The Impact of CSR on a Firm’s Performance in Multinationals: A Case Study in Multinationals in the USA.

The advertisement will be measured in a wide scope of considerations. The first consideration is in the manner in which it attracts. This will be in the view of how the advert attracts people who have not known Amazon in the past. In our view, the advert should first make an impression of an online shopping company. From that point, the observer should have the need to know what they can ship from overseas to their countries or even within the country. Should the advert not attract people who did not know Amazon in the past, then it will not be considered to have anattraction.

After attaining attention, the advertisement will be measured in the interest that it inscribes on the viewers. The attention created by the advert does not basically rely on the colors or the outlook of the message itself. Rather it will be considered in the view of how people present themselves, seek clarification of issues such as the countries the countries where Amazon operates among other issues such as the location of the company.

The effectiveness of the advertisement will be evaluated in the manner in which it raises attention on the side of the viewers and as well the interests about the services among other issues such as the physical locations of the company. The advert is a corporate strategy in that it considers two options which are pillars of the company’s success. By creating attraction to the new customers, the advert makes a corporate strategy of attracting and keeping loyal customers.

The Impact of CSR on a Firm’s Performance in Multinationals: A Case Study in Multinationals in the USA.

The Impact of CSR on a Firm’s Performance in Multinationals: A Case Study in Multinationals in the USA.

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.0 Introduction

Corporate social responsibilities (CSR) apparently remains a vital aspect of today’s corporate world. Whether startups or conglomerate in size, all companies are in the spotlight regarding their contribution to the social and environmental sustainability. While pursuing optimal profits is the primary goal of multinationals, these firms are expected to show concern to the interests of their stakeholders and other things that do not necessarily involve making profits (Harjoto, Laksmana and Lee 2015). In the recent few years, the world particularly the environment has been undergoing significant transformation thus affecting the quality of life. Some unethical behaviors of organizations such as pollution, oil spills, exploitation of land, displacing families and damaging natural resources have raised concerns towards the quality of life of the current and future generations (Christie and Hanlon 2014). Considering the level of reluctance demonstrated by some firms in protecting the environment and the people, governments and other private parties have come in to act as watchdogs primarily to ensure that besides optimizing profit-based performance, organizations operate in a manner that promotes social and environmental sustainability (Lins, Servaes and Tamayo 2017). Since multinational firms have been put in the spotlight to ensure that they adhere to the existing CSR laws, this paper seeks to investigate and demonstrate the impact that corporate social responsibility has on the performance of multinational firms particularly those based and operating in the United States.

Manufacturing Industry Importance

According to Ludmila, Maria, Ingrida & Tomas (2016, p.1037), a majority of large firms in the manufacturing industry have currently invested in installing technology that reduces pollution to improve the quality of the environment. Similar studies and more others have also revealed that manufacturing companies are using more of environment-friendly raw materials to meet all or most of their production needs (Ludmila, Maria, Ingrida & Tomas 2016, p.1037). In so doing, these organizations continue to realize a myriad of benefits including reduced scrutiny by the government, reduced taxation, national and global recognition in regard to social and environmentally sustainable development, and lower operating costs.  The acceptance and inclusion of CSR practices in firms’ operations have shown a reduction of adverse operational effects because the most important commitment is directed to protecting the community, people, and environment.

CSR importance

Weinger (2014) outlined a wide range of benefits or rather, reasons firms should incorporate CSR in their operations because today, the consumer environment does not permit organizations to be in business to make profits only. Some of the reasons CSR is important for multinational firms to include the public image (consumers prefer to buy products from a company with an excellent public image), media visibility (this focuses on positive media coverage), positive workplace environment, attracting corporate partnerships, and promoting volunteer programs particularly for nonprofit organizations.

