Culture and corporate social responsibility in China

• Main Authors: Poh, Yang Qian, Tan, Alfred Kheng Hua, Yap, Jensen Hon Looi
• Other Authors: School of Humanities and Social Sciences
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/59307
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has garnered widespread attention globally over the past few decades as more corporations become more conscious of the extensive benefits it brings when CSR is being incorporated into business models. CSR has gradually evolved from a concept which encompasses only societal contributions to a business strategy. When appropriately incorporated into business models, CSR allows corporations to uplift image and reputation, increase business opportunities, and boost consumers’ confidence as well as sales. However, despite these benefits, the scale of engagement in CSR activities is still not optimal, especially in developing countries. It is crucial to understand the reasons behind this lack of engagement. Therefore, it is essential to identify the antecedents of CSR. In this paper, discussion revolves wholly around culture as the main antecedent of CSR. The authors believe that culture shapes the fundamental managerial and decision-making processes in key decision makers of a corporation.It is a known fact that culture differs from one society to another. Hence, CSR is not a fixed concept that can be transcribed universally. This paper aims to address the relationship between culture and CSR in China, one of the fastest developing countries in the world. Trends and regression analysis show that corporations’ performances do not possess a significant positive relationship with CSR status as opposed to the paper’s hypothesis. The highly collectivistic, high power distance, Mianzi and Guanxi cultures in China create a foundation that explains such a relationship. ii Emergence of new cultures, increase in public awareness and imperfect information on CSR pose further challenges toward CSR implementation in China in the near future. Recognising that culture should not and cannot be altered or changed, the authors suggest adapting and incorporating these cultures into possible proposals.