indicated positive correlations between CSR and business performance (McWilliams et al., 1999). Often, although not proven, these results were subject to bias. CSR is a sensitive topic on which companies do not always like to be assessed. Especially in markets where products or services can be seen as contentious, such as in the oil and petroleum market (Wiig & Kolstad, 2010). This also explains the findings of Egri and Ralston (2008) where they conclude that there is less empirical research done in countries where it is needed most and where the relevance is high, because these kind of countries often struggle with institutional governance problems and reliability issues.
This paper therefore will have an explorative nature, aiming to integrate concepts and qualitative data. Exploring a theoretical foundation for conducting CSR, and the motivation to do this in a business partnership. The goal is to extract non-normative knowledge into a new framework for CSR. Motivation for this inductive research is to give an insight into the concept of CSR in the corporate world by looking through the eyes of employees of all levels. Not only taking into account the strategic corporate viewpoint of higher management, but also the motives and drive behind the initiatives of employees who are closest to the actual activities that are carried out. The context of the CSR research will also be in an emerging market, which contributes to the relevance of this study.
Additionally, this paper will address some research gaps found in the literature. Whereas most CSR studies seem to be conducted from a singular level of analysis (Aguinis & Galvas, 2012), this paper will attempt to provide a cross-level analysis. A comparison will be made between the motives at macro level (organisational level), and at the micro level, looking at the motives of individuals. Also the need to further explore factors that are important considering the approach of MNEs to establish a CSR strategy in a developing country will be addressed. As well as the link of company characteristics to the specific CSR activities they are engaged in. Next to this, theoretical foundations and strategic frameworks that motivate interorganizational relationships have extensively been studied in business literature (Parmigiani & Rivera-Santos, 2011). However, not in the light of a business partnership in CSR activities.
We will address the following research questions;
RQ1: What are the drivers that play a role in the development of a CSR strategy?
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RQ3: What are the drivers that play a role in the decision for businesses to engage in joint CSR activities?
The structure of this thesis will be as follows.
First, in the theory part, the definitions and further literature on CSR will be discussed. Drivers that motivate the choices to engage in CSR can be divided into three levels, the institutional, organisational and individual level drivers will be discussed. Then, different conceptual lenses are discussed to contribute to the understanding of the drivers to engage in interorganizational relationships. At the same time these will be compared with literature on partnerships in CSR activities. In the last part we will present the theoretical model of this research.
Second, the methodology is explained. The research design, sampling, data gathering and data analysis are clarified and supported with quotes.
Third, the empirical findings are presented. Here we make a distinction between the organisational level analysis, where we conduct a per-case analysis and a cross-case analysis. And the individual analysis, where we do an in-depth-study on the nested case. We finalize the findings with a cross-level analysis. Fourth, we will discuss the findings and draw conclusions. The limitations and further research are also discussed in this chapter.
THEORY
The concept of CSR
Over the last 20 years, in the era of business globalization, companies have become powerful entities that can dominate global markets. It has reshaped the relations between workers and their employers and even between governments and companies. Not only externally but also increasingly internally in corporate internationalization strategies, more decision factors needed to be considered, and CSR became increasingly an important aspect in these strategies (Kolk & van Tulder, 2010).
Defining CSR
Although the concept of CSR has been widely discussed in previous research, there is yet not one commonly accepted definition for the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility. Different viewpoints underlie different definitions. CSR has been studied from different dimensions and in different scopes. From the macro-level where institutional and organisational levels are addressed, to the more individual level effects (Rodrigo & Arenas, 2008). Next to that, the context of CSR research has been found to be quite different. Business literature reviews (Lockett et al. 2006) differ from international management reviews (Ergi & Ralston, 2008; Kolk & van Tulder, 2010) and in turn, from a psychological context (Rodrigo & Arenas, 2008).
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From a business point of view, CSR often is part of a company strategy where different factors all support the same goal that all companies peruse, namely being financially profitable. An example would be a strategy which is ‘economically profitable, yet law abiding and ethically and socially supportive’ (Carroll, 1999: p. 286).
The European Commission goes a bit further by defining it as: ‘‘a concept whereby companies decide voluntarily to contribute to a better society and a cleaner environment’’ (COM 2001, 4). The focus is on the part whereby companies engage in CSR at their own choice. Not limiting themselves to operate only within requirements by the law. This definition is close to Davis’ (1973) definition “CSR are corporate activities that go beyond what is required by the law”. Companies can have differing motives to engage in CSR. Some of them can be by strategic choice, but others can (often) also be the result of pressure by external factors.
Problems in developing countries with corruption and weak judicial systems don’t have strict laws for CSR. The question arises whether this becomes partly also the responsibility of MNE’s? Companies that have adopted a stakeholder perspective will try to take into account the interest of social groups outside of the company that are directly or indirectly influenced by its activities (Freeman, 1984). Following this perspective, stakeholders include the society where a company is active and the people that live there. Next to external stakeholders that can influence a company’s activities there are also internal stakeholders such as employees who influence CSR aspects of a firm (Margolis & Walsh, 2003). In conclusion, many different factors can play a role in the decision to engage in a CSR strategy or not, and in what form. From the individual level to more institutional level there are numerous factors that have to be taken into account. In the following chapter factors that influence decisions regarding CSR will be discussed as the ‘drivers for CSR’.