Pioneers of CSR

More than a century ago, pioneers pursued the first stage of CSR by seeking to resolve environmental concerns especially in the mid-nineteenth century (Idowu, Schmidpeter and Fifka 2017, p.41). The first pioneers of CSR, therefore, are the 19^th century’s industrialists and philanthropists such as Titus Salt, who are generally referred to as the “pioneers of modern environmentalism.” However, in the years after the mid-20^th century, there arose two waves of literature that investigated how corporations interacted with the society. The first wave, CSR₁ started as early as the 1950s and extended towards 1970s with the sole aim of promoting and publicizing corporate social responsibility (Chan 2014). The first wave was overlapped by the second wave CSR2 which reached the mid-1980s, and its primary aim was focusing on the responsiveness of companies to corporate social responsibility.

Which Model’s Theories

In evaluating how businesses take CSR concepts and integrate them into their operations, studies have developed and applied a range of conceptual models and theories in an attempt to explain how CSR impacts businesses. The standard models that will be considered in this project include the three conceptual approaches of social responsibility. The first model is the Pyramid of CSR, which usually referred to as Carroll’s four-part pyramid (Carroll 2016). The Pyramid model consists of four types of CSR which are: economic (making profit goal), legal (obeying the law), ethical (operating in ethically acceptable manner), and philanthropic (maintaining public image by being a good corporate citizen). The second model is the Concentric circle model which perceive that economic role of business as the central role of social responsibility (Amao 2008). The model promotes interrelationships between diverse CSR. In addition to these models, CSR is comprised of theories and approaches that shall be considered in the subsequent chapters of this paper.

Global Context

Even at the global level, studies focusing on CSR policy usually center their concern at three essential elements affected by the organization’s operations including people, earth (ecosystem) and profit (Kanji and Chopra 2010, p.120). Technically, consumers across the world are becoming increasingly aware of the environmental and social implications of their buying behavior thus they tend to be considering problems when engaging in market activities. Various industries have invested massive resources with the aim of encouraging a culture of social responsibility within their brands when looking at the global consumers who prefer to buy the products (Idowu, Schmidpeter and Fifka 2017, p.26). However, according to Petrovic-Randelovic, Stevanovic, and Ivanovic-Dukic (2015, p.332), the liberalization of world trade and promotion of foreign direct investments has resulted in the spreading the effects of technological progress which includes national and global development. The development seen in the global market arena has resulted in more and more firms investing abroad. Multinational corporations (MNCs) have been under intense pressure from institutional factors, them being considered the motors of development in the world economy has shifted their focus from the previous wholly profit making to promoting sustainable development (Rahim 2006, p.119).

American studies

Lopez and Fornes (2015) conducted a study with the sole aim of evaluating CSR initiatives in upcoming markets (Ems) from developed countries-based multinational firms (MNCs). The study involved eight case studies on Spanish foreign investments based in Latin America with their study revealing that instrumental theories guided CSR initiatives adopted by the companies in the region. Nyberg, Andersson, and Williamson (2015, p.2) argued in their study that MNCs operating in today’s global environment need to take note of stakeholder pressures emerging from diverse global markets when carrying out CSR activities. In this study, they discovered that Swedish MNCs based in the U.S were significantly influenced by stakeholders (Nyberg, Andersson and Williamson 2015, p.3). Furthermore, studies also acknowledge that administration or leadership of MNCs should recognize the importance of participating in activities that can ultimately improve the well-being of local citizens in terms of enhancing the level of education, reducing poverty, enhancing healthcare and protecting the environment. According to Engle (2006, p.24), middle and senior level managers of US-based MNCs tend to hold a believe that it is relatively critical for multinational firms to have a role in operations that would eventually improve the living status of the host countries in terms of education level, healthcare status, poverty, and environmental conservation. However, Jamali (2010) presented an opposing view by arguing that the debate about MNCs’ involvement in CSR in developing nations has been awfully polarized in the past few years. Some of these arguments are that it is not easy to determine direct and indirect effects of CSR on the performance of firms in such countries. Regardless, it is essential to decide on how this differs from the views that have been raised in regard to developed countries, the U.S in particular.

