Abstract
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) involves activities carried out by businesses based on the principles of transparency, ethical, moral and environmental values. Despite the growing interest in this area of study, there is no universally recognised definition, which, in turn, affects the measuring of these activities. The aim of this research is to analyse the dimensions of CSR, through a valid and trustworthy measuring scale of co-operativism in Ecuador. The research questionnaire was developed from the theoretical analysis of the construct and it was given to 2042 individuals, among them managers, employees and members of Ecuadorian co-operatives. In order to determine and evaluate the factorial structure, convergent validity and to discriminate the measuring scale, an exploratory and confirmatory factorial analysis was conducted with covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM). The results show that the suggested scale is reliable and consistent with the pursued goals. In this sense, and in relation to the viability of the factorial analysis performed, 86.2% of the correlations have a score greater than 0.3. Because of this, it can be confirmed that CSR can be measured in the four dimensions analysed: Economic, Legal, Ethical and Philanthropic.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aakhus, M., & Bzdak, M. (2012). Revisiting the role of “shared value” in the business-society relationship. Business and Professional Ethic Journal,31(2), 231–246. https://doi.org/10.5840/bpej201231211.
Abbott, W. F., & Monsen, R. J. (1979). On the measurement of coroporate social responsibility: Self-reported diclosures a a method of measuring corporate social involvement. Academy of Management Journal.,26(3), 501–515. https://doi.org/10.2307/255740.
Aguinis, H., & Glavas, A. (2012). What we know and don´t know about corporate social responsibility: A review and research agenda. Journal of Management,38(4), 932–968. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206311436079.
Alamer, A. R. A., Salamon, H. B., Qureshi, M. I., & Amran, A. M. (2015). CSR’s measuring corporate social responsibility practice in Islamic banking: A review. International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues.,5, 198–206.
Alvarado-Herrera, A., Bigne, E., Aldaz-Manzano, J., & Curraz-Pérez, R. (2017). A scale for measuring consumer perceptions of corporate social responsibility following the sustainable development paradigm. Journal of Business Ethics,140(2), 243–262. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2654-9.
Amini, C., & Dal Bianco, S. (2017). Corporate social responsibility and Latin American firm performance. Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society,17(3), 403–445. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2654-9.
Amor-Esteban, V., García-Sánchez, I. M., & Galindo-Villardón, M. P. (2018). Analysing the effect of legal system on corporate social responsibility (CSR) at the country level, from a multivariate perspective. Social Indicators Research,140(1), 435–452. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-017-1782-2.
Aras, G., & Crowther, D. (2009). The Durable Corporation. Farnham: Gower Publishing.
Barnett, M. L., & Salomon, R. M. (2012). Does it pay to be really good? Addressing the shape of the relationship between social and financial performance. Strategic Management Journal,33(11), 1304–1320. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.1980.
Battaglia, M., Bianchi, L., Frey, M., & Passetti, E. (2015). Sustainability reporting and corporate identity: Action research evidence in an I talian retailing cooperative. Business Ethics: A European Review,24(1), 52–72. https://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12067.
Baumgartner, R. J. (2014). Managing Corporate Sustainability and CSR: A conceptual framework combining values, strategies, and instruments contributing to sustainable develpment. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management,21, 258–271. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1336.
Baumgartner, R. J., & Rauter, R. (2017). Strategic perspectives of corporate sustainability management to develop a sustainable organization. Journal of Cleaner Production,140, 81–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clepro.2016.04.146.
Bernardi, A. (2007). The co-operative difference. Economic, organizational and policy issues. International Journal of Co-operative Management,3(2), 11–23.
Bodhanwala, S., & Bodhanwala, R. (2018). Does corporate sustainability impact firm profitability? Evidence from India. Management Decision,56(8), 1734–1747. https://doi.org/10.1108/md-04-2017-0381.
Bollas-Araya, H. M., & Seguí-Mas, E. (2014). Publication and auditing of CSR reports by Spanish credit unions—an exploratory analysis. CIRIEC-España, Revista de Economía Pública, Social y Cooperativa,81, 163–190.
Bowen, I. H. R. (1953). Social Responsabilities and the Businessman. Iowa: Iowa University.
Braam, G., & Peeters, R. (2017). Corporate sustainability performance and assurance on sustainability reports: Diffusion of accounting practices in the realm of sustainable development. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management,25(2), 164–181. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1447.
Campbell, J. L. (2007). Why would corporations behave in socially responsible ways? An institutional theory of corporate social Responsibility. Academy of Management Review,32(3), 946–967. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2007.25275684.
Carroll, A. B. (1979). A three-dimensional conceptual model of corporate performance. Academy of Management Review,4(4), 497–505. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1979.4498296.
Carroll, A. B. (1991). The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: Toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders. Business Horizons,34(4), 39–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/0007-6813(91)90005-G.
Carroll, A. B. (1998). The four faces of corporate citizenship. Business and Society Review,100/101(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1111/0045-3609.00008.
Carroll, A. B. (1999). Corporate social responsibility. Business and Society,38(3), 268–295. https://doi.org/10.1177/000765039903800303.
