Corporate social responsibility and the effectiveness of local governance practices in the construction sector in Vietnam: an empirical survey-based analysis

Based on the fact that most of factories/manufacturers failed to comply with foreign customers’ requirements for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices from the first audits, the present study aims to explore SME exporters’ understanding of CSR requirements from foreign clients, motivations and obstacles for them to practice and implement CSR. In order to tackle the research objectives, qualitative approach is chosen and in-depth interview with owners, HR/CSR managers and production managers is employed to collect data. The research scope is firms/suppliers in hardlines (non-furniture and non-apparel) section. Thematic analysis is used to analyse and categorise data from interviews. The research findings show some crucial points. Firstly, CSR requirements from clients are not correctly understood. Secondly, there are seven drivers for CSR practices which match with previous studies. Lastly, six per ten obstacles to implement CSR are new findings in the present research context. From these findings, some recommendations are proposed to improve CSR practices in SMEs.
 Keywords
 Corporate social responsibility (CSR), motivations (motives), obstacles, SMEs
 References
 
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PurposeThis study aims to examine the impact of firm-level corporate social responsibility (CSR) governance characteristics on the extent, quality and comprehensiveness of CSR reporting of Pakistani listed enterprises.Design/methodology/approachThis study used content analysis of corporate annual reports and stand-alone CSR reports available on corporate websites in 2021 to identify CSR-related governance features and to calculate CSR reporting scores. Multivariate regression is used to test relationships. In addition, the analysis tested the moderating role of profitability in these relationships.FindingsFirm-level CSR governance characteristics contribute to the extent, quality and comprehensiveness of CSR reporting in a developing country. Further, results confirm that profitability moderates the relationship between CSR governance and the extent and comprehensiveness of CSR reporting.Research limitations/implicationsThis study employed cross-sectional data and focused on a single developing country. Future studies might include a cross-national sample and longitudinal data to demonstrate the broader relevance of these findings. The outcomes of this study are restricted to CSR disclosures based on CSR reports and annual reports. Future research may examine additional corporate communication channels, such as websites and social media platforms.Practical implicationsThis research validates the important role of CSR governance mechanisms as a driver of comprehensive CSR reporting. Business leaders and policymakers can facilitate improved corporate reporting by requiring companies to implement CSR-related governance mechanisms.Originality/valueThis is the first study to test the influence of firm-level CSR governance mechanisms in promoting the quantity, quality and comprehensiveness of CSR reporting in a developing country.

This study examines whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) governance reduces firms’ financing costs in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a region experiencing rapid environmental, social, and governance (ESG)-related changes, for which causal evidence remains limited. Using a panel of 595 firm-year observations from 191 listed firms across the region during 2020–2023, the analysis evaluates three dimensions of CSR governance–strategic CSR orientation, board-level CSR committee oversight, and a composite CSR governance index–through ordinary least squares, two-stage least squares, and high-dimensional fixed effects estimation. The results indicate that stronger CSR governance is consistently associated with lower equity costs and a lower weighted average cost of capital, whereas no statistically significant relationship is observed for the cost of debt. CSR committee adoption exhibits the largest magnitude of economic effect. Robustness and institutional moderation analyses further show that CSR governance effects are stronger in industries with lower ESG adoption but weaken following recent regulatory tightening. The findings provide causal evidence that governance-embedded CSR reduces equity-based financing costs in legitimacy-driven emerging markets. This study contributes insights into stakeholder, agency, and legitimacy perspectives and offers implications for policymakers, investors, and firms seeking to enhance capital market efficiency through CSR governance.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) governance systems played a crucial role in ensuring corporate accountability and facilitating decision‐making that fostered trust and transparency among stakeholders. By embedding sustainability into strategic processes, these systems promoted environmental innovation and reinforced long‐term ecological responsibility and value creation. However, significant knowledge gaps remained regarding the extent to which CSR governance systems influenced environmental innovation. This study addressed these gaps by drawing on the natural‐resource‐based view (NRBV) theory and analyzing data from 267 nonfinancial firms listed on the London Stock Exchange between 2007 and 2024, sourced from the Bloomberg Database. The empirical analysis employed robust econometric techniques, including feasible generalized least squares (FGLS), Driscoll–Kraay standard errors with fixed effects, and a two‐step generalized method of moments (GMM) approach. Findings revealed that CSR governance mechanisms—specifically board gender diversity, the size of the CSR committee, the presence of nonexecutive directors on CSR committees, and the frequency of CSR committee meetings—exerted a significant and positive impact on environmental innovation. The study recommended that corporations institutionalize CSR governance frameworks, particularly through dedicated committees and specialized board structures, to embed sustainability into corporate strategy. Doing so enhanced competitiveness, strengthened reputation, and generated long‐term stakeholder value.