Overview of CSR (variables and activities)

Overall, the involvement of MNCs in social and environmental activities is intended to cushion both stakeholders, environment, and the organization. In the United States, it is the duty of MNCs stationed in the country to acknowledge and incorporate CSR initiatives in their operations. In regard to social and environmental sustainability, firms are obliged to cooperate with the open framework by promoting social and ecological courses of business. Some of the typical CSR activities including constructing or funding facilities in healthcare and education, allocating funds or taking part in activities that aim at reducing poverty, and protecting the environment. In examining how MNCs practice and implement CSR, the variables to consider may include size of the organization, availability of resources, and legal, social and political pressures among others (Kabir, Lawan, Garba and Musa 2015). The study will base on these variables to investigate the impact of CSR on firms in the United States, however; many studies have focused on MNCs’ CSR activities in other various countries such as Sweden, Lebanon, Malaysia, U.S especially Latin America, and other countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Research Rationale

In the last few years, the expectations of individuals, companies and the society have shifted considerably and as a result, mounted significant pressure on firms to operate ethically by doing the right thing. The business environment has also undergone massive transformation thus exposing the organization to scrutiny by the government and the public to ensure that their activities are monitored (Chebli and Gharbi 2013). Furthermore, the discovery of the Internet and digital technology has made it easier for civil society organizations to have direct access to the operations of organizations within the national and global industries hence giving them more power to create a difference in the impact the organizations have on the people and environment. In order to avoid being subjected to pressure, scrutiny and possible closure through legal suits, MNCs as well as startups have embraced the call to operate ethically and find solutions to their impact to the outside world (The United Nations 2015). Considering the recent changes in the global trade relations and realization of the need to address environment and social impact of companies, international organizations such as United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU) have called on governments and civil society organizations to monitor operations of MNCs by ensuring that they develop social responsibility program to help them address the problems that emanate from their profit-oriented operations (Brown Clark and Buono 2016). Besides, considering the significant changes that have occurred in the world market and social, political, and economic environments, it is essential to conduct a study to ascertain how MNCs are affected by calls for CSR. While many organizations have recognized and embraced the implementation of CSR, this concept is likely to have a significant impact on the performance of firms. Since the U.S is among the developed nations that emphasize the CSR practice across U.S-based foreign and local companies, it is essential to study how these organizations are affected by involving in those operating locally.

Since CSR has become more of a necessity for any organization, it is essential to investigate and analyze how it impacts the performance of firms. Moreover, MNCs usually operate under a highly monitored framework and considering a large amount of taxes and other costs they incur, and it is logical to examine how their involvement in CSR influences their performance (Chan 2014; Smith 2011). Today, all organizations have the legal obligations to give back to the society as a way of supporting social and environmental development. Hence, it is necessary to conduct this research to examine the relatedness of CSR and firm’s performance and how the first impacts the latter.

Like other organizations, MNCs are also facing the challenges of balancing between shareholders’ interests and pursuing CSR strategies to meet society’s demand (Kennedy 2011). Obviously, CSR strategies require organizations to apportion a certain amount of funds that would be used to take care of society’s needs. In so doing, it means that managers reduce the number of profits realized and apportioned to the shareholders. Also, foreign firms also face the challenge of maximizing the quality of products and the same time maintain the public image, maximize profits and support other needs of all stakeholders (Chebli and Gharbi 2013).  Given that such organizations have a certain vision to pursue in the short- or long-term, this raises a conflict of interest between CSR and shareholders as well as stakeholders’ interests. Hence, it is necessary to proceed with this project purposely to analyze how CSR affects the performance of firms.

Significance of the research

Community

The aim of this study is to find out how involvement in CSR by MNCs affects the performance of foreign firms. In doing so, the research will assist the community in establishing effective ways that these organizations can pursue as CSR initiatives without worrying how this engagement will affect their performance and profit making (Kennedy 2011; Smith 2011). Besides, the research will benefit the community by discovering gaps, inefficiency or inefficiency of US-based MNCs and suggest the effective ways of addressing the problem and eventually deal with issues affecting the specific American communities.