Drivers for CSR
In this paragraph, the different drives for CSR by a company will be discussed. First we will take a look at institutional drivers distinguishing regulative elements from normative elements. After that we will address the instrumental drivers for a company that focusses on competitive advantage and financial returns. Finally, we will look at more personal underlying mechanisms at the individual level that drive CSR intentions. In summary:
Institutional pressures (later: institutional drivers)
Company competitiveness & financial returns (later: organisational drivers)
The underlying mechanisms and micro foundations for CSR. (later: individual drivers)
The environment in which companies operate is influenced by government, interest groups, local communities, competitors etc, that affect doing business. Each of which poses a different normative, cognitive or coercive influence on the organization or the organizational field (Scott, 1991).
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However, it seems not exhaustive to speak only of pressures from outside a company. Hoffman (2000) states that the organizational field is more than a collection of influential organizations, and sees it more as a field of common channels of dialogue and discussion; ‘(a) field is not formed around technologies or common industries, but around issues that bring together various field constituents with disparate purposes’ (Hoffman, 2000, p. 352). Influence and pressure can then also, come from within the organisation, from employees.
Linking the influences of institutions to business outcomes, companies can have a hard time meeting market demands due to social or environmental restrictions. But they can also overcome constraints of a particular industry by adjusting to social and ecological demands (Bonneveux, Calmé & Soparnot, 2012).
Institutional drivers
In his Institutional theory, Scott (1995) distinguishes in the influence of social pressures coming from outside the company between formal and informal institutions, also called the ‘rules of the game’. These can also result into drivers to engage in CSR.
Formal institutions are linked to the law or formal rules and constitute regulatory elements. Informal institutions refer to values and norms shaped by society that play a role in daily life, and within that environment constitute cultural-cognitive and normative elements (Scott, 1995). Companies that offer services or products that have a direct link to customer demand or social norms have to deal more often with these institutions than companies that do not (f.ex. b2b companies) (Marshall, Cordano & Silverman, 2005).
Aguinis & Glavas (2012) distinguish different institutions according to type of actors they represent like customers, stakeholders, the media and interest groups. Each of these groups have a different interest in CSR engagements of companies and accordingly pressure policies and activities in different ways based on specific motives. Brammer & Millington (2004) demonstrate that both internal and external stakeholder groups exert pressure on the form in which CSR activities are being carried out.
Regulatory & Normative drivers
Ever since the increasing awareness of climate change and its consequences for our economies, many new rules, norms and regulations on sustainability have been introduced. An example of a regulatory driver is the specific ‘instruments’ that were introduced in Germany to achieve lower levels of emissions and the subsidies for the use of renewables for electricity generation (Erdmenger, Lehmann, Müschen, Tambke, Mayr & Kuhnhenn, 2009).
On the other hand, social sustainable developments are often not driven by regulations. Sustainable development is a common topic and these days globally part of the public consciousness. Also, companies are nowadays more pressured by various stakeholders to commit voluntarily beyond
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minimum regulations expressed by laws through self-regulatory institutions, which we can see as normative drivers (Berchicci & King, 2007).
According to the Institutional theory organisations also take into consideration the shared social reality and the effect they have on their environment (Scott, 1995). Business to consumer companies have less direct effect on the environment than business-to-business organisations. It is also demonstrated that both polluting and consumer-oriented firms donate structurally more to charity than others (Brammer & Millington, 2008).
Organisational drivers
The next level that we look at are factors that influence CSR policy on the organisational level. In businesses, CSR is often seen as a restraint on doing business and/or entailing additional costs. Porter and Kramer (2006) show in their paper that this doesn’t have to be the case if CSR is looked at as a business strategy. CSR can have an influence on competitiveness, both in a positive and a negative manner. Starbucks for example, was the target of NGO’s complaining about unfair wages paid to coffee bean farmers and faced threats of boycott (Argenti, 2004). External stakeholders (like public opinion) in this case were represented by institutions with a lot of power who couldn’t be ignored.
But organisations also face influence of internal stakeholders, such as shareholders, that demand value creation for their shares. On an organisational level, companies therefore have to perform a delicate balancing game taking into account all wishes and demands of their different stakeholders in order to arrive at a strategy/decision with regards to their CSR activities. Effective CSR strategies have been demonstrated to favourably impact brands, reputations and/or employee satisfaction (Porter & Kramer, 2006; Weber, 2008).
Organisational drivers to engage in ecological responsiveness are generally linked to three different topics; competitiveness, legitimation and ecological responsibility (Bansal & Roth, 2000). According to the findings of Aguinis and Glavas (2012) this can also be related to the topic of social responsibilities. Except that ecological responsibility could be translated into social responsibility. Either the pressures to engage into CSR link to competitors or clients such as to gain competitive advantage, or to intuitions such as governmental regulations, or to society by doing socially good (Bansal & Roth, 2000). Al these motivations are linked to a stakeholder group important to the company. When having to decide the scope and strategy of the CSR activities it will be very hard to meet all stakeholder groups preferences. Stakeholder mapping is sometimes used in order to choose with which stakeholder demand to comply with. Just as Siegel and Vitaliano (2007) compare firms that have either ‘search goods’ or ‘experience goods’ and whether or not it is strategically logical on a business-level to respond to stakeholder pressures to engage in CSR activities.
