Corporate Social Responsibility Outcomes in Iranian Organizations: Meta-Analysis Approach

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Associate professor, Public Administration Department, Faculty of Accounting and Management, Allameh Tabatabaie University , Tehran, Iran.

2 PHD Student, Public Administration Department (Human Resources), Faculty of Accounting and Management, Allameh Tabatabaie University, Tehran, Iran.

3 Professor, Public Administration Department, Faculty of Accounting and Management, Allameh Tabatabaie University, Tehran, Iran.

4 Professor, Public Administration Department, Faculty of Accounting and Management, Allameh Tabatabaie University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Abstract
The purpose of this study is to identify the outcomes of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Iranian organizations using a meta-analysis approach. This is an applied research and is descriptive in terms of purpose. The statistical population is articles published in the field of CSR in Iran from 2011 to 2021. According to the defined protocol, 56 studies were eligible to be used, as samples which were utilized in the meta-analysis process. These studies were reviewed and analyzed using CMA2 software (comprehensive meta-analysis software). Findings revealed that among the outcomes of CSR at individual levels, the variables of person-organization fit (0.904); altruism (0.619) and customer-oriented behavior (0.557) have a high effect size (more than 0.5). Among the outcomes of CSR at the organizational level, the variables of organizational identity (0.940), culture (0.785), organizational trust (0.653), organizational eloquence (0.631), competitive advantage (0.597), brand value (0.564), financial performance (0.528) and brand image (0.506) have high effect size. Also, among the outcomes of CSR at the level of external stakeholders, the variables of organizational legitimacy (0.826), public trust (0.595), perceived quality (0.531) and environmental performance (0.531), respectively, have a large effect size.
Introduction
Societies, in which businesses do not act responsibly, are sentenced to pay a high price. Consequences such as environmental damage, poverty, disease, discrimination and underdevelopment will be inevitable. To fully and comprehensively explain the behavior of companies in the field of CSR, one dimension and theory cannot be addressed, but all theories of CSR should be taken into consideration.
A review of the researches shows that many studies have been conducted in the field of CSR in Iran. Impact of CSR on micro and macro levels such as employees, organizational variables and external stakeholders including customers have been examined. Also, there are different theoretical frameworks regarding CSR studies. Therefore, the concern of this study is the analysis of the outcomes of CSR in Iranian organizations. In This research, we tend to find the variables examined in the studies focusing on CSR outcomes in Iranian organizations which are at different levels of employees, organizational and external stakeholders.
Theoretical framework
The conceptual development of CSR has led to various definitions such as Corporate Social Performance, Business Ethics, Triple Bottom Line and Stakeholder Approach. Therefore, this concept includes different approaches and theories, but the focus is on the relationship between business and society. The basis is the integration of social and environmental issues into the economic aspects of the corporations. Stakeholders are any group or individual that has influence on or is influenced by the success of the organization's goals. Therefore, the most important stakeholders are: managers, employees, customers, investors, shareholders, suppliers, government, society in general and the local community. Every business needs the tacit or explicit permission of government, society and other stakeholders to survive.
Many studies have examined the relationship between CSR and corporate performance (especially financial performance). Also, applying CSR programs for some corporations is a tool to achieve a competitive advantage and involvement in CSR may result in activities aiming to improve the image of the organization and increase profits in the short term. CSR programs may affect issues related to human resources management (such as justice, diversity, empowerment, health and safety). Therefore, the motivation of businesses to implement CSR can be explained through different levels.
Materials and Method
In this research, meta-analysis method has been used. The most common use of meta-analysis is to estimate the effect size in a number of studies. This approach includes literature review, study of abstracts, reviewing the whole article and coding the selected studies. In meta-analysis, the effect size is used as the output of each study. In this research, the statistical population is articles published in the field of CSR in Iran from 2011 to 2021. Therefore, all articles published in internal databases such as Irandoc, Magiran and Noormags were identified based on defined keywords. In initial search, 181 articles were found. After reading the abstract and in some cases the whole article based on the developed protocol, 56 articles were eligible for analysis. In the next step, the required variables and statistics were extracted from the articles and coded in Excel software. Then, the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software (CMA2) was used to perform statistical calculations and analysis.
Discussion and results
At the level of internal stakeholders, the variables of customer-oriented behavior, altruism and individual-organization fit have the greatest effect. At the organizational level, brand image, brand value, competitive advantage, culture, organizational trust, financial performance, organizational eloquence and organizational identity have a high effect size. At the level of external stakeholders, public trust, perceived quality, environmental performance, and organizational legitimacy have the greatest effect size.
The results showed that green human capital, turnover intentions and individual innovation, have the lowest effect size and organizational identity, individual-organization fit and organizational legitimacy have the highest effect size in the research hypotheses. Therefore, it can be concluded that CSR as a tool for better marketing and financial performance is an appealing concept for researchers in Iran. However, the results of this meta-analysis showed that the impact of CSR is more noticeable in the non-financial dimensions.
Conclusion
Scrutiny of the CSR requires a comprehensive approach using other methods such as reviewing qualitative researches because those findings can increase knowledge in this field. Also, comparative studies of CSR in Iran with other countries can provide a pool of scientific and practical knowledge for researchers. The dark side of CSR (negative effects or non-constructive aspects) is also an important issue that has been neglected in researches in Iran and we recommend to be addressed in future studies.
The findings of this study help to develop the existing literature about consequences of social responsibility and show CSR promote the sense of belonging. Organizations can also use social responsibility measures to achieve organizational identity and legitimacy.

Keywords

References

منابع فارسی
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