Society

Corporate social responsibility initiatives are aimed at improving the well-being of the people and overall quality of life of the entire community (Dolphin 2003). Hence, investigating the impact of CSR on the performance of MNCs firms will benefit the society by identifying ways in which the organizations can increase their production which automatically means that the community shall benefit when the organizations integrate various CSR strategies into their operations.

Companies

MNCs and other local-based firms are the ones that will benefit more from this research because as it has been summarized above, the study aims at examining how involvement in CSR affects performance especially profitability (Smith 2011; Chan 2014). Hence, the findings of the research will be useful in helping the firms discover the most efficient and less costly ways of pursuing and choosing economic CSR initiatives which do not have a significant impact on the performance.

Research Aims

The overall aim of this study is to investigate how the involvement of foreign firms operating in the U.S in CSR affects their performance. However, specific aims of this research include the following.

Specifically, the study aims to:

• Investigate how performance firms operating in multinationals is impacted by involving in CSR activities.
• Determine the impact of CSR on sponsorship activities offered by multinational firms.
• Understand how CSR influences energy consumption.
• Ascertain the implication of CSR activities to consumption of water.
• Identify the impact of corporate social responsibility on donation practices of the multinational firms.

Research Objective

The broader objective that this study is seeking to achieve is identifying the impact of CSR has on the performance of MNCs firms in the United States. However, the study will answer several specific objectives including the following.

• To determine the impact of CSR particularly sponsorship on Return on Assets (ROA) by looking at American MNCs.
• To analyze how CSR or the impact of CSR on the cost of energy.
• To ascertain how CSR involvement by US-based foreign firms affects the water cycle.
• To examine how CSR influence the amount of donation given out but foreign firms vin the United States.

Research Questions

The central questions that the study seeks to answer include the following.

• How does firms’ involvement in corporate social responsibility especially in the U.S affect sponsorship, for instance, the impact on ROA?
• How does CSR involvement by foreign firms’ influence energy-saving practices of the firm and what is the overall impact on the cost of energy?
• Does CSR affect water recycling practice of firms in multinationals?
• What is the relationship between the firms’ engagement in CSR and the likelihood of extending donation to the neighboring communities?

Chapter 2: Literature Review

2.0 Introduction

Corporate social responsibility has been a subject of concern many years back, therefore, it has been explored by many scholars and researchers. So, this section of the study seeks to identify, analyze, summarize and critique various studies by evaluating the arguments of authors regarding CSR and firms in multinationals (D’Amato, Henderson and Florence 2009). In particular, the chapter will give priority to some studies that are based on the case of multinational firms in the United States. However, the study will achieve the comparative test by determining how CSR influences the operation of firms in other countries by examining case studies published about other developed and developing nations (Chan 2014). The literature review thus seeks to identify a gap in the existing body of literature to find the solutions or findings that are applicable in filling the gap in the literature and present areas in which future research may be pursued.

2.1 Definition of the Key Concepts

2.1.1 Definition of Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a common term that has been applied vastly in the corporate world, however, according to existing research, there is no universal definition for CSR. That is, the meaning of CSR varies depending on the area and level of engagement of the firms in the course of their business operations. Crowther and Aras (2008, p.10) defined corporate social responsibility as the relationship existing between world businesses, national governments, and the public. Hamidu, Haron, and Amran (2015, p.84) referred to the definition provided by Haron Bowen who explained CSR as the obligations of businesses to follow a set of rules, make ethical decisions, or abide by existing lines of action that are desirable in relation to the firms’ vision and values of the society. In a different study, CSR was defined as concept comprised of five important dimensions including stakeholder, social, economic, voluntariness and environmental dimensions (Dahlsrud 2006, p.4). Apparently, various studies have approached the concept of CSR from varied viewpoints thus making it difficult to come up with a universal definition of this concept. For example, it also defined as the obligation of businesses to carry out the operations of the business to create an equitable and workable balance between various interests of a number of stakeholders including employees, government, customers and the citizens (Fredrick, 2006; Smith 2011, p.1; D’Amato, Henderson and Florence 2009, p.6). Also, Chan (2014, p.2) defined CSR as the concept focusing on the responsibilities of the community other than the fundamental role of profit-making which is widely pursued by all managers of local and foreign-based firms. According to Dr. Davis, a CSR scholar back in the 1970s defined CSR as the corporation’s consideration of and reaction to problems beyond the narrow legal, economic and technical requirements of the company (Sharma & Mehta, 2012, p.2; Chan 2014, p.2). That is, firms have an obligation to consider keenly how their activities and policies affect the society. Thus, CSR brings the emphasis that it is noble for these companies to make regular or perpetual contributions to the community instead of merely focusing on making profits for the shareholders.

