Linking Organisational Performance and Corporate Social Responsibility

Abstract

Purpose: Business organisations are at the core of sustainable development, and they can be no longer isolated from social concerns and issues where they operate and exist. While many firms have applied CSR practices successfully and made it fruitful for both business and society, many others are still struggling as no one strategy can usually fit all and CSR initiatives does not promise the same payoffs among different companies and sectors. In this context, the study aims to examine the link between organisational performance and CSR and provide a milestone that would help business organisations to successfully apply CSR initiatives. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing upon field research, 378 questionnaires were collected from various managerial and non-managerial employees of the mobile network operators in Egypt to examine the research hypotheses. Findings: Extending the relation between organisational performance and CSR, this paper demonstrates the heterogeneous ways in which organisational performance can be a key determinant for being engaged in successful CSR initiatives. It argued how organisational performanceــmaterialised in integrating business-related social issues into the organisational strategy, financial performance, CSR capability responsiveness, and social performanceــ can help business organisation establish a win-win situation and create a business-society shared value. Research limitations/implications: The research focuses on four business organisations operating as mobile network service providers in Egypt. Practical implications: The research findings have important implications, more specifically, for firms willing to engage for successful CSR practices, and how social issues and concerns can be translated into business opportunities to motivate business organisations to address them. Social implications: CSR is still controversial to a great extent; especially from an empirical perspective in less developed and developing countries like Egypt, where environmental and social considerations are limited; regarded as a task to be done by a few (Gov., NGOs, NPO, etc.); and where CSR activities are carried through philanthropic perspective. This research implies the possibility to look at social issues and concerns as an opportunity for strategic CSR that create a shared value for business and society and formulate a win-win situation. Originality/value: This paper’s contribution is threefold. First, theoretically, the literature on organisational performance and CSR is extended by considering how they can complement one another. The nuanced focus on this relation provides a “zoom in” that organisational performance is a key success factor while considering CSR. Second, the literature on shared value is deepened by identifying a diverse range of imbricating logics that can be used to discern a more nuanced connection between business and society. Last, these ideas are grounded in a relevant field study context –that of CSR activities in Egypt–, providing more knowledge, over time, of specific actors’ translations of CSR policies into business organisations’ strategies and practices.