Financial benefits, which are produced by CSR activities which optimize processes and/or reduce spillage/usage or improve efficiency are instrumental drivers. CSR initiatives are often adapted or
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rejected in relation to financial benefits. This way CSR activities could theoretically reduce costs, and thus be interesting to a business on the organisational level. Research on the link between CSR activities and financial performance shows there is a lack of consensus on the actual measurement of the financial performance construct. It encompasses many company activities linked to processes, resources and outputs (Brammer & Millington, 2008; Margolis & Walsh, 2003). Next to this the performance outcomes depend on many characteristics of the firm that is evaluated (Margolis & Walsh, 2003). In conclusion, Brammer and Millington (2008) find that high performing firms invest structurally more in charity in order to differentiate themselves from competitors. Firms that give average amounts to charity do not differentiate themselves but also do not excel in financial performance, resulting in being ‘stuck in the middle’. We conclude here on these findings in theory, that outcomes of engagement in CSR seem to depend on the level and differentiation of their activities.
Individual drivers
Commitment of the individual to the (CSR) activities in a company is a crucial factor for success. Personal values, but also the values of the company and whether they are in line with their own values, are all factors that seem to play an important role in determining their active engagement in CSR activities (Bansal, 2003). Also the commitment of managers to CSR activities has an important influence on an employee’s attitude. A committed manager lends credibility and seriousness to the subject and helps motivate to be actively involved with social activities. Ramus and Steger (2000) also find that employees come up with creative ideas if their supervisors encourage them. Managers that are intrinsically motivated can be stimulated by their own interest in social projects and find likeminded employees that want to engage together in these activities.
Multilevel and Multidisciplinary model of Corporate Social Responsibility
The model that summarizes all the possible predictors, outcomes, mediators and moderators that are discussed in the meta analysis of Aguinis and Glavas (2012) is presented in Figure 1. The previously discussed drivers to engage in CSR are based on this model and other literature regarding CSR. What is meant with ‘drivers’ can be explained by combining ‘predictors of CSR’ and the desired ‘outcomes of CSR’ in this model. The drive to do something stems from the urge to achieve a desired result and taking into account the contextual factors that stimulate this. Therefor this model, and especially the boxes ‘predictors of CSR’ and ‘outcomes of CSR’ are used as theoretical foundation for this research. For the analysis the ‘organisational level’ (in the model (Org)) and ‘individual level’ (in the model (Ind)) are the main focus of this research. The ‘institutional level’ is used more as context in this research and will not thoroughly be discussed.
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Figure 1. Multilevel and Multidisciplinary model of Corporate Social Responsibility (Aguinis & Glavas, 2012)
Partnerships in CSR
While all these drivers give an insight in the different approaches to look at the underlying predictors of CSR engagement, this paper also looks at CSR activities undertaken in collaboration with a another company. Motivations to start joint CSR activities will be assessed in the light of organisational level drivers. On this level, companies will have a strategic business enhancing component in mind when engaging in CSR. However, some business enhancing components in a CSR partnership are not always directly related to its business activities. For example, Jamali, Yianni and Abdallah (2011) argue that innovation and social capital are important performance drivers for business and NGO partnerships. For this purpose, the following chapter will address literature on partnerships between companies and underlying concepts that explain drivers to engage in these partnerships. In parallel to the fact that there are clear motives for companies to engage in a business partnership, in this paper we will also examine similarities in drivers to engage in a partnership in CSR activities.
Why companies engage in a partnership
A strategic relationship between two companies can be defined as followed, “cooperative relationships between a focal organization and one or more other organizations to share or exchange resources with the goal of improved performance” (Parmigiani & Rivera-Santos, 2011, p.1109). In this definition the focus is on the strategic importance of an Interorganizational Relationship (IOR) whereby the two are
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in a way dependant on each other. In their meta-analysis, Parmigiani and Rivera-Santos (2011) do not focus on the ‘how’ but rather look at the foundation of the partnership, and evaluate ‘why’ companies engage in an IOR.
Stemming from organizational theory and organizational economics, several strategy frameworks are used to contribute to the understanding of a broad array of reasons to engage in an IOR. The first conceptual lens is from the organizational economics perspective. This view focuses on the efficiency of the market regarding transactions. IORs can be established in order to internalize these transactions when the market is less efficient. From a Transaction cost economics perspective (Williamson, 1991) a driver to establish an IOR is reducing governance costs of transactions. Husted (2003) has developed a framework for managers to assess the need of internalization with regard to CSR partnerships. If the purpose of the CSR activities are strategic, the importance of the governance that surrounds the activities is high. Effects of CSR activities on financial performance may be better if companies take into account the costs of coordination and engage in a collaboration in terms of efficiency.
The second perspective is that of the research based view (RBV), companies are focussed on acquiring and obtaining resources and capabilities (Kraaijenbrink, Spender & Groen, 2010). Firm-specific resources and capabilities are harder to obtain and therefor can be a strong motivation to engage in an IOR. Typically, an IOR provides ways to acquire and develop these resources and capabilities but this partnership also has its risks, when thinking of unintended leakage of knowledge to their partner. In a research among Norwegian firms, findings show that a firm has to have a great willingness to take risk to engage in an alliance when this has to do with explicit knowledge exchange (Becerra, Lunnan & Huemer, 2008). However, in a CSR alliance it could be the case that knowledge transfer desired. Tracey, Phillips and Haugh (2005) show that partnerships between corporations and voluntary sector organisations now see the value of these collaborations mainly because of the source of knowledge, valuable assets and expertise.