Table 1: Definition of corporate social responsibility

2.1.2 Definition of firm’s performance

Firm’s performance is a general term referring to all vital operations, whether legal or voluntary, that contribute to maximizing profits for the shareholders. Some researchers, however, have argued that it is essential to distinguish firm performance from the broader construct of organizational effectiveness which is usually a broader domain. According to Santos and Brito (2012, p.1) firm performance is comprised of six fundamental dimensions that are pursued by local and even multinational corporations and these include “profitability, growth, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, social performance, and environmental performance.” Alternatively, firm performance is defined as the process that involves measuring the efficiency and effectiveness of firm’s actions and policies (Al-Matari, Al-Swidi and Fadzil 2014, p.25). In the global market perspective, however, some studies argue that firm performance involves the process of measuring efficiency and effectiveness of firms’ operations by evaluation the relationship between productivity and profitability (Loecker and Goldberg 2013, p.2-3). Hence, firms’ performance becomes the question of maximizing productivity to alter profitability.

2.1.3 Definition of Sponsorship

Other than profit making, MNCs also involved in philanthropic activities for enhancing communication to their various stakeholders as well as using it as a strategic approach to marketing. According to Dolphin (2003, p.1) and Chebli and Gharbi (2013, p.913), sponsorship refers to a managerial and strategic approach pursued by firms to increase sales, enhance the corporate image and leveraging the morale of the workers. For instance, in sports, sponsorship refers to the marketing tool regularly used by firms including multinationals to appeal to a wide audience on the world platform better than their competitors (Abiodun 2011, p.11; Demirel and Erdogmus 2014, p.173). Overall, sponsorship can be considered as a move by firms to create awareness and hence realize a larger profit margin.

2.1.4 Definition of Water Recycle

Recycling is a complex and relatively expensive practice that aims at promoting sustainable development by making it possible to reuse water. According to Catlin and Wang (2012, p.122; Russo, Alfredo and Fisher 2014, p.3934; Kennedy 2011, p.2) recycling is a technique that minimizes the production of waste by recovering and reprocessing consumable products that might otherwise be lost as waste, for example, water. Communities all over the United States have safely consumed recycled water for several years, especially regions such as California, Los Angeles, and San Francisco among many others (Rock, McLain and Gerrity 2012, p.1).

2.1.5 Definition of Energy Saving

Energy cost is one of the fixed and recurrent costs that firms incur whether in operations or not. Energy saving is, therefore, a process which businesses adopt to help counter and minimize the cost of energy. According to Ashour (2010, p.223) corporations consider energy saving as one of the key challenges that affect consumers, energy system quality and the world business environment. Energy saving is thus the ability of firm or features that a firm has that can help in economizing the rate of energy consumption (Ashour 2010, p.223; Aliyu, Bukar, Ringim and Musa 2015, p.61; Cruz-Lovera, Perea-Moreno, Cruz-Fernandez, Alvarez-Bermejo, and Manzano-Agugliaro 2017, p.2).

2.1.6 Definition of Donation

A donation is also one of the strategic approaches that MNCs undertake not only to remain steps ahead of their rivals but to lure more customers, make more sales and hence higher profits. The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (n.d) defined cash donations or philanthropy as the support that firms give to a cause that does not in return guarantee commercial incentives. Unlike sponsorships, cash or product donations simply involve giving out money or products but without any strings attached (Nyberg, Andersson and Williamson 2015, p.11).