Carroll, A. B. (2000). A commentary and an overview of key questions on corporate social performance measurement. Business and Society,39(4), 466–478. https://doi.org/10.1177/000765030003900406.
Cavalcanti Sá Abreu, M., & Barlow, C. (2013). A comparative picture of corporate social responsibility approaches by leading companies in the United Kingdom and Brazil. Social Responsibility Journal,9(4), 571–588. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-04-2012-0046.
Challita, S., Sentis, P., & Aurier, P. (2014). Do cooperatives perform better than investor owned firms-the impact of governance on financial structure and performance. In Hammond Ketilson, L. and Robichaud Villettaz MP Cooperatives’ power to innovate: Texts selected from the international call for papers (pp. 503–519). Lévis: International Summit of Cooperatives.
Churchill, G. A., Jr. (1979). A paradigm for developing better measures of marketing constructs. Journal of Marketing Research,16(1), 64–73. https://doi.org/10.2307/3150876.
Claydon, J. (2011). A new direction for CSR: The shortcomings of previous CSR models and the rationale for a new model. Social Responsibility Journal,7(3), 405–420. https://doi.org/10.1108/17471111111154545.
Curran, P. J., West, S. G., & Finch, J. F. (1996). The robustness of test statistics to nonnormality and specification error in confirmatory factor analysis. Psychological Methods,1(1), 16.
D’Aprile, D., & Talò, C. (2014). Measuring corporate social responsibility as a psychosocial construct: A new multidimensional scale. Employee Responsibilities an Rights Journal,26(3), 153–175. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-013-9228-8.
Dahlsrud, A. (2008). How corporate social responsibility is defined: An analysis of 37 definitions. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management,15, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.132.
De Witte, M., & Jonker, J. (2006). Management models for corporate social responsibility. Heidelberg: Springer.
Dyczkowska, J. (2015). CSR (corporate social responsibility); road transport; logistics companies. Transport Problems,10(1), 97–104. https://doi.org/10.21307/tp-2015-010.
Ehsan, S., Nazir, M. N., Raza Khan, Q., Tahir, S., & Ahmed, I. (2018). A multimethod approach to assess and measure corporate social responsibility disclosure and practices in a developing economy. Sustainability,10(8), 2955. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10082955.
Fernández, A., Calero, S., Parra, H., & Fernández, R. (2017). Corporate social responsibility and the transformation of the productive matrix for Ecuador sustainability. Journal of Security and Sustainability Issues,6(4), 575–584. https://doi.org/10.9770/jssi.2017.6.4(4).
Fernández, A., Hernández, A., Hernández, M., & Chicaiza, O. (2018). Savings and credit Cooperatives in Pichincha, Ecuador: Is this a sustainable social management case? Journal of Security an Sustainability Issues,7(3), 549–558. https://doi.org/10.9770/jssi.2018.7.3(14).
Fernández-Feijoo, B., Romero, S., & Ruiz, S. (2014). Commitment to Corporate social responsibility measured through global reporting initiative reporting: Factors affecting the behavior of companies. Journal of Cleaner Production,81, 244–254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.06.034.
Freeman, R. (1984). Strategic management: A stakeholders approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Friedman, M. (1968). Capitalism and freedom. Chicago: Chicago Press.
Gallardo-Vázquez, D., & Sanchez-Hernandez, M. I. (2014). Measuring corporate social responsibility for competitive success at a regional level. Journal of Cleaner Production,72, 14–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.02.051.
Gárriga, E., & Melé, D. (2004). Corporate social responsability theories: Mapping the territory. Journal of Business Ethic,53(1–2), 51–71. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:BUSI.0000039399.90587.34.
Gijselinckx, C. (2009). Co-operative stakeholders. Who counts in co-operatives, and how? Working Papers on Social and Co-operative Entrepreneurship,9(5), 1–34.
Godfrey, P., Merrill, C., & Hansen, J. (2009). The relationship between corporte social responsibility and shareholder value: An empirical test of the risk management hypothesis. Strategic Managemente Journal,30(6), 425–445. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.750.
Hopkins, M. (2005). Measurement of corporate social responsibility. International Journal Management and Decision Marking,6(3–4), 213–230. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJMDM.2005.006549.
Jamali, D., & Karam, C. (2018). Corporate social responsibility in developing countries as an emergency field of study. Internacional Journal of Management Reviews,20, 32–61. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12112.
Kaplan, R., & Norton, D. (1996). The balanced scorecard. Massachusetts: Hardvar Business School. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-8349-9320-5_12.
Kim, J., Song, H., & Lee, C. (2016). Effects of corporate social responsibility and internal marketing marketing on organizational commitment and turnover intentions. International Journal of Hospitality Management,55, 25–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2016.02.007.
Kolk, A. (2016). The social responsibility of international business: From ethics and the environment to CSR and sustainable development. Journal of World Business,5, 23–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2015.08.010.
Lee, C., Song, H., Lee, H., Lee, S., & Bernhard, B. (2013). The impact of CSR on casino employees’ organizational trust, job satisfaction, and customerorientation: An empirical examination of responsible gambling strategies. International Journal of Hospitality Manage,33, 406–415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2012.10.011.