According to the RBV, a company strategy is argued to be more successful when it is based on the disposal of their resources. The research of Bonneveux, Calmé and Soparnot (2012) support these findings, specifically for CSR strategies. Engaging in CSR activities can demand specific knowledge or resources, combining two companies with their related assets can be an effective CSR partnership. An example of this is the partnership that Starbucks established with NGO’s in order to help local farmers to create a living wage for themselves (Argenti, 2004). The local knowledge and social skills of the NGO is combined with the resources of Starbucks to create a successful societal impact.
A second conceptual lens that explains the existence of IORs is the organization theory. This viewpoint would be more focussed on social aspects and stresses the importance of social structures and relationships for companies. Different theories that are discussed in line with this viewpoint are;
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resources dependency theory (Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978), stakeholder theory (Freeman, 1984) and the institutional theory (Scott, 1995).
A CSR partnership could be motivated either by social intentions toward society or to grow in social structures with their partnering company. Guo and Acar (2005) studied partnership forms of non-profit organizations through the institutional theory and resource dependency theory. Certain characteristics of the partner company seem to be predictive on how formal a collaboration would be and how it would take form.
In a partnership each of the two companies has its own strategic motivation and this can complicate the relation if these diverge too much. Hence, the dominant literature on IOR focuses on specific forms of relationships between companies that serve one goal, for example a joint venture, an alliance or a cross-sector partnership. The goals of the partnership for both companies needs to be clear to avoid failure. This is shown in the research of Jamali and Keshishian (2009) where they studied multiple NGO and business partnerships, in which the alignment of business and CSR goals were an important contributor to their success.
Model of two pure IOR forms
In the previous paragraphs we have discussed the possible theoretical foundations that explains the reasons for a firm to engage in an interorganizational relationship and presented some examples of the application of these theories for CSR partnerships. The purpose of this research is to look for patterns regarding the characteristics of the firm and its strategy related to the form of CSR partnership. In order to do so the researcher has chosen to use a model of Parmigiani and Riviera-Santos (2011) as basis for evaluating the CSR related partnerships. In the following paragraph we will shortly discuss this model. The model used in the article of Parmigiani and Riviera-Santos (2011) presents two pure partnership forms; co-exploitation and co-exploration. Both of the relationship forms have a strategic importance and are cooperative. In their definitions the distinction between the two becomes clear. They define co-exploration relationship as ‘to create new knowledge, tasks, functions, or activities. Its focus is on new knowledge, and its main activity is learning and innovation’ and co-exploitation relationship as ‘to execute existing knowledge, tasks, functions, or activities. The focus of this pure form is existing knowledge, with expansion as the main activity. Value is derived from efficient use of assets, mainly involving explicit knowledge.’ In figure 2. you can find the model where the two pure forms are summarized.
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Figure 2. The two pure interorganizational relationship (IOR) forms and their distinctive traits. (Parmigiano & Riviera-Santos, 2011)
They argue that these can be used together but differ significantly. Following this can lead to very different stakeholder management, looking at stakeholder theory on an organisational level. If two firms want to create an IOR to transfer or leverage an existing reputation, it would be co-exploitation. On the other hand, a co-exploration form is based on the creation of a new reputation eventually based on new issues (Parmigiani & Rivera-Santos, 2011). Looking at the IOR forms from an institutional perspective, an IOR can help develop legitimacy in an area where institutions are underdeveloped or in a co-exploitation form when both companies can leverage each other’s strongly developed institutions. There are some implications for these theoretical viewpoints explaining drivers to engage in an IOR. Parmigiani and Rivera-Santos (2011) underline in their paper that an important assumption is that all these theories are applied under the conditions of bounded rationality. Next to this, the framework used in their research is slightly biased because the used information on IORs stems from joint ventures. This might not completely apply to a CSR partnership. However, this also indicates the relevance of this research on business that engage in CSR partnerships. As mentioned before, literature on business partnerships is widely covered (Parmigiani & Rivera-Santos, 2011), and in CSR this also counts for research on partnerships with NGO’s (Argenti, 2004; Guo & Acar, 2005; Husted, 2003; Jamali &
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Keshishian, 2009; Jamali, Yianni & Abdallah, 2011; Kolk, van Dolen & Vock, 2010; Tracey, Phillips & Haugh, 2005; ).
Theoretical model
As discussed in the previous paragraphs Aguinis and Glavas (2012) studied though a meta-analysis the different predictors (here: drivers), mediators, moderators and outcomes of CSR on a multilevel. The institutional level, the organisational level and the individual level. The meta-analysis of Parmigiani and Rivera-Santos (2011) reviewed literature to display the different goals of companies that want to engage in a specific form of interorganizational relationship (IOR). The two pure forms to engage in a partnership with as goal of co-exploration or co-exploitation. Nevertheless the two companies can have a different focus whereas the IOR would be a combination of the both.
For the purpose of this research the models presented in these two main papers will function as a theoretical basis. Although it will not address all aspects of the models, this would demand complicated research methods and a lot of time. The aim of this paper is to cover a part of the research gaps presented in the paper of Aguinis and Glavas (2012). Proposed is to execute a multi-level analysis on drivers to engage in CSR, drivers to engage in a CSR partnership and the effects of this partnership. Interesting is that the individual level analysis is drawn on more social and psychological theories and the organisational and institutional level are driven by instrumental motives. A goal would be to find an integration of these separate conceptual streams.