2.2 Critical review of theories of CSR

2.2.1 Carroll’s Pyramid theory of CSR

According to Carroll’s theory (2016), CSR is comprised of four parts including “economic, legal, ethical and discretionary (or philanthropic) expectations of the community to the firms in a particular time. A combination of these four responsibilities forms the foundation of infrastructure that could be used to characterize the nature of organizations’ duties to the community in which they operate.

Economic responsibilities

Fundamentally, businesses carry an economic responsibility to the community in which they are situated and allowed to operate. The logic behind economic responsibilities is that wherever any business is situated, the dwellers of that community and society at large expects that business to perform effectively by making profits and extending incentives to its owners (Carroll 2016; “Greater Kansas City Community Foundation” 2010). The expectations held by the society in the economic context is that they look up to the firms as agents or institutions that are capable of producing and selling goods and services to the society to meet the needs and desires of the community. Given the competitive corporate world, the economic responsibility is a baseline that firms, especially in multinationals, must meet.

Legal responsibilities

Business particularly those operating in the US and other foreign countries usually function under well-established minimal ground rules and policies that guide the operations and functioning of businesses. The ground rules often include laws and regulations that tend to reflect how a given society perceive “codified ethics” in regard to the ideologies of fair operations that do not have detrimental ramifications to the environment and people (Carroll 2016; “Greater Kansas City Community Foundation” 2010; Visser 2005, p.1). Examples of legal responsibilities include functioning inconsistency with government’s expectations and law and operating as law-abiding business citizens.

Ethical responsibilities

Usually, most societies expect that laws are necessary but not sufficient (Carroll 2016). Therefore, the communities expect that businesses ethically conduct their operations. Businesses thus assume ethical responsibilities by embracing the beliefs, norms, activities, standards, and practices deeply founded by members of the society.

Philanthropic responsibilities

While firms can be compelled to assume the above three responsibilities, taking charitable responsibility is voluntary, or instead it is the discretion of the business owners (Carroll 2016; “Greater Kansas City Community Foundation” 2010; Visser 2005, p.1). However, today most businesses are expected by the public to assume philanthropic responsibilities. Therefore, it remains the within the discretion of the business to choose the nature and quantity of philanthropy, and this is also influenced by the desire of the firm to involve in social activities.

Figure 1: Carroll’s Pyramid of CSR

Carroll’s Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility (Carroll 2016; “Greater Kansas City Community Foundation” 2010; Visser 2005, p.1).

2.2.2 Triple Bottom Line Theory

The Triple Bottom Line (TBL) theory is another model that tries to explain the relationship between CSR and profitability of organizations. TBL is a form of CSR model that dictate the business leaders need to tabulate the bottom-line results both in economic terms (cost/revenue) and the way the business influences the social and environmental realms (Stoddard, Pollard and Evans 2012; Brusseau 2016). There are two conditions, or rather assumptions that underlie this theory and these include (1) for TBL to hold, “the three columns of responsibility must be separated and results reported separately” and that (2) “in all the three areas, the company should obtain sustainable results” (Brusseau 2016). The TBL theory is based on three dimensions that are used for measuring sustainability including economic, social and environmental. The diagram below illustrates how these dimensions are connected to bring about social, economic and ecological sustainability.

Figure 2: Triple Bottom Line Theory of CSR

Adapted from Fauzi, Svensson, and Rahman (2010). As illustrated in the diagram above, the authors determined that Triple Bottom Line (TBL) is a “sustainable corporate performance consisting of three measurable aspects of performance including financial, social and environmental. The interface between these three elements of performance creates what is now called the TBL theory. In their study, they suggested that the content of each of the above measurement element may differ from one context to another and also vary with time. In the social context, social sustainability is achieved when there is a balance between people’s lives and how they live (Fauzi, Svensson and Rahman 2010; Brusseau 2016; Stoddard, Pollard and Evans 2012). In the economic realm, the theory recognizes long-term financial stability as opposed to volatile short-term profits regardless of the size of those benefits. On the other hand, the environmental real supports the view that ecological sustainability can only be realized if and when corporations affirm that natural resources such as oil and gas are limited.

