Share:


Assessment of corporate social responsibility and its impacts on corporate reputation of companies in selected Balkan Countries former Yugoslavia States

    Jintao Lu   Affiliation
    ; Licheng Ren Affiliation
    ; Chong Zhang Affiliation
    ; Jiayuan Qiao Affiliation
    ; Maria Kovacova Affiliation
    ; Justas Streimikis Affiliation

Abstract

The empirical study was conducted in the three selected Balkan Countries from former Yugoslavia: Slovenia, Croatia and Montenegro through totally 270 experts’ surveys, 90 questionnaires were distributed to entrepreneurs (30), policy makers (30) and experts from academia (30) in each country in order to assess the CSR level in the country and the effect the main drivers having on CSR level, then followed by the assessment of CSR impacts on Corporate Reputation (CR). The model of multivariate regression was developed for assessment of the impact of the four independent variables (Institutional Environment, Executive Characteristics, Customers’ Expectations and Political Factors) on dependent variable–CSR. The study also analysed the impact of CSR (dependent variable) on CR. The obtained results show that countries with the higher level of CSR, have achieved the greater level of CR. The degree of the impact of the main drivers on CSR in selected Balkan countries is linked to EU accession level. The political factor has the highest impact on CSR level in all investigated countries, institutional environment is the next.

Keyword : Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Reputation, Institutional Environment, drivers, Balkan Countries

How to Cite
Lu, J. ., Ren, L. ., Zhang, C. ., Qiao, J. ., Kovacova, M. ., & Streimikis, J. . (2020). Assessment of corporate social responsibility and its impacts on corporate reputation of companies in selected Balkan Countries former Yugoslavia States. Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 26(2), 504-524. https://doi.org/10.3846/tede.2020.12069
Published in Issue
Feb 27, 2020
Abstract Views
3404
PDF Downloads
1275
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

References

Abbas, M., Gao, Y., & Shah, S. S. H. (2018). CSR and customer outcomes: The mediating role of customer engagement. Sustainability, 10(11), 4243. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10114243

Aguilera, R. V., Rupp, D. E., Williams, C. A., & Gajnapathi, J. (2007). Putting the S back in corporate social responsibility: A multilevel theory of social change in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 32(3), 836–863. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2007.25275678

Aguilera, R. V., & Jackson, G. (2003). The cross-national diversity of corporate governance: Dimensions and determinants. Academy of Management Review, 28(3), 447–465. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2003.10196772

Ali, W., Frynas, J. G., & Mahmood, Z. (2017). Determinants of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) disclosure in developed and developing countries: A literature review. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 24(4), 273–294. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1410

Aoki, M. (2001). Information, corporate governance and institutional diversity: Competitiveness in Japan, the USA and transitional economies. Oxford University Press.

Apreda, R. (2006). The semantics of governance: The common thread running through corporate, public, and global governance. Corporate Ownership and Control, 3(2), 45–53. https://doi.org/10.22495/cocv3i2p6

Babić, V. (2010). Corporate governance in transition economies. Theme, 34(2), 555–568.

Bakan, J. (2004). The corporation: The pathological pursuit of profit and power. Free Press.

Balakrishnan, N., Render, B., & Stair, R. M. (2012). Managerial decision modelling with spreadsheets (3th ed.). Pearson.

Barker, V. L. III, & Mueller, G. C. (2002). CEO characteristics and firm R&D spending. Management Science, 48(6), 711–820. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.48.6.782.187

Bertsekas, D. P., & Nedic, A. (2003). Least squares policy evaluation algorithms with linear function approximation. Discrete Event Dynamic Systems, 13(1–2), 79–110. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022192903948

Bice, S. (2015). Corporate social responsibility as institution: A social mechanisms framework. Journal of Business Ethics, 143(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2791-1

Carroll, A. B. (1979). A Three-dimensional conceptual model of corporate social performance. Academy of Management Review, 4(4), 497–505. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1979.4498296

Carroll, A. B. (1999). Corporate social responsibility: Evolution of a definitional construct. Business and Society, 38(3), 268–295. https://doi.org/10.1177/000765039903800303

Carroll, A. B. (2000). Ethical challenges for business in the new millennium: Corporate social responsibility and models of management morality. Business Ethics Quarterly, 10(1), 33–42. https://doi.org/10.2307/3857692

Carroll, A. B. (2016). Carroll’s pyramid of CSR: Taking another look. International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, 1(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40991-016-0004-6

Carroll, A. B., & Bucholtz, A. K. (2008). Business and society: Ethics and stakeholder management (7th ed.). USA: Cengage Learning.