Aiming to compete this goal the two scholars are used as a theoretical basis for the analysis. First, the organisational level drivers to engage in CSR will be studied. In the respective model of Aguinis and Glavas (2012) this will be related to the ‘predictors’ and ‘outcomes’. And second, we will consider the company’s strategic objectives that influence the purpose of the CSR collaboration. The model of Parmigiani and Rivera-Santos (2011) would serve as basis to evaluate the organisational level drivers to engage in a CSR partnership.
Second, a case-study of a Business Process Outsourcing company (BPO) active in the Philippines will be conducted. Here the individual drivers to engage in CSR will be assessed. And the effects of a CSR partnership will be evaluated. Also based on the models of Aguinis and Glavas (2012) and Parmigiani and Rivera-Santos (2011). This theoretical model is pictured on the next page (see figure 3.). The method part will further explain how this research is performed on the theoretical basis of this framework.
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Figure 3. Theoretical model.
METHOD
This chapter presents an introduction to the research method and how the data is evaluated. The first part explains the research design and the motivation for this choice, the second part describes the sampling, in the third part the data gathering is discussed, the fourth part consists of the data analysis and the in last part the evaluation of the quality is addressed.
Motivation for the research design
Following the Kuhnian normal scientific paradigm (Kuhn, 1962), the logical deductive movement of research, shifts over time from theoretical research to the practitioner part of CSR. First to reach consensus and develop an emerging theory on the subject, and then to test this theory in practice, in a qualitative and later in a quantitative way.
In research on the subject of CSR the research movement has been different. Lockett et al. (2006) have looked at CSR research in academic management literature. CSR is a subject that is discussed from the viewpoint of scholars with different backgrounds. For example from a sociological, ethical, legal, psychological, political or business perspective. Over time, the proportion of theoretical non-normative papers in management literature has increased while the proportion of empirical papers has declined (Lockett et al. 2006). Also, quantitative research studies outnumber qualitative research.
This trend cannot be seen in international management journals. Here the Kuhnian normal scientific paradigm is applicable. Mostly empirical studies have been conducted in an international management perspective (Ergi & Ralston, 2008). Focus in the CSR research topics lies mostly on Ethics and Governance and is conducted in a mix of both quantitative as qualitative research. The differences
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between the two literature journals lies in the internationality and therefor can be hard to identify one paradigm. It considers multiple countries with different views on CSR. Every country is bound to their own characteristics and regulations. Therefor it is of relevance to explore for a theoretical framework in order to evaluate all these factors influencing CSR strategies in different countries.
Research design
The purpose of this paper is to answer the research question “What are the drivers that influence the decision to engage into CSR activities and to do this in a partnership?” Motives for a company to engage in CSR can be analysed from different levels. According to the article of Aguinis and Glavas (2012) there are three levels of analysis: institutional, organisational and the individual level. This paper strives to study multilevel-level drivers for CSR and their effects
The nature of the research is exploratory in order to build upon and refine existing theory (Thomas, 2011; Yin, 2009). We have chosen a qualitative research method based on. the theoretical nature of this thesis (Yin, 2009). In academic literature, we have found few studies on CSR activities in the context of an interorganizational collaboration. Therefore, an inductive approach is undertaken to explore phenomena that occur when a company engages in joint CSR activities and its effects on a partnership. Building on specific patterns that are found in the data, theory can be developed upon existing knowledge on the topic of CSR (Yin, 2002).
In this research, we study the process of the development of a joint (client-contractor) CSR strategy within the contractor company, looking at actors at different levels that play a role in these CSR activities. Therefor the subject of the study is ‘the company that engage in CSR activities’.
The first part of the analysis consists of a multiple-case study with six cases. Each case is analysed individually and subsequently a between-cases comparison will be elaborated. As Thomas (2011) describes here the comparison with each case would be more important than the individual cases by themselves.
The second part consists of a single case-study where a within-case analysis will be conducted. Because all the interviewees in this single-case study are a part of the integral company and a comparison is made of elements within a single case, we label them as nested elements (Thomas, 2011).
This means that the first part is a holistic multiple case design and the second part where we look at one company and different units of analysis, would be an embedded single case-design. The illustration of the research design is presented in Figure 4.
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Figure 4. Research design.
Sampling
The Client/Contractor case is used for the more in-depth single-case analysis, and is not considered an extreme case and thus is to be seen as a prototypical case (Heath & Cowley, 2004). For the multi-case due to the limited number of potential BPO companies, the sampling method was based on accessibility of interviewees.
Unusual access to this sort and the extensive amount of data holds the reason for this theoretical sampling of the cases. The researcher was doing an independent study on the realization of the CSR activities of [case company] in the Philippines, and the effect on the partnership between these two companies. This case is used for the more in-depth single-case analysis. Regarding the theory building purpose of this study the theoretical sampling is an appropriate way of selecting the case. As opposed to stratified or random sampling which is meant to prove and test theories (Eisenhardt & Graebner, 2007).
In order to compare the findings of this case with other multinational enterprises active in the Philippines the researcher decided to also look for external companies to interview. The accessibility to this data was not included.
Company A
BPO Company
High management
Employees
Individual level analysis (nested case)
Organisational level of analysis
Company B
Company D Company C
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The external companies that are interviewed for this research were all approached via email and phone. Beforehand a list of multinational companies was made with contact details that could be found on the internet or via-via contacts in the Philippines. The companies that responded positively and were able to make an appointment in the timeframe that the researcher was in the Philippines, six out of twenty send emails, are used in the study. These companies can be evaluated as the prototypical multinational companies that are active in the Philippine market.
