An investigation of the interrelationship between corporate social responsibility and sustainability in manufacturing organisations: an empirical study

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability are considered hot trends in today's modern trade systems. However, there seems to be scarcity in the current literature of empirical studies linking CSR and sustainability applications in manufacturing organisations. This research aims to investigate the interrelationships between sustainability factors (commitment and motivators) and CSR factors (commitment and motivators) and how they affect each other. A survey instrument was developed through which data is collected from 47 food manufacturing organisations functioning in Palestine. The collected data is analysed using the partial least square structural equation modelling technique. The findings of this study suggest that there are strong linkages between CSR factors (commitment and motivators) and sustainability factors (commitment and motivators). The CSR commitment factors have the strongest relationship with corporate social responsibility motivators and sustainability motivators, which indicate that corporate commitment to CSR positively influences the level of corporate sustainable performance.