Cavalic, A. (2017). The pyramid of corporate social responsibility in the companies of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In The Proceedings of 5th International Scientific Conference on Economy of Integration (ICEI) (pp. 671–681). Tuzla, Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Chen, J., Huang, J., Zheng, L., & Zhang, Ch. (2019). An empirical analysis of telecommunication infrastructure promoting the scale of international service trade: Based on the panel data of countries along the belt and road. Transformations in Business & Economics, 18(2), 124–139.

Chin, M. K., Hambrick, D. C., & Treviño, L. K. (2013). Political ideologies of CEOs: The influence of executives’ values on corporate social responsibility. Administrative Science Quarterly, 58(2), 197–232. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839213486984

Christensen, L. J., Mackey, A., & Whetten, D. (2013). Taking responsibility for corporate social responsibility: The role of leaders in creating, implementing, sustaining, or avoiding socially responsible firm behaviours. Academy of Management Perspectives, 28(2), 164–178. https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2012.0047

Crane, A., Mcwilliams, A., Matten, D., Siegel, D. S., & Moon, J. (2009). The corporate social responsibility agenda. In A. Crane, D. Matten, A. McWilliams, J. Moon, & D. S. Siegel (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of corporate social responsibility. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199211593.001.0001

Danubianu, M., & Teodorescu, C. (2017). Impact of corporate social responsibility on sustainable enterprise development. Journal of Contemporary Issues in Economics and Business, 11(1), 129–139. https://doi.org/10.1515/pesd-2017-0012

Dean, D. H. (2002). Associating the corporation with a charitable event through sponsorship: Measuring the effects on corporate-community relations. Journal of Advertising, 31(4), 77–87. https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2002.10673687

Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute. (2018). The rise and fall of market socialism in Yugoslavia (special report). Berlin, Germany.

Dixit, A. (2009). Governance institutions and economic activity. American Economic Review, 99(1), 5–24. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.99.1.5

Draskovic, M., & Stjepcevic, J. (2012). Institutional framework of corporate governance with reference to the former Yugoslav transition economies. Montenegrin Journal of Economics, 8(4), 27–41.

Draskovic, V., & Lojpur, A. (2013). The importance of the institutional framework in regulating corporate social responsibility. Montenegrin Journal of Economics, 9(2), 39–46.

Dummett, K. (2006). Drivers for Corporate Environmental Responsibility (CER). Environment, Development and Sustainability, 8(3), 375–389. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-005-7900-3

Dyduch, J., & Krasodomska, J. (2017). Determinants of corporate social responsibility disclosure: An empirical study of Polish listed companies. Sustainability, 9(11), 1934. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9111934

Everard, M., Reed, M. S., & Kenter, J. O. (2016) The ripple effect: institutionalising pro-environmental values to shift societal norms and behaviours. Ecosystem Services, 21(Part B), 230–240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2016.08.001

Fiss, P. C. (2008). Institutions and corporate governance. In The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Institutionalism (Chaper 15). https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/hdbk_orginstitution/n16.xml

Fox, T., Ward, H., & Howard, B. (2002). Public sector roles in strengthening corporate social responsibility: A baseline study. https://pubs.iied.org/16017IIED

Garriga, E., & Melé, D. (2004). Corporate social responsibility theories: Mapping the territory. Journal of Business Ethics, 53(1–2), 51–71. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:BUSI.0000039399.90587.34

Hafenbradl, S., & Waeger, D. (2016). Ideology and the microfoundations of CSR: Why executives believe in the business case for CSR and how this affects their CSR engagements. Academy of Management Journal, 60(4), 1582–1606. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2014.0691

Higgins, K. T. (2002). Marketing with a conscience. Marketing Management, 11(4), 12–15.