Data gathering
Interviews
The aim of the interviews with different MNE companies active in the Philippines market is to explore why companies engage in CSR and how they come to a strategy to do so. Each interview was conducted by two researchers and one or more interviewees of the company. Mostly these interviewees were either CSR managers, local SVP’s or other higher management who were involved in strategic decisions regarding CSR for the company they work for (see Table 1.).
In the second part, interviews conducted for the Contractor case-study included a broad range of job levels, from top-management to process workers (see Table 1.), again by two researchers and one interviewee.
Table 1. Interviewee list
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All interviews were structured, guidelines and circumstances were comparable and the setting was quite informal and open to go deeper into some aspects. In the interviews with lower management employees, we experienced some uneasiness due to some lack of trust, cultural differences and sensibility around the evaluation of the partnership. This despite the fact that the researchers had spent a week prior to the interviews meeting and connecting with employees of both lower and higher management.
An interview guide can be found in the Appendix. All the interviews had a duration of 45-60 minutes and were recorded and transcribed.
Data Analysis
This chapter will discuss how we proceeded in order to understand the fundaments of the data analysis. Then the coding process, which consist of four phases, is extensively explained and visualized with examples. In the last paragraph the validity and reliability are reviewed in the ‘evaluation of quality’.
Our research objective is to create an insight in the different perspectives of employees within an organization on the topic of CSR. Understanding these different viewpoints can foster a better understanding of the importance and the relevance of CSR activities.
The nature of this study is exploratory and the data are analysed with an open mind in order to be able to find interesting new patterns and insights regarding CSR activities, more specifically what organisations and their employees motivates to actively engage in CSR activities. The goal is to find new implications. By developing theory from patterns found in in the interview data and comparing this with existing knowledge new insights emerge and build upon existing theories. Following the article of Bansal and Roth (2000) an analytic induction approach is used to switch between existing theories and the collected data. Relevant literature is added when the data shows significant patterns that compare to existing theory (Thomas, 2011).
Interviews & Coding
We started the analysis on the ‘organisational level’ by conducting interviews with managers of each of the six companies they represent. Then we analyze the twelve ‘individual level’ interviews with employees at different job levels within the same company.
Then we proceeded with transcribing the interviews followed by coding. Having studied all the data we then used an open coding method. This process consisted of four phases:
1:Primary Code (transcripts), 2: Categorisation, 3: Axial coding and 4: Aggregation of dimensions. Below we will explain these phases and examples will be given.
The Primary Code consist of short descriptions of interviewee quotes. Then we segmented the raw data into different categories (see Table 2). Examples are CSR partnerships, CSR activities or Drivers.
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Subsequently, the researcher went back to the original interview data to search for patterns that could develop meaningful constructs. With the preliminary theory in mind the goal was to identify consistent and distinct constructs that presented new or comparable drivers that could build upon or support the existing theory (Aguinis & Glavas, 2012). Here first the Axial Codes were developed. In the last phase we aggregated the outcomes of the Axial Coding and made comparisons both between ‘organizational level’ cases in the cross-case analysis and the different ‘individual level’ cases. This processes will be further explained in the Empirical Findings as this emerged in this part of the study.
Below, we will further show the process of data analysis using NVivo Tool of Analysis Used
The interviews were all analysed using the qualitative research program NVivo. The researcher used open coding (Strauss & Corbin, 1998**) to extract factual knowledge from the interviews by summarizing interview transcripts in short descriptive sentences, called Primary Codes. For example:
“Researcher: …Do you think things changed at work after the CSR programs? Interviewee: …Activity outside of the office allows to deal with each other more relaxed and honest conversation, outside of business setting. In short, you see each other stripped down.”
Is coded into: “CSR activities outside office fosters honest conversation”.
These Primary Codes were sometimes revised in a later stadium of the analysis. Other examples of Primary Codes are “Employees encouraged to join activities”, “Makes the employee feel more responsible”. Other examples are codes that describe drivers, such as “Gain social knowledge by partnering up in CSR”, or “Government mandates need to be met” and “Giving back to the community and not only money to businesses”. A complete coding scheme is available but due to size is not included, a smaller coding scheme that presents all the categories is attached in the Appendix (see Appendix).
Having completed the Primary Coding, these were printed and studied to allow the researcher to categorize these codes. Codes were sorted, first by making a distinction between the ‘organisational level’ and the ‘individual level’ interviews and then by discussed topic. You can find the categories that were used in Table 2. All Primary Codes were subsumed in one of the in total 21 categories.
Level of analysis Categories Axial codes
Individual level
Drivers 1. Wanting to help the less fortunate 2. Make people aware
3. It’s a responsibility to help 4. Gives purpose to work 5. Brings fun to work
Effects of CSR 1.More connection to people and company 2. Work related processes are improved
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3. Employee engagement improved
4. Adding purpose to and improving partnership 5. Being more conscience
6. More attention to CSR topics
Organisational level
Drivers 1. Client drivers 2. Company values 3. Employee driver 4. Reputation 5. Relation to community 6. Governmental driver 7. Product/consumer driver 8. Altruistic drivers
Process of CSR 1.Top management engagement 2. Risk avoidance
3. Structured and controlled 4. Business beneficial 5. Involve employees 6. Community collaboration 7. Clear impact zone 8. Local adaptation 9. Use of firm resources CSR partnerships Partnership drivers:
1. Efficiency 2. Strengthen relation
3. Gaining respect and acknowledgement Partnership process:
1. Alignment of goals 2. Clear rules and balance 3. Conflict of interest awareness 4. Passive client participation 5. First secure business goals 6. Strategic NGO partnership 7. High management engagement
Table 2. Categories of codes and Axial codes
.
