What do Vietnamese executives understand corporate social responsibility?

• Main Authors: Le Thi Thanh Xuan, Lai Van Tai, Truong Thi Lan Anh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OF SCIENCE 2014-07-01
• Series: Ho Chi Minh City Open University Journal of Science - Economics and Business Administration
• Subjects: corporate social responsibility; perception; awareness; developing country
• Online Access: https://journalofscience.ou.edu.vn/index.php/econ-en/article/view/83

The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) literature in developing countries is seriously meager. This paper explores CSR in the Vietnamese construction industry which has faced many scandals and directed attention toward the question of the responsibilities of these businesses. The study employs the CSR definition documented by Carroll (1979; 1991) to develop a framework for exploring executives’ perceptions towards CSR. Using Carroll’s CSR pyramid and adopting in-depth interview as a method to collect data, the study critically examines the personal understanding of managers in nine companies in the construction industry. The findings show that although Vietnam is a developing country, managers are aware of the significance of environmental issue as a responsibility that businesses must address. Moreover, the managers also believe that corporate contributions to society, and corporate reputation and prestige, are expectations of society. Despite many breakthroughs in executives’ understanding of CSR, they are not sufficiently and systematically aware of CSR and need a stronger supports, such as issuing appropriate policies, from government in adopting CSR in real business practice.