In 2013, India became the first country in the world to mandate Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) spending as the new Companies Act of 2013 requires companies of a certain size to invest two-percent of net profits in social welfare activities. While philanthropic CSR efforts have been viewed as discretionary and voluntary engagements undertaken by corporations around the world, a new CSR model is emerging in India.BR This Article analyzes the emerging CSR regime in India and highlights key characteristics of the developing frameworks. It begins an overview of the new Companies Act of 2013, and corporate governance reform to understand backgrounds of CSR regime in India. It, then, reviews CSR requirements under section 135 of the Act. This Article raises questions about why India is moving towards mandatory philanthropic CSR and whether this regime could be a leading model to other countries. By reviewing lessons from Indian example of CSR implementation, it seeks to add to Korean legal debates over CSR regime. Finally, this Article suggests a legislative blueprint for establishing a foundation to effectively implement CSR in corporate jurisprudence.BR Unlike India, Korea does not have explicit CSR legislation in the corporate law context. But while there is no law directly mandating CSR in Korea, numerous regulations governing corporate activities already fulfill the function of implementing CSR. Such individual regulatory statutes, which require or encourage certain “results,” “actions/processes,” and “structures” of corporate activities for protecting various stakeholders in the economic, social, and environmental dimensions, would be an effective mechanism for implementing CSR.BR In this respect, the Indian 2013 Companies Act, which mandates two-percent company spending on CSR, is likely to suffer from a severely delimited consideration of CSR, i.e., as a philanthropic responsibility, if India fails to arrange a systematic legislative framework for improving CSR practice to protect society from corporate abuses. Becoming the first country to incorporate mandatory philanthropic CSR could burnish the image of India as a leader in improving CSR; but it could also isolate the country from the international consensus. Perhaps a more desirable route to becoming such a leader would involve establishing a systemic and effective legal framework considering sphere of influence in CSR with economic, environmental, and social dimensions, in line with a CSR-centric perspective, i.e., economic, legal, and ethical responsibilities before moving on mandating philanthropic CSR by a single regulation.

This study is conducted to identify how corporate social responsibility (CSR) influences consumer loyalty in the banking sector in Vietnam — an emerging economy. The social identity theory, stakeholder theory, and signaling theory are used to answer the question “Does CSR directly or indirectly influence customer loyalty in the banking sector in Vietnam?” To accomplish the research objectives, qualitative and quantitative mixed research methods are used. Qualitative research aims to adjust the scale of constructs to suit the Vietnamese market through face-to-face discussions with 10 Vietnamese customers. A survey is then carried out with 299 Vietnamese customers who have experience dealing with banks in Vietnam. Data collected are processed by Smart Partial Least Square (PLS) software with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Research results showed that CSR has no direct impact on customer loyalty. However, CSR has an indirect effect on customer loyalty through an intermediate variable of service quality. Service quality has a strong influence on customer loyalty. The administrative implications of this research are that Vietnamese banks should consider CSR as a way to help improve service quality, thereby increasing customer loyalty. CSR factors to consider are legal, ethical, and philanthropic responsibilities. To improve service quality to increase customer loyalty, Vietnamese banks need to pay attention to the factors of reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Future research directions that can be implemented include: use stakeholder dimensions for CSR; use other mediators such as brand image, customer satisfaction, and customer trust; and research in other countries with emerging economies similar to Vietnam to increase generalization.