Hillenbrand, C., & Money, K. (2007). Corporate responsibility and corporate reputation: Two separate concepts or two sides of the same coin? Corporate Reputation Review, 10(4), 261–277. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.crr.1550057

Huang, H., & Zhao, Zh. (2016). The influence of political connection on corporate social responsibility – evidence from Listed private companies in China. International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, 1(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40991-016-0007-3

Hult, G. T. M. (2011). Market-focused sustainability: Market orientation plus! Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 39(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-010-0223-4

Iamandi, I.-E., & Constantin, L.-G. (2012). Quantifying corporate social responsibility involvement in art and culture projects in Romania and Bulgaria. Procedia Economics and Finance, 3, 1122–1127. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(12)00284-5

Ioannou, I., & Serafeim, G. (2012). What drives corporate social performance? The role of nation-level institutions. Journal of International Business Studies, 43(9), 834–864. https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2012.26

Jonker, J. (2005). CSR wonderland: Navigating between movement, community and organization. Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 2005(20), 19–20. https://doi.org/10.9774/GLEAF.4700.2005.wi.00004

Kang, C., Germann, F., & Grewal, R. (2016). Washing away your sins? Corporate social responsibility, corporate social irresponsibility, and firm performance. Journal of Marketing, 80(2), 59–79. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.15.0324

Koleva, P., Rodet-Kroichvili, N., David, P., & Marasova, J. (2010). Is corporate social responsibility the privilege of developed market economies? Some evidence from Central and Eastern Europe. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 21(2), 274–293. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585190903509597

Kolk, A. (2016). The social responsibility of international business: From ethics and the environment to CSR and sustainable development. Journal of World Business, 51(1), 23–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2015.08.010

Kudłak, R., Szöcs, I., Krumay, B., & Martinuzzi, A. (2018). The future of CSR-Selected findings from a Europe-wide Delphi study. Journal of Cleaner Production, 183, 282–291. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.02.119

Lewis, S. (2003). Reputation and corporate responsibility. Journal of Communication Management, 7(4), 356–366. https://doi.org/10.1108/13632540310807494

Li, J., Sun, X., & Li, G. (2018). Relationships among green brand, brand equity and firm performance: Empirical evidence from China. Transformations in Business and Economics, 17(3), 221–236.

Li, J., Zhang, F., & Sun, S. (2019). Building consumer-oriented CSR differentiation strategy. Sustainability, 11(3), 664. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11030664

Lu, J., Ren, L., He, Y., Lin, W. & Streimikis, J. (2019a). Linking corporate social responsibility with reputation and brand of the firm. Amfiteatru Economic, 21(51), 442–460. https://doi.org/10.24818/EA/2019/51/422

Lu, J., Ren, L., Lin, W., He, Y., & Streimikis, J. (2019b). Policies to promote Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and assessment of CSR impacts. E+M. Ekonomie a Management, 22(1), 82–98. https://doi.org/10.15240/tul/001/2019-1-006

Lu, J., Ren, L., Qiao, J., Lin, W., & He, Y. (2019c). Female executives and corporate social responsibility performance: A dual perspective of differences in institutional environment and heterogeneity of foreign experience. Transformations in Business & Economics, 18(2), 174–196.

Maak, T., Pless, N. M., & Voegtlin, C. (2016). Business statesman or shareholder advocate? CEO responsible leadership styles and the micro‐foundations of political CSR. Journal of Management Studies, 53(3), 463–493. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12195

Maitland, E., Nicholas, S., & Boyce, G. (2009). The economics of governance: Transaction cost economics and new institutional economics. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.511.4859

Mapelli, F., Arena, M., & Azzone, G. (2016). What drivers determine CSR strategies in the energy industry? Evidence from Italy. In The European Conference on Sustainability, Energy & the Environment 2016 Official Conference Proceedings. The International Academic Forum (IAFOR).

Margolis, J. D., & Walsh, J. P. (2003). Misery loves companies: Rethinking social initiatives by business. Administrative Science Quarterly, 48(2), 268–289. https://doi.org/10.2307/3556659

Martin, L. (2015) Incorporating values into sustainability decision-making. Journal of Cleaner Production, 105, 146–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.04.014

Matev, D., & Assenova, M. (2012). Application of corporate social responsibility approach in Bulgaria to support sustainable tourism development. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 14(6), 1065–1073. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-012-0519-9

Matten, D., Crane, A., & Chapple, W. (2003). Behind the mask: Revealing the true face of corporate citizenship. Journal of Business Ethics, 45(1), 109–120. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024128730308

Miras-Rodriguez del Mar, M., Martinez-Martinez, D., & Escobar-Perez, B. (2019). Which corporate governance mechanisms drive CSR disclosure practices in emerging countries? Sustainability, 11(1), 61. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11010061

Moir, L. (2001). What do we mean by corporate social responsibility? Corporate Governance, 1(2), 16–22. https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000005486

Nazari, K., Parvizi, M., & Emami, M. (2012). Corporate social responsibility: Approaches and perspectives. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 3(9), 554–563.