Levitt, T. (1958). The dangers of social-responsibility. Harvard Business Review,36(5), 41–50.
Lund-Thomsen, P., Lindgreen, A., & Vanhamme, J. (2016). Industrial clusters and corporate social responsibility in developing countries: What we know, what we do not know, and what we need to know. Journal of Business Ethics,133(1), 9–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2372-8.
McGuire, J. B., Sundgren, A., & Schneeweis, T. (1988). Corporate social responsibility and firm financial performance. Academy of Management Journal,31(4), 854–872. https://doi.org/10.2307/256342.
Mohr, L., Webb, D., & Harris, K. (2015). Do consumers expect companies to be socially responsible? The impact of corporate social responsibility on buying behavior. Journal of Consumers Affairs,35(1), 45–72. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6606.2001.tb.00102.x.
Montazeri, A., Talebpour, M., Adam, R., & Kazemnejad, A. (2017). Measuring corporate social responsibility in sport industry: Development and validation of measurement scale. Annals of Applies Sport Science,5(2), 97–114. https://doi.org/10.18869/acadpub.aassjournal.5.2.97.
Moon, J. (2007). The contribution of corporate social responsibility to sustainable development. Sustainable Development,15(5), 296–306. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.346.
Nicolassi, M., Grassi, S., & Stanghellini, E. (2014). Item response models to measure corporate social responsibility. Applied Financial Economics,24(22), 1449–1464. https://doi.org/10.1080/09603107.2014.925070.
O’riordan, L., & Fairbrass, J. (2008). Corporate social responsibility (CSR): Models and theories in stakeholder dialogue. Journal of Business Ethics,83(4), 745–758. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9662-y.
Orlitzky, M., Schmidt, F., & Rynes, S. (2003). Corporate social and financial performance: A meta-analysis. Organization Studies,24(3), 403–441. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840603024003910.
Panayiotou, N., Aravossis, K., & Moschou, P. (2009). International Journal “Water, Air and Soil Pollution: Focus”. International Journal,9, 129–138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11267-008-9204-8.
Porter, M. E., & Kramer, M. R. (2007). Strategy and society. The link between competitive advantage and coporate social responsibility. Harvard Business Review,85(6), 136–137.
Roelants, B., Hyungsik, E., Terrasi, E., & CICOPA. (2014). Cooperatives and Employment: A global report. Quebec: CICOPA/Desjardins.
Roessl, D. (2010). Corporate social responsibility as a component of a co-operative member-relationship management: Socially responsible behaviour of credit co-operatives. Journal of Co-operative Studies,43(1), 23–37.
Saeidi, S. P., Sofian, S., Saeidi, P., Saeidi, S. P., & Saaeidi, S. A. (2015). How does corporate social responsibility contribute to firm financial performance? The mediating role of competitive advantage, reputation, and customer satisfaction. Journal of Business Research,68(2), 341–350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2014.06.024.
Sarvaiya, H., & Wu, M. (2014). An integrated approach for corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability. Asian Social Science,10(17), 57–70. https://doi.org/10.5539/ass.v10n17p57.
Schrempf-Stirling, J., Palazzo, G., & Phillips, R. A. (2016). Historic corporate social responsibility. Academy of Management Review,41(4), 700–719. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2014.0137.
Sehwartz, C. A. B., & Carroll, A. B. (2003). Corporate social responsibility: A threedomain approch. Business Ethics Quarterly,13(4), 503–530. https://doi.org/10.5840/beq200313435.
Turker, D. (2009). Measuring corporate social responsibility: A scale development study. Journal of Business Ethics,85(4), 411–427. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9780-6.
Ullman, A. (1985). Data in search of a theory: A critical examination of the relationship among social performance, social disclosure and economic performane to U.S. firms. Academy of management Review,10(3), 540–557. https://doi.org/10.2307/258135.
Uski, T., Jussila, I., & Kovanen, S. (2007). Social Responsibility in S Group co-operatives: A qualitative analysis of archival data. The International Journal of Co-operative Management,3(2), 49–57.
Visser, W. (2010). CSR 2.0: The evolution and revolution of corporate social responsibility. In M. Pohl & N. Tolhurst (Eds.), Responsible business: How to Manage a CSR strategy successfully. Chichester: Wiley.
Wan-Jan, W. (2006). Defining corporate social responsibility. Journal of Public Affair,6(3–4), 176–184. https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.227.
Wood, D. (2010). Measuring corporate social performance. International Journal of Management Reviews,274, 50–84. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2009.00274.x.
Xia, B., Olanipekun, A., Chen, Q., Xie, L., & Liu, Y. (2018). Conceptualising the state of the art of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the construction industry and its nexus to sustainable development. Journal of Cleanner Production,195, 340–353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.05.157.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
González Santa Cruz, F., Loor Alcívar, I., Moreira Mero, N. et al. Analysis of the Dimensions of Corporate Social Responsibility: Study Applied to Co-operativism in Ecuador. Soc Indic Res 148, 517–534 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-019-02213-w
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-019-02213-w