Toward the development of a corporate social responsibility leadership questionnaire

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In recent years, organisations in South Africa and around the world have started to realise that they have responsibilities towards the environment and communities they operate in, and that their responsibilities stretch further than just making profits for their shareholders. This growing awareness amongst organisations resulted in the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to escalate in importance and significance (Carroll & Shabana, 2010). The organisations‟ social responsibilities entail more than merely philanthropic activities in that the 'social responsibility of business encompasses the economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary (voluntary) expectations that society has of organisations at a given point in time (Carroll & Shabana, 2010, p. 89). Apart from being a powerful and positive force for social change, organisations can also reap multi-faceted business returns from their CSR endeavours. Large organisations that have specific positions or departments that coordinates the various components of their CSR initiatives needs competent CSR leaders who can act as champions and drive CSR initiatives in their respective organisations. The purpose of this study was to identify the behaviours/competencies necessary to be an effective CSR leader and to develop a CSR leadership measurement instrument that could be used to assess CSR leadership competencies amongst CSR leaders of South African organisations. An ex post facto research design that included both qualitative and quantitative phases was used. A three-phase scale development process based on the work of Netemeyer, Bearden and Sharma (2003) was followed to develop the CSR leadership measurement instrument. Phase 1 (construct definition and domain specification) entailed a literature review, expert judging, as well as the identification of CSR leadership behaviours/competencies. The Leadership Behaviour Inventory (LBI-2) (Spangenberg & Theron, 2010; 2011) was identified to form the basis of the CSR-LQ. In-depth interviews with five CSR leaders were held and they judged the applicability of the 20 dimensions of the LBI-2 for CSR leadership. Additional CSR leader behaviours and competencies were identified through the use of the Critical Incident Technique (CIT). Phase 2 (generation and judging of measurement items) included a process of item generation and expert judgement of measurement items. The revised LBI-2 items, together with new items were compiled in a questionnaire. A 5 point Likert-type scale (1=not at all important to 5=absolutely critical) was used to judge the importance of the CSR-LQ items. A further sample of CSR leaders (n=13) served as expert judges to indicate the applicability and relevancy of the CSR-LQ items. Purposive sampling together with snowball sampling was used to generate the sample. Phase 3 (finalisation of the measurement instrument) entailed finalising the CSR-LQ prior to empirical testing.The study resulted in the identification of CSR leadership competencies and the development of a CSR leadership measurement instrument. It is however too early to draw conclusions from this study, and it is hoped that future researchers will build on this study and develop a comprehensive CSR leadership competency model that could be used to identify and develop successful CSR leaders that will contribute to the CSR objectives of their respective organisations and add to the future development of the country.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University