North, D. C. (1990). References. In Institutions, institutional change and economic performance (pp. 141–146). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511808678.017

Öberseder, M., Schlegelmilch, B. B., & Murphy, P. E. (2013). CSR practices and consumer perceptions. Journal of Business Research, 66(10), 1839–1851. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.02.005

Öberseder, M., Schlegelmilch, B. B., Murphy, P. E., & Gruber, V. (2014). Consumers’ perceptions of corporate social responsibility: Scale development and validation. Journal of Business Ethics, 124(1), 101–115. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1787-y

Pedersen, E. R. (2006). Between hopes and realities: Reflections on the promises and practices of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Samfundslitteratur.

Pedersen, E. R., & Neergaard, P. (2006). The bottom line of CSR: A different view. In F. Hond, F. G. A. De Bakker, & P. Neergaard (Eds.), Managing corporate social responsibility in action: Talking, doing and measuring (pp. 77–91). Ashgate.

Pesmatzoglou, D., Nikolaou, I. E., Evangelinos, K. I., & Allan, S. (2014). Extractive multinationals and corporate social responsibility: A commitment towards achieving the goals of sustainable development or only a management strategy? Journal of International Development, 26(2), 187–206. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.2871

Petrenko, O. V., Aime, F., Ridge, J., & Hill, A. (2016). Corporate social responsibility or CEO narcissism? CSR motivations and organizational performance. Strategic Management Journal, 37(2), 262–279. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2348

Poksinska, B., Dahlgaard, J. J., & Eklund, J. A. E. (2003). Implementing ISO 14000 in Sweden: Motives, benefits and comparisons with ISO 9000. International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, 20(5), 585–606. https://doi.org/10.1108/02656710310476543

Postma, T., & Hermes, N. (2003). Institutions, corporate governance and corporate governance institutions: The case of Estonia. Journal for East European Management Studies, 8(3), 263–292. https://doi.org/10.5771/0949-6181-2003-3-263

Prutina, Z. (2016). The effect of corporate social responsibility on organizational commitment. Management – Journal of Contemporary Management Issues, 21(SI), 227–248.

Prutina, Z., & Sehic, D. (2016). Employees’ perceptions of corporate social responsibility: A case study of award recipient. Ekonomska Misao i Praksa-Economic Thought and Practice, 25(1), 239–259.

Roe, M. J. (2004). The institutions of corporate governance. Harvard John M. Olin Center for Law, Economics, and Business. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.612362

Romani, S., Grappi, S., & Bagozzi, R. P. (2016). Corporate socially responsible initiatives and their effects on consumption of green products. Journal of Business Ethics, 135(2), 253–264. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2541-4

Stanisavljević, M. (2017). Does customer loyalty depend on corporate social responsibility. Journal of Contemporary Issues in Economics and Business, 63(1), 38–46. https://doi.org/10.1515/ngoe-2017-0004

Van Marrewijk, M. (2003). Concepts and definitions of CSR and corporate sustainability: Between agency and communion. Journal of Business Ethics, 44(2–3), 95–105. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4126-3_32

Vlachos, P. A., Tsamakos, A., Vrechopoulos, A. P., & Avramidis, P. K. (2009). Corporate social responsibility: Attributions, loyalty, and the mediating role of trust. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 37(2), 170–180. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-008-0117-x

Wood, D. J. (1991). Corporate social performance revisited. Academy of Management Review, 16(4), 691–718. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1991.4279616

World Economic Forum. (2019). The global competitiveness report 2019. Geneva, Switzerland.

Yoo, D., & Lee, J. (2018). The effects of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fit and CSR consistency on company evaluation: The role of CSR support. Sustainability, 10(8), 2956. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10082956

Yoon, Y., Gürhan-Canli, Z., & Schwarz, N. (2006). The effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities on companies with bad reputations. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 16(4), 377–390. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327663jcp1604_9

Yuen, K. F., Thai, V. V., & Wong, Y. D. (2016). Are customers willing to pay for corporate social responsibility? A study of individual-specific mediators. Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, 27(7–8), 912–926. https://doi.org/10.1080/14783363.2016.1187992

Zingales, L. (1997). Corporate governance. https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=1806

Zink, K. J. (2007). Stakeholder orientation and corporate social responsibility as a precondition for sustainability. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 16(8–9), 1041–1052. https://doi.org/10.1080/14783360500163243