2.2.3 United Nation’s 10 Millennium Goals

As explained by the UN, global leaders convened at the start of the new millennium at the United Nations to develop the vision that would declare war on poverty. The vision is now the overarching development framework and has been interpreted to form other ten-millennium development goals.

Goal 1: Eradicating the abject poverty and hunger

According to the UN’s recent financial and risk assessment reports, extreme poverty has reduced considerably over the last two decades. The statistics published in 2015 indicate that now only 14% of the population, especially in the developing world, live on less than $1.25 per day. Also, the global population living in extreme poverty has reduced significantly.

Goal 2: Realizing universal primary education.

By 2015, about 57 million children were estimated to have dropped out of school while the enrolment rate of children in developing countries had risen to 91% in 201. Also, the literacy rate among the young population aged between 15 to 24 has increased worldwide to 91 percent.

Goal 3: Promoting gender equality and empowering women.

The rate of participation of women in different sectors has improved considerably unlike how it was 15 years ago. For instance, more than 41% women are now part of paid workers employed outside agriculture.

Goal 4: Cutting back child mortality

The UN reported in 2015 that mortality rate of kids aged under five has reduced by more than half. Although world population has been increasing since 1990, the number of deaths of kids below five has reduced from 12.7 million in 1990 to nearly 6 million in 2015.

Goal 5: Enhancing maternal health

Since the start of the new millennium, the maternal mortality rate has reduced by 45% globally while in North America the number of pregnant women seeking maternal health has increased to 80 percent.

Goal 6: Fighting global epidemics including HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and other diseases.

Since the introduction of global antiretroviral therapy, the new cases of HIV infections have reduced by about 40% between 2000 and 2013 with a significant reduction in HIV/AIDs related deaths.

Goal 7: Achieving environmental sustainability

Since 1990 more than 1.9 billion people across the world have accessed piped water and approximately 98% of Ozone depleting substances eradicated during the same period.

Goal 8: Developing a worldwide partnership for development

Developed nations have experienced official development assistance increased by about 66% in real terms of up to %135.2 billion between 2000 and 2014. About 95% of the world’s population was covered by mobile cell signal by 2015.

Goal 9: Building resilient infrastructure, encourage sustainable industrialization and promote innovation.

This involves making massive investments in infrastructure (transportation, irrigation, information and communication, and energy) and promoting an inclusive and sustainable industrial development.

Goal 10: Reducing inequality within and among nations

Since the revision in Millennium Goals, the global community has realized considerable steps towards improving people’s quality of life by pulling them out of extreme poverty.

2.2.4 The UN Global Compact

Since its formation, the UN’s Global Compact has remained the same for several years and the Compact aims at contributing to more sustainable and inclusive world markets by entrenching them in shared values (Christie and Hanlon 2014, p.9; Kell 2003, p.36). The UN Global Compact promotes network-based method at the local, national, regional and world levels by use of many mechanisms such as leadership, dialogue, learning, outreach/networks (Kell 2003, p.36-37; Bitanga and Bridwell n.d, p.1-2). According to Bitanga and Bridwell (1), CSR has received increasing attention during the past few decades after its dramatic appearance in UN’s top echelons in 1999. After it was proposed in 1999 by the former UN Secretary General Koffi Annan, the Global Compact has appealed to more than 6,000 business participants and other 8,000 parties including various governmental entities and civil society organizations. In a critical analysis of the UN Global Impact, Rasche, Waddock, and Mclntosh (2012) identified three research viewpoints that researchers have applied in studying the UN Global Compact and these include historical perspective, operational context and governance perspective, which tend to focus on the constraints and opportunities of the Global Compact as an institutionalized field for dealing with gaps in global governance. The studies contrast the above perspectives and make out critical experimental and conceptual scholarly contributions to the understanding of the Global Compact framework (Rasche, Waddock and Mclntosh 2012; Rasche and Waddock 2014, p.2). In addition, engaging of the Global Compact in the conceptual framework of explicit and implicit CSR helps in generating a better understanding of the operational and governance challenges that firms were operating at the global level face. Brown, Clark, and Buono (2016) noted that most of the recent literature mainly focusing on the effectiveness of the UN Global Compact (UNGC) and also juxtaposing questions of legitimacy as raised by supporters and critics.