In order to develop meaningful segmentations, the Researcher narrowed the number of categories down to the 5 most relevant categories of codes by clustered codes that had a similar meaning.
This resulted in the following categories:
Drivers (organisational & individual level)
Process of CSR (organisational & individual level)
CSR activities (organisational & individual)
CSR partnerships (organisational & individual level)
Effects of CSR (individual)
The critical part of the analysis is subsequently to make a distinction between the different constructs in order to create a clear view of the findings. Via inductive reasoning, the researcher then developed Axial Codes. For example, different statements by interviewees as to ‘why they engage in CSR
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activities’ belonged to the category ‘Drivers’. And Primary Codes such as: attracting employees, fosters employee engagement, ability to tweak workforce, gives authority, important to workforce, and others were subsumed under the Axial Code ‘Employee Driver’. Primary Codes such as: characteristic of the firm is being helpful, company wants to contribute more than their pay check, company characteristics is to work with other cultures, core values of company are important also in CSR projects, and others were subsumed under the Axial Code ‘Company Values’.
Finally, in the last part of the coding ‘aggregated dimensions’ were developed whereby multiple ‘axial codes’ could on a theoretical basis be put together in one dimension. This aggregation of codes took place after the per-case analysis, when starting the cross-case analysis on the ‘organisational level’. The same aggregation of codes became clear when comparing interviews on the ‘individual level’ analysis. This will be further discussed in the empirical findings.
Evaluation of quality
To assure the validity and reliability of the study, different lenses through which the process is looked at helps in terms of grounding of the theory through triangulation of the research (Eisenhardt, 1989). Also a survey was conducted on all the employees working at the BPO case company. Due to privacy reasons of the firm unfortunately the results could not be used properly for the purpose of this study. However, the researcher is aware of the results which helps in terms of questioning certain findings in the interviews.
The reliability of the coding process is improved by checking this with other researchers that were in the Philippines. After the coding this was shown to one other person that also had been at the interviews. We discussed whether the codes were applicable to the information in the interviews. All of the interviews were conducted within a timeframe of one month.
The research design consist of data collection from multiple data sources. Also, we have opted for a Multiple-case study which helps provide stronger evidence for theory building (Eisenhardt & Graebner, 2007). Whereas single-case studies are suitable to describe the phenomenon more in-depth and provide a view of all the implications of the emerged theory. Findings are more generalizable as they are verified in multiple cases. Therefor in this research we strive to build a theory through the use of both multiple and single-case studies. Nevertheless, statistical generalization will neither be reached with single nor multiple case studies or both (Gibbert & Ruigrok, 2007; Yin, 2002).
The main sources of data that is used are the interviews. However additional documents provided by the interviewed companies are analysed to triangulate the data and check for consistency. These documents consist of annual reports, CSR reports and for the case-study the BPO company provided a report on engagement scores of their employees. Next to this the researcher also used notes that were made during
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the interviews and made observation notes that seemed interesting while being at the different companies.
EMPIRICAL
FINDINGS
In the following paragraphs the empirical findings will be presented. Analysing the viewpoints from the organisational level and the individual level on CSR activities and partnerships in CSR. What are important influences that affect decisions or attitudes around CSR? This chapter will enlighten the differences in motives and salience given to CSR by the organisational level and the individual level. Next to this, we will discuss reasons why companies engage in CSR partnerships and what the effect is on the business partnership, seen from the individual level.
Before the findings are discussed a short explanation about the context of the research, the Philippines, is given. In the first paragraph the ‘organisational level’ perspective is addressed where first short per-case analysis of the six different companies are presented. After this, in the cross-per-case analysis, the main found constructs will be discussed and compared among the cases. The second chapter will consist of the ‘individual level’ perspective where a within-case analysis of the twelve interviews with employees from the same company is done. The found constructs are presented and discussed. In the last chapter is a cross-level comparison is made between the ‘organisational level’ analysis and the ‘individual level’ analysis to look for interesting findings, differences and similarities.
Context of the research
The Philippines is, with a GDP of $284,8 billion, the 39th largest economy in the world (World Bank, 2015). Rapidly transitioning from a agriculture-centred toward a services oriented economy and despite being mentioned by Goldman Sachs as one of The Eleven Next Economies, has registered far lower average growth than its peers in South East Asia over the last 10 years (IMF 2015). Being heavily dependent on remittances by overseas Filipinos (approx. 10% of GDP), the Government is quite active in attracting foreign investors by offering all sorts of tax incentives.
The Philippines has a good demographic profile with 62% of the population, 99,14 million people, between the ages of 15 and 64 (World Bank, 2014). Like many other developing countries, the Philippines has a high birth rate and a gradually declining mortality rate. However, there is still much that can be gained from a better educational system. Only 62.3% of Filipino children are enrolled in secondary school (Unicef, 2014). Initiatives, such as for example joint activities of companies active in the Philippines, initiated by PBSP (Philippine Business for Social Progress), have helped.
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The Philippines has become an important centre for knowledge-based services in a wide range of sectors of IT-BPO services providers. Originating from data-entry and software writing services, BPO has evolved to an offering of a broad range services (Microsoft Case Studies, 2011).