Summary: In this article, an important and troublesome trend of the EC's environmental and social policy is discussed. This trend is best described as a new governance model. In this new model, the government and private sector work together to make new laws (the co-operative approach), and, conversely, corporations are required to assume social responsibilities. Thus, there are two sides to this trend: public government is privatised and corporate government is publicised. The first part of this article discusses the co-operative approach, which has become popular in the environmental area. The main reason for this approach's popularity is that it is believed to avoid the pitfalls of the adversarial approach. The second part analyses the European Commission's ideas about corporate social responsibility (CSR) as set forth in a green paper on this topic. The definition and scope of CSR, the objectives and instruments proposed by the Commission, the CSR stake-holder model, and the management structure and tools required to implement CSR are discussed. The merits of the co-operative approach and CSR are discussed in the third section. The fourth section focuses specifically on the stakeholder model on which CSR is founded. In the next section, some issues that the CSR debate has neglected are brought to the forefront. A final assessment of the co-operative approach and the CSR model is set forth in the final section.

PurposeThis empirical study aims to investigate how employee responses to corporate social responsibility (CSR) (i.e. perception of and participation in CSR initiatives) can affect career adaptability in the Vietnamese service industry. Furthermore, the mediating mechanism of psychological capital (PsyCap) and the moderating role of moral identity are explored in this relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe target population for this study includes employees working for service enterprises in which CSR practices are conducted, such as tourism, hospitality, retail, education and others in Vietnam. The data from 685 responses were analyzed for measurement model analysis and structural model analysis using SPSS, AMOS and SmartPLS.FindingsThe findings of this study reveal that CSR perception and CSR participation have significant positive effects on career adaptability through PsyCap. This study also confirms that the positive association between CSR perception and PsyCap is more pronounced among employees with a higher level of internalized moral identity and symbolic moral identity.Research limitations/implicationsThe collection of data involving multiple dimensions at once did not allow the study to accurately assess the effect of variables over time. Further studies that want to look closely at the impact of perception of and participation in CSR should collect data longitudinally and follow up the target sample over a period of time. Besides, moral identity is a context-dependent construct associated with various social and cultural institutions. Meanwhile, Western moral identity emphasizes individual-oriented morality; Eastern cultures consider a socially oriented person to be highly moral; therefore, this study’s findings might not be appropriate for Western culture. To enrich the existing CSR framework, future studies may attempt to unveil the intervening mechanism of other psychological factors, such as psychological safety, or explore the predictions for other career-related outcomes, such as career satisfaction in the CSR context. Finally, both CB-SEM and PLS-SEM methods can be combined to analyze complex models, especially high-order models.Practical implicationsBy leveraging influence processes within the model, service managers can foster human resource development in the workplace by raising the active involvement of employees in CSR activities.Originality/valueThis research enriches the literature on CSR and employee-related outcomes by formulating a conceptual model focusing on employee responses to CSR as key antecedents. This study also contributes to the existing understanding of the CSR context by empirically investigating micro-level CSR in an emerging economy like Vietnam.

This chapter provides a theoretical and conceptual overview of the governance of corporate social responsibility (CSR). It is based on an extensive review of corporate governance literature, specifically on the composition of boards and committees and how they influence corporate outcomes. The attributes of committees’ members could play a key role in the definition of a CSR strategy and its implementation. The second section analyzes how diversity in boardrooms and CSR committees could foster CSR performance, through specific dimensions of social performance. It focuses on the influence of structural and demographic diversities in boardrooms on CSR performance and the role of CSR committees on the implementation of a strategic CSR-building process. The third section identifies CSR strategies: (1) strategic CSR driven by initiatives and pioneering actions and (2) responsive CSR based on the imitation of the main competitors and the implementation of basic actions to “avoid” stakeholders’ pressure. We point out that strategic CSR has been widely discussed and extended while responsive CSR is marginalized and often associated with low social performance. This dichotomous approach of CSR strategies could be biased. Many firms could display a strategic CSR in some areas and a responsive CSR in other areas. The role of CSR committees and their composition are discussed in section (4). The last section concludes the paper.

