Managers' perceptions of corporate social responsibility : The construction industry in Vietnam

Severe scandals in the business context in Vietnam, such as the collapse of the Can Tho bridge in 2007, discharging untreated sewage into the ThiVai river by Vedan Food Manufacturer in 2008, and ‘death holes’ emerging after building a sewage system in 2010, among others, have raised concerns from the public about responsibilities of business towards society. In order to evaluate Corporate Social Responsibility (hereafter called CSR) activities of business organizations, it is necessary to investigate CSR perceptions of managers who have significant influence on organizations’ values and practices.

The CSR pyramid of Carroll (1991, p.270), which consists of four categories of responsibilities, namely economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities, is employed to frame this study. The major objective of this study was to explore managers’ perceptions of CSR by using an exploratory qualitative approach. In particular, the study also examined factors influencing perceptions of managers; which have never been determined in previous studies. The construction industry is selected because of its role in the Vietnam’s economy and the poor quality of many construction projects. For these reasons, most of the companies approached are contractors. The participants in this study are senior and middle managers of contracting companies, construction, manufacturer, and design and consulting corporations. Therefore, the key selected sampling is purposive and snowballing. The method used to collect data is by in-depth interview, and thematic analysis is employed to analyze the collected data.

The research findings refine and extend the pyramid first presented by Carroll (1991). Managers’ perceptions of CSR are in line with Carroll’s economic and legal categories. Some issues in managers’ perceptions, which emerge in the context of Vietnam, extend the pyramid of Carroll (1991), such as ethical and philanthropic responsibilities. The findings also modify the matrix of stakeholders and responsibilities, which Carroll (1991) suggested, to apply to the construction industry in Vietnam. In this matrix, new stakeholders of construction companies are specified. In particular, the study identified two additional factors which are influential in forming managers’ perceptions of CSR. Lastly, the lack of CSR information and instruction in Vietnam is affirmed. The study pointed out the limitations of the small sample size and of not exploring actual CSR practices. From the research findings, recommendations about training and professional associations are proposed. Finally, issues for further research are considered.