Competitiveness as a Strategic Outcome of Corporate Social Responsibility

Abstract

There is a gap in the literature concerning the effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on corporate strategy. This study analyses the influence of CSR on competitiveness as a strategic dimension of companies. It addresses the conditions under which CSR has a positive influence on competitiveness through testing the moderator effect of corporate strategy, size, and industry. Based on an empirical study of 144 companies, the results show a positive effect of CSR on competitiveness, which is stronger for large companies and for companies that follow a proactive (vs reactive) strategy, while no differences appear between service and manufacturing industries.Two arguments justify the moderating effect of company size on the impact of CSR on competitiveness: (1) in small companies, the owner of the company is also the manager; and (2) visibility relates to the size of the company. Russo and Perrini (2010) argue that CSR is not solely a prerogative of large firms, and show that large firms and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) must be treated as two different constructs to examine their responsible corporate strategies. In order to justify the differences between small and large firms in the CSR orientation, they point Competitiveness and CSRA series of interviews was conducted with 12 managers to verify the dimensions and items used to measure CSR and competitiveness. A number of themes emerged from these interviews and were subsequently incorporated into our questionnaire. Eight key managers, randomly selected from the same industries as the survey organisations, were then used to pilot test the instrument. Respondents were mailed a copy of the survey and asked to review it for content, clarity and validity. Based on this feedback, some redundant or ambiguous items were modified or eliminated. SampleData were collected through an e-mail survey using a self-report questionnaire. The initial sample consisted of 500 CEOs randomly selected among companies with more than five employees established in Spain. Not-for-profit organisations, public administration organisations, and educational institutions were excluded from the sample because the nature and demands of their stakeholders may differ significantly from those faced by for-profit organisations. Potential participants were mailed a questionnaire and a cover letter that offered a summary of the study's results in exchange for their completed answer. One week later, an e-mail was sent to all potential participants. Of the 500 questionnaires mailed, 164 were completed and 15 were undeliverable, yielding a response rate of 29.8%. Finally, five returned questionnaires were discarded because the respondents reported that the survey was inappropriate for their organisation or experience. The final sample included 144 respondents.A non-response bias test was conducted by testing differences between early and late respondents (Armstrong and Overton, 1977). Wilks's MANOVA test criterion (Johnson and Wichern, 2007) was employed to test at the 0.05 level of signific...

Relationship between social responsibility and performance in small and medium enterprises: Literature review

“…Además, estos autores pudieron comprobar que ni el tamaño, ni la antigüedad, ni el sector resultaron ser significativos como variables de control de la relación estudiada y que por tanto, en contra de lo que otros autores afirmaban (Acar, 1993;Wijewardena y Cooray, 1995;Pelham, 2000;Santos-Requejo y González-Benito, 2000;Reid et al, 2000), estos tres factores no son determinantes del éxito competitivo. No obstante, ha de mencionarse que en un estudio más reciente de estos autores en el que la muestra estaba compuesta tanto de pymes como de grandes empresas, el tamaño, junto con la estrategia sí que resultaron ser intensificadores de la influencia positiva que ejerce la RSE sobre la competitividad (Marín et al, 2012).…”

Relation between Social Responsibility and Enterprise Long-term Competitiveness

“…However, such a practice will only serve to compel the stakeholders whose interests have been damaged to withdraw from the game with the enterprise. Without the cooperation of its stakeholders, the enterprise will not be able to sustain its operations and longterm shareholder value will be damaged [4,13,14].…”

Impacts of the CSR strategies of technology companies on performance and competitiveness

“…Ever since then, companies have been facing a growing demand for social commitment from different stakeholders.The relationship between CSR and corporate performance has been widely studied, with researchers reporting contrasting results (Marín, Rubio, & de Maya, 2012). Some studies show a positive relationship, whereas others show a negative relationship, with results also dependent on the time involved (Muñoz, Pablo, & Peña, 2015).…”

“…This impact is stronger in sectors that are highly competitive (e.g. the technology sector) and that follow a proactive versus reactive strategy (Marín et al, 2012) versus CSR's effect in uncompetitive sectors, in which traditional advantages are brand, price, quality and distribution (Rives & Bañón, 2008).…”