Bank Employee Perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibility Practices: Evidence from Egypt

Abstract

This study examined bank employee perceptions regarding corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices in Egypt as a developing country. In particular, it explored bank employee perceptions towards the CSR aspects on which banks should focus. It also investigated whether factors such as bank type (i.e., public or private), employee age, experience, job position, and number of CSR training programs undertaken can affect this perception. Data were gathered through a questionnaire distributed to both public and private bank employees. The final sample consisted of 127 employees. SPSS was used to analyse the data. We found that bank employees placed different importance on the CSR aspects on which banks should focus. In particular, they prioritized employment and workplace-related aspects such as operational efficiency, financial literacy, equal employment opportunities, and workplace safety. In contrast, they placed less emphasis on environment-related aspects such as greenhouse gas emission and energy consumption. We also found that bank type, age, employee experience, job position, and number of CSR training programs undertaken could affect the perceptions of bank employees regarding the CSR aspects on which banks should focus. While there is a growing stream of research on CSR, prior research lacks CSR practices in developing markets, especially in the banking sector. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to look at the importance and priorities of CSR aspects in Egypt—one of the fastest-growing economies in the developing world. Based on the findings of this study, policymakers and regulators in Egypt such as the Central Bank of Egypt and the Egyptian Banking Institute are advised to request banks to pay more attention to environmental-related aspects of CSR to keep pace with Egypt 2030 vision and develop an action plan that helps increase bank employee awareness regarding the importance of CSR practices and engage employees further in developing their banks’ sustainability strategy.