Medicare recently launched the Physician Value-Based Payment Modifier (PVBM) Program, a mandatory pay-for-performance program for physician practices. Little is known about performance by practices that serve socially or medically high-risk patients. To compare performance in the PVBM Program by practice characteristics. Cross-sectional observational study using PVBM Program data for payments made in 2015 based on performance of large US physician practices caring for fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries in 2013. High social risk (defined as practices in the top quartile of proportion of patients dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid) and high medical risk (defined as practices in the top quartile of mean Hierarchical Condition Category risk score among fee-for-service beneficiaries). Quality and cost z scores based on a composite of individual measures. Higher z scores reflect better performance on quality; lower scores, better performance on costs. Among 899 physician practices with 5 189 880 beneficiaries, 547 practices were categorized as low risk (neither high social nor high medical risk) (mean, 7909 beneficiaries; mean, 320 clinicians), 128 were high medical risk only (mean, 3675 beneficiaries; mean, 370 clinicians), 102 were high social risk only (mean, 1635 beneficiaries; mean, 284 clinicians), and 122 were high medical and social risk (mean, 1858 beneficiaries; mean, 269 clinicians). Practices categorized as low risk performed the best on the composite quality score (z score, 0.18 [95% CI, 0.09 to 0.28]) compared with each of the practices categorized as high risk (high medical risk only: z score, -0.55 [95% CI, -0.77 to -0.32]; high social risk only: z score, -0.86 [95% CI, -1.17 to -0.54]; and high medical and social risk: -0.78 [95% CI, -1.04 to -0.51]) (P < .001 across groups). Practices categorized as high social risk only performed the best on the composite cost score (z score, -0.52 [95% CI, -0.71 to -0.33]), low risk had the next best cost score (z score, -0.18 [95% CI, -0.25 to -0.10]), then high medical and social risk (z score, 0.40 [95% CI, 0.23 to 0.57]), and then high medical risk only (z score, 0.82 [95% CI, 0.65 to 0.99]) (P < .001 across groups). Total per capita costs were $9506 for practices categorized as low risk, $13 683 for high medical risk only, $8214 for high social risk only, and $11 692 for high medical and social risk. These patterns were associated with fewer bonuses and more penalties for high-risk practices. During the first year of the Medicare Physician Value-Based Payment Modifier Program, physician practices that served more socially high-risk patients had lower quality and lower costs, and practices that served more medically high-risk patients had lower quality and higher costs.

Why do some firms voluntarily exceed legally mandated requirements for corporate social responsibility (CSR)? We examine this question in the context of India, an emerging economy where the Companies Act of 2013 mandates eligible firms to spend 2% of profits on CSR. This institutional setting provides a clear benchmark for identifying firms’ CSR overspending, voluntary spending beyond the mandated threshold, as a substantive form of CSR engagement rather than compliance. Drawing on agency and stakeholder theories, we argue that family ownership influences CSR overspending through specific governance mechanisms: (a) overlapping membership between CSR and stakeholder relations committees and (b) female representation on the CSR committee. From an agency perspective, family owners pursue non-economic objectives such as preserving the family’s legacy and reputation. From a stakeholder perspective, they are particularly attentive to maintaining societal legitimacy. We propose that as family ownership increases, CSR governance becomes less oriented toward CSR spending compliance and more toward stakeholder preferences, leading to CSR overspending. Using panel data from 601 publicly listed Indian firms (2015–2024), we find robust empirical support for our research model. Our findings suggest that in a context where family ownership is widespread, CSR overspending represents a strategic choice shaped by family owners’ preferences and channeled through CSR governance mechanisms. This study contributes to research on family-firm ethics and CSR governance in emerging economies by clarifying how ownership and CSR committee composition influence CSR spending beyond compliance.

