CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY : PERSPECTIVE OF HOTEL FRONTLINE EMPLOYEE

Presented byFrederick Bassey

Instructor Prof. Dr Osman M. KARATEPEspring 2013-2014

INTRODUCTION

In recent times, interest in and practice of corporate social Responsibility (CSR) has grown tremendously. But the understanding of it in the hospitality literature is so limited. This curves the perception and domination of corporate social responsibility in the industry

In the industry, environmental greening has gained dominance of CSR activities. Cost saving nature of green Practices such as :

- Linen and towel re-use-Energy saving installation- Water-efficient fixtures in guest rooms.

But in real sense, CSR encompasses other initiatives that go beyond environmental concerns. Such other concerns as

- Consumer- Community- Employee ( i.e. employee boycott)

Corporate social responsibility programs of a firm usually represent the firm’s values and norms.Therefore, the perception of the employee of these programs can influence the relationship between the employee and the firm

Since CSR programs often represent company values and norms, employees’ perceptions of them can influence how employees identify with the firm

The perception becomes a driving force for employees’ attitudinal and behavioral support to help achieve the firm’s goals

Bartel, 2001; Dutton et al., 1994; Mael and Tetrick, 1992

- several studies have proven that employee attitudes and performance have a major influence on how consumers evaluate service quality, value, satisfaction, and repeat patronage.

Bitner, 1990; Chi and Gursoy, 2009; Hartline and Jones, 1996; Liao and Chuang, 2004;Smith et al., 1999).

The employees are the ones who help carry out the firm’s CSR activities through the execution of their daily activities and operations. These operations are influenced by work place policies involving the community and the environment

- As published by the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2011, employee turnover has averaged 76.8% per year compared to 56.27% in the retail service industry

- Based on this statistics, it is therefore important to understand how employee perception may influence their attitude towards the firm

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY•To investigate and understand how employee’s perception of CSR can influence their attitude towards the firm

•To understand the impact of CSR activities from the perspective of the frontline employee which is a link to the firms performance and social well being.

•To help deepen the understanding of executives of these impact

•Dodd’s (1932) argument for firms’ responsibility toward society beyond shareholders (cited in Cochran, 2007),

Bowen’s (1953) book ‘Social Responsibilities of Businessman’ (cited in Carroll, 1999) whom Carroll (1999) called, the “Father of Corporate Social Responsibility” (p. 270)

•Boulding’s general systems theory (1956) in regards to CSR measurements (cited in Wood, 2010).

LITRATURE REVIEW

-There are several definition of CSR, they all commonly refer the relationship between the business and the society, which indicates firm’s action to place a balance between financial performance, impact on the society and the environment

- These corporate activities are often voluntary and/or beyond legal obligations (Carroll, 1999; McWilliams and Siegel, 2001).

•CSR has become an important matter for business

•Managers now recognize CSR and sustainability as essential for strategic operations, innovations & talent management

•PwC contended, “Corporate responsibility is not an altruistic nice-to-have, but a business imperative” (p. 121).

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND EMPLOYEE•CSR activities have found to positively influence attitudes and behavior of employees, who are considered critical internal stakeholders (Clarkson, 1995; Kim et al., 2010).

•CSR activities increase commitment and morale of current employees and increase retention rates (Brokaw, 2009; Galbreath, 2010; Maignan et al., 1999;Porter and Kramer, 2006; Peterson,2004; Rupp et al., 2006; Rego et al., 2010; Turker, 2009b)•Firms’ good CSR performance can a sign of attractive workplace conditions, Contributing to positive corporate image and reputation, which tends to help attract good quality employees

•SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY - (Tajfel and Turner, 1986), when an employee perceives a firm’s characteristics appealing and akin to his/her self-identity, s/he identifies with it to be an extension of personal identity

•ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTIFICATION (OI) which refers to the group member’s perceived affinity with and sharing experiences with an organization where s/he belongs to and where his/her personal identity is defined in reference to the group characteristics

(Ashforth and Mael, 1989; Gautam et al., 2004; Mael and Ashforth,1992; Mael and Tetrick, 1992).

SELF-CATEGORIZATION THEORY (Turner, 1984) asserts that s/he supports the positive characteristics of the group by internalizing and following group’s mission, norms and values, and behaves cooperatively and collaboratively toward the firm’s goals

(Ashforth and Mael, 1989; Collier and Esteban, 2007; Dutton et al.,1994; Turner, 1984).

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. How do frontline employees perceive of their hotel CSR activities?

2. How do frontline employees’ perceptions of their hotel CSR activities influence their level of OI?

RESEARCH CONTENT •Pre-test of the survey with 15 business school faculty and graduate students for brevity and clarity

•Survey was open for 2months

•Respondents were reminded to participate three times within the period of 2months

•Screening questions were also included in other to select frontline employee who have either or medium interaction with guest and also do not hold managerial and supervisory positions

RESEARCH INSTRUMENT •Survey

•Online Questioner

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS RESPONDENTS:

•Recipients were confirmed subscribers of qualtrics

•Participant were limited to an already determined customized respondent group hotel employee in US

•Total number 575 respondent was used as a result

•five-point likert-type scale (environment, community, employee & customer)

•SPSS version 19 ( obtain construct component of CSR & OI)

RESULTS•Result of this study shows that many frontline employees preferred a holistic CSR activity

•Most of the respondents were more positive to CSR initiatives centered towards responsiveness and responsibility of then hotels to customer than environment

•The more positively frontline employees viewed their CSR polices, the more they were affected by other people’s view about their hotels, in other words, they saw the hotel’s success as their success and vice versa (test of feelings of critics)

•The survey showed that interactions and communications between frontline employee vs fellow employee, customers and employers was fostered by the way these frontline employees perceived their hotel’s CSR activities

•The perception of CSR activities has effect on their attitude and behavior towards job and firm’s performance also their own well being as a community member where the hotel is located.

MANAGERIAL IMPLICATION & CONCLUSION•The results derived showed that employee’s expect versatility of CSR activities and not just one tended towards the environment

•Hoteliers should maintain a more holistic perspective when indentifying CSR initiatives

•A review of already existing CSR activities of the industry which are published

•Hotel managers should foster organizational culture which enhances positive perception of employee and also consistent with the expectations of guest and the society

•For employee to engage in the CSR activities, then it should be activities they perceive positively

•Hotel managers should recognize the important of employees perception of their CSR activities in other to ensure a positive effect of those activities on the customer and society

•Hotel managers should engage frontline employees in the process of developing CSR activities and the review of those activities

•CSR activities and it success should be introduced as part of internal marketing. Ie. Newsletters, emails, blogs social network platforms

•Discussion of good CSR practices should be encouraged during daily meetings

LIMITATIONS•Samples did not represent the entire frontline employee in the industry of the sample location

•online panel may have limited the scope to only those who use computers and are good in English language

FURTHER STUDIES

future surveys should test for social desirability and potential relationship among other variables relevant to organizational identification

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION