The influence of corporate social responsibility on travel company employees

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how employees’ perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) influence their work engagement (WE), innovative behavior (IB) and intention to stay (IS) with their company, to illuminate the role of CSR at the individual employee level.Design/methodology/approachThe data for this study are responses of 455 employees to an online survey at the largest travel company in South Korea. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling in Mplus 7.3 are used to analyze the data.FindingsResults show that employee perceptions of CSR regarding customers and employees significantly and positively influence their WE, which in turn positively influence their IB and IS. Moreover, WE mediates these relationships.Research limitations/implicationsResults of this study may not represent the entire travel industry or the country. This study’s model should be tested in other companies and countries. Additionally, longitudinal studies will help understand how employees’ perceptions of CSR and their effects on work attitudes and behavior change over time.Practical implicationsCSR can be an important tool for developing social capital within an organization by increasing employees’ engagement at work. Higher WE can help employees exert more efforts toward their company’s innovation and stay longer with their company, which can contribute to the company’s performance and competitiveness.Originality/valueThis study develops and empirically tests a theoretical model based on various disciplines. It extends existing CSR studies by examining the effects of CSR on WE and the mediation effects of WE, which have been rarely explored. This further explains how CSR influences employees’ attitudes and behavior that benefit a company’s competitive advantage to shed light on the resource-based view about employees being an important resource.