Perceptions of corporate social responsibility in Kazakhstan

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/ authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this research is to understand the attitudes of individuals towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Kazakhstan and identify the benefits that CSR activities may bring to business and its stakeholders.Design/methodology/approach -Theoretical underpinnings for the research are drawn from existent literature on CSR. A total of 120 questionnaires were collected, 68 percent of which were filled in online, the rest were answered manually by the respondents.Findings -The results suggest that environmental friendliness, legal responsibility and stewardship principle are considered to be very important in Kazakhstan. The attitudes towards economic responsibility are significantly affected by age and working experience. The application of Carroll's Pyramid of CSR identified that the hierarchy of responsibilities in Kazakhstan exists in the following order: legal, ethical, economic, and philanthropic. The primary payback of CSR is improved company image and reputation.Research limitations/implications -As the concept of CSR is relatively new in Kazakhstan misunderstanding of CSR principles might have led to wrong perceptions and attitudes and distortion of the research results. The sample is not representative of the population as a whole and cannot be generalized. Practical implications -The paper is a valuable contribution to the development and promotion of CSR principles in Kazakhstan which provides an insight into the current situation in the country. Managers and policy makers may revise their strategies and policies with the expectations of the general public.Originality/value -The paper contributes to the limited scope of literature on the attitudes towards CSR in Kazakhstan.

The Impact of Transformational Leadership on Organizational Performance via the Mediating Role of Corporate Social Responsibility: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

“…In the end economic responsibility is considered the most important responsibility as businesses that are not profitable cannot move on to fulfil their other responsibilities (Smirnova, 2012).…”

“…By undertaking ethical responsibility organizations transcend economic and legal considerations as they voluntarily try to satisfy certain expectations that are not backed up by regulations but are expectations that society wants businesses to fulfil (Longo et al, 2005). However, knowing what is right or wrong is difficult as ethical standards are not explicit or codified (Smirnova, 2012).…”

“…According to Carroll and Shabana (2010) philanthropic/discretionary responsibility encompasses "those corporate actions that are in response to society"s expectations that business be a good citizen, this includes actively engaging in acts or programs to promote human-welfare or goodwill" (p.96). Philanthropic responsibility represents voluntary actions of organizations such as charity, donations, financial and other contributions that aim to improve the quality of life in the community (Smirnova, 2012). The most prominent philanthropic activity organizations engage in is donation.…”

Assessing the Influence of Corporate Social Responsibility on Consumer Satisfaction and Perceived Value

“…The value of the stock of companies is increased by CSR. Smirnova (2012) [26] investigated the individual attitudes for CSR being newly introduced in settings of Kazakhstan to identify the advantages of activities of CSR not only for stakeholders but for the business itself. 120 questionnaires were gathered and the results assert that stewardship principle, legal responsibility and environmental friendliness are core factors of CSR.…”

The Evolution of University-Industry Interactions: Case of Kazakhstan

“…But it looks like that the majority companies are mostly concerned with making profits. In this regard, it is necessary to underline that fulfilling legal responsibility is perceived to be the most important in Kazakhstan [18]. This suggests that companies may be influenced to collaborate with universities by a legislative framework, for example to make it obligatory to collaborate with at least one or two universities.…”