CSR Activities and Employee Perceptions in Family-Run Businesses in Eastern Thailand

Abstract

Many (Thai) scholars have suggested that the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was introduced to Thailand by large foreign companies, many of which have active and typically formalised CSR programmes. However, family-run businesses in Thailand (FRBT) often practice a different form of CSR, driven by a desire to “give back to society”, influenced by religion and culture. Previous studies have stated that CSR practices may vary between different firm types. This paper explores differences in approach to, and practices of, CSR in FRBT, in particular sectoral differences how different business sectors of FRBT practise their CSR activities and how such activities are perceived by their employees.The research is based on 2292 returned questionnaires from employees of 28 FRBs from the hotel, fruit processing, and jewelry sectors in Eastern Thailand. Overall, the results show strong appreciation of the intrinsic CSR activities with interesting gradients across 3 FRBT sectors. Perceptions of CSR practice were clustered into CSR Inactive, CSR Active, Caring, Moral Owner and No CSR. It appears that there are clear differences between the sectors, with staff from the jewelry sector appear happier than others, likely because they appreciate the strategic intent of the CSR activities and have better awareness of the business owners’ generosity. Employees from the fruit processing sector appear the most disaffected likely because they perceive less CSR actions of their company. Finally, CSR awareness and perception of employees in the hotel sector are

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Author Information
Sapanna Laysiriroj, University of Surrey, United Kingdom
Walter Wehrmeyer, University of Surrey, United Kingdom
Richard Murphy, University of Surrey, United Kingdom

• Category: ACSEE2017, Oral Presentation
• Tag: Economic Sustainability: Sustainable Businesses and CSR,

Posted by James Alexander Gordon

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