Purpose This study explores how the various aspects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) impact customer satisfaction (CS) within the restaurant sector. Furthermore, it seeks to reveal if there is a moderating role played by gender in the relationship between CSR dimensions and CS in the realm of restaurant services. Design/methodology/approach The findings of this research were obtained by analysing 352 questionnaires collected from Iranian restaurants. Structural equation modelling was used to test the conceptual model. Findings According to this research, responsibility (economic, legal, ethical and environmental) is related to CS. Additionally, this study delves into the specific influence of each facet of CSR on CS, a departure from prior research which treated CSR as a singular entity. Consequently, the findings of this study offer clarity on which dimension of CSR can impact CS. Prior studies examining the correlation between CSR and CS typically encompassed various CSR aspects, including economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic dimensions, with the environmental dimension often subsumed under ethical CSR. This research, however, recognises environmental CSR as the fifth distinct dimension. The results of this research show that CS is directly and significantly influenced by all aspects of CSR (except philanthropy). Also, the findings of this research show that gender does not make a difference on the impact of different dimensions of CSR on CS. Practical implications The findings of this study provide restaurant managers with a deeper understanding of CSR and how it can influence CS. The research demonstrates that environmental CSR had the strongest impact on Iranian CS among the five CSR dimensions investigated. The findings also support the notion that Iranian consumers are beginning to use CSR information to evaluate restaurants. Originality/value This research represents an early exploration of how individual facets of CSR affect CS. As part of this investigation, Carroll’s initial model was modified to include a novel element, environmental responsibility, to address environmental concerns' growing importance. This study contributes to the literature by demonstrating that CSR activities are not all equally effective.

Purpose This paper aims to study the state of the art of corporate social responsibility (CSR) governance and operational structure within the most sustainable companies to arrive at a typology of CSR organization. Whether companies consider corporate social responsibility (CSR) a strategic management task is mirrored in the department and governance structure of CSR. Design/methodology/approach By conducting a web content analysis, the authors apply a “best practice” approach to examine the vertical and horizontal organization of CSR within the “most sustainable companies worldwide” (Robeco SAM, 2013). Findings The results show that most corporations have in place governance structures for CSR that organize it horizontally in stand-alone departments. Three types of CSR organization best practice emerged: the single-headed, two-headed and infused types. Practical implications The paper indicates three different ways that companies can organize CSR internally. The authors discuss the feasibility of such organization for large and small companies and their day-to-day business. Originality/value The paper addresses the under-researched area of vertical and horizontal CSR organization at the micro level. The authors analyze the state of the art of organizational and governance structures of CSR in the most sustainable companies and deduce three types of CSR governance and operational architecture.

In the current literature, institutional adoption of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) governance standards is mainly understood in a binary sense (adoption versus no adoption), and existing research has hitherto focused on inducements as well as on barriers of related organizational change. However, little is known about often invisible internal adoption patterns relating to institutional entrepreneurship in the field of CSR. At the same time, additional information about these processes is relevant in order to systematically assess the outcomes of institutional entrepreneurship and to differentiate between substantive versus symbolic implementation. In this paper, we contribute a comparative intraorganizational differentiation of institutional adoption processes in the field of CSR, and we distinguish between broad and narrow organizational institutional adoption across different management functions relating to institutions of a similar type. Our study is based on a quantitative survey among members of the United Nations Global Compact Network Germany, as well as on qualitative interviews. We analyze different institutional adoption patterns and derive ten theoretical predictors of diverse institutional adoption choices and thereby inform the literatures on institutional entrepreneurship, CSR governance, and Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives. Besides our theoretical contributions, our findings serve as a source of information for practitioners engaged in CSR governance as they provide new insights into the managerial perception and assessment of different CSR standards and initiatives.

In the current literature, institutional adoption of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) governance standards is mainly understood in a binary sense (adoption versus no adoption), and existing research has hitherto focused on inducements as well as on barriers of related organizational change. However, little is known about often invisible internal adoption patterns relating to institutional entrepreneurship in the field of CSR. At the same time, additional information about these processes is relevant in order to systematically assess the outcomes of institutional entrepreneurship and to differentiate between substantive versus symbolic implementation. In this paper, we contribute a comparative intraorganizational differentiation of institutional adoption processes in the field of CSR, and we distinguish between broad and narrow organizational institutional adoption across different management functions relating to institutions of a similar type. Our study is based on a quantitative survey among members of the United Nations Global Compact Network Germany, as well as on qualitative interviews. We analyze different institutional adoption patterns and derive ten theoretical predictors of diverse institutional adoption choices and thereby inform the literatures on institutional entrepreneurship, CSR governance, and Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives. Besides our theoretical contributions, our findings serve as a source of information for practitioners engaged in CSR governance as they provide new insights into the managerial perception and assessment of different CSR standards and initiatives.