The country's large, well educated, mostly English-speaking workforce seems a natural fit for this high-skill industry, which is projected to contribute to as much as 11% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020. By then, approximately 6.8 million Filipinos will be employed in this industry. It is the fastest-growing source of employment and one of the highest revenue generating economic sectors in the Philippines today (Invest Philippines, 2014).
CSR in the Philippines
Despite the success and growth of the BPO sector and Pilipino economy, the country still faces great challenges to reduce poverty entirely. International organizations that are active in the Philippines still have to deal with widespread poverty still present in the country. Even though the Filipino government doubled spending on health, education and social protection between 2010 and 2014, it is still not well enough equipped to tackle issues in these areas alone. There are many issues regarding health, education, livelihood and care for the environment that need
ORGANISATIONAL LEVEL
Introduction
The goal of this chapter is to create more understanding for the organisational view on the topic of CSR. In order to do so, seven interviews with companies active in the Philippines are analysed and the most interesting findings are discussed. Different topics are covered to develop an answer to the first research question (see page 6). This part will provide an insight into what drives companies to engage in CSR activities in the Philippines. After this, motivations to do this in a CSR partnership are depicted. The findings present that from an organisational level perspective there always is a business enhancing purpose. The drivers to engage in CSR activities serve different sorts of goals, such as competitiveness, legitimization and social responsibilities. And the drivers to engage in a CSR partnership depend on whether they are aiming for efficiency, to strengthen the partnership or to seek acknowledgement. Multiple process implications seem to be important as swell and will also be discussed.
Per-case analysis
After developing the code scheme in the data analysis the interviews with six companies on the ‘organisational level’ were analysed as a single case first (see figure 5. and Appendix). From the data analysis multiple Axial Codes emerged within the following categories: ‘Drivers to engage in CSR’, ‘Partnership drivers’, ‘Process of CSR’, and ‘Processes in partnerships’ (see table 2.). In order to clarify
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this the cases are discussed one-by-one on the most relevant topics. And all the constructs that are applicable to that case summarized in a per-case model (see figure 5.). In each of the models you can see the Axial Codes that are applicable to that case. The grey coloured boxes mean that they were mentioned in the interview, the boxes that are white weren’t applicable to that case. One example of this per-case analysis is given underneath, the other five cases you can find in the appendix (see appendix). The cross-case analysis will discuss the relations among the different constructs and the company characteristics.
Case # Industry Total employees (2014) Revenues (2014) HQ location
1 BPO 130.000* $2,046 mil* USA
2 BPO 42.000* $3,357 mil* France
3 BPO 18.000* -n.f. Philippines
4 Technology 105.365 $24,4 billion Netherlands 5 Food: Dairy 22.168 $12,9 billion Netherlands 6 Oil 94.000 $264,9 billion Netherlands Table 3. Employees, Revenues and HQ locations of case-companies.
Per-case example: BPO 2
This BPO company is active in CSR on many different fronts (see figure 5.). Mostly their activities are not related to their core-business and spontaneous such as blood donation, rescue children and unplanned activities in the event of a disaster. The interviewee argues that it is important in the BPO industry to have a very good reputation. Next to this he is very strongly underlining that ‘people are the number one differentiator’ in this business. The client is the most important factor and the people the most important assets to meet their demands. A good connection with the employees is crucial. Also will companies outsource to your company because you have local experience and a good connection to the environment.
All these factors speak in favour of CSR related activities. You could say that it isn’t a question if they engage in CSR activities. The importance is too high. Employees in the Philippines find CSR very important, argued by the interviewee. A company with good CSR activities will satisfy current employees and attract new qualified employees. The CSR activities are a differentiator for employees to choose which company they want to work for.
Next to this a good relationship with the community is crucial as they are dependant of them. The interviewee argues that their clients partner with them for reasons of local knowledge and connection.
“..-Company name- takes the upper hand because they have the local experience. Clients come to us for this reason. Take the example of the biggest banks from USA. We are helping them to connect with the local environment. How they have to work with the government. How they can easily establish their setting, how to work with the government. And we help them with marketing and attracting talent.”
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Overall you could say that CSR activities verve a strategic business enhancing goal, of high importance to business competitiveness. However, in their specific activities it doesn’t seem so strategic. They are engaged in a lot of donating activities and, from the interview, it doesn’t seem that they have a good reason why they choose for these specific activities. Also are they stimulating donations to NGO’s and other CSR related topics. Minimizing their own contribution and maximizing contributions of other parties and even their employees.
Partnering in CSR activities with their clients is preferred. The drives for this is to exploit both resources and combine these to improve impact on business and CSR activities. Nevertheless, the interviewee points out that it is only possible if there is a good connection of values between the partners. The values of the company strongly emphasize helping the Philippines and a good partnership with a client is one that supports this value:
“The clients who are connected to the values of –company name- and the Philippines want to make a difference to the lives of the people here in the Philippines, they want to give back to community.”
Promoting CSR activities is combined with the positive effects this can have on the business partnership. The CSR activities has its positive effects on the reputation of the company.
“It is a combination of the development of business and to promote the business- and CSR-wise activities. Also commitment is very important. Interaction and connection on both sides is needed. Hence, best practices can be shared in terms of experience in the Philippines but also about differences and specific knowledge in the industries.”
Following the quote above, another important reason for the partnership also seems to be to share best practices, not only on CSR topics but also business wise. Business related benefits through these CSR collaborations are a relevant topic and their joint activities seem a good vehicle for higher business goals such as related knowledge transfer and partnership building.