2.3 Case Study: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for Multinationals

Torres-Baumgarten andYucetepe (2008) conducted a study that sought to examine the role of multinational firms’ leadership in CSR activities in Latin America, particularly, the commitment of companies to corporate citizenship in the United States, Latin American in particular. The study was based on Latin America due to the paucity of research in the region considered an emerging market and that philanthropic initiative in Latin America lagged behind the global level of charitable efforts (Torres-Baumgarten and Yucetepe 2008). In a different study, Chan (2014, p.11-12) performed a study that examined the commitment of Microsoft and Apple to promoting and implementing CSR initiatives across various parts of the United States. Chan evaluated the extent to which the firms implemented the four dimensions of CSR including social, economic, philanthropy and environment where it discovered that the firms rank lower in enhancing environmental sustainability and improving working conditions and standards of their suppliers (Chan 2014, p.12). However, Idowu et al. (2017, p.263) pointed out that in the U.S, the government is a crucial player in creating corporate social responsibility and encouraging environmentally-sustainable behaviors, which are then imposed by the individual approach to corporate social responsibility by U.S entities.

Sotorrío and Sánchez (2009) in a different study that analyzed a sample of 26 non-Spanish multinational agencies operating in Spain was picked from Spain Merco reputation index between 2004 – 2007. The findings indicated that the variation between the degree of disclosure and nature of the social information that multinational firms reported were significant (Sotorrío and Sánchez 2009). However, in the case of Nigeria, studies held an argument that although CSR practice by multinational firms has become well-entrenched, global development does not substitute the need of the host nation to have effective regulations (Amao 2008, p.89). Looking at China, the country is categorized within the “getting it right” bracket, which reveals that firms in China are accepting and adopting the conservative path to sustainable development (Zhao 2012, p.185). Thus, it could be concluded that firms in China take CSR initiatives seriously.

2.4 Conceptual Framework

Developing a practical and realistic conceptual framework is one of the important things that researchers consider before conducting actual research. Rogers (2012) mentioned that it is important to develop a rigorous conceptual framework because it serves as a map of the area being investigated. A concept, in this case, is defined as “an abstract idea based on phenomena in reality that constitute our data, that is empirical generalization” (Casanave and Li 2015, p.107). However, some studies indicate that it is difficult to apply conceptual framework and other models in case studies to apply research to societal problems, for example, environmental sustainability and human well-being (Potschin-Young, Haines-Young, Heink and Schleyer 2017). Regardless, the conceptual framework remains among the most vital aspects of any given research process despite being misunderstood at different levels (Grant and Osanloo 2014, p.12). Therefore, this study will be based on the following conceptual framework.

Figure 3 Conceptual Framework

Sponsorship         :   what you need to talk here its how sponsorship affect ROA :

Various researchers have examined the impacts that sponsorships have on organizations and how they influence the ability of organizations to fulfill their corporate social responsibilities (CSR) thereby establishing the need to probe the advantages and disadvantages of the same. According to Chen, Hung and Wang (2017), sponsorship, as part of CSR, creates a brand enhancement, and this happens through association with a company with a strong reputation. Chen, Hung, and Wang also add to the same and posits that the second advantage of sponsorship is that it raises awareness thereby making an organization to gain visibility and improve its media coverage. The third benefit of sponsorship as Grant, (2016) outlines is that opens up the access to the niche markets, and this happens when a firm links up with a brand that has a reputation in such a market. Finally, sponsorships have related effects on costs of carrying out business activities and is cost-effective compared to mainstream advertising.

Despite the advantages of sponsorships, there are related disadvantages, and one of them can be the negative image association by associating with a brand with a tainted image hence affecting market performance and inability to fulfill objectives of the CSR. Lys, Naughton, and Wang (2015) also add that another disadvantage of CSR is that it makes firms and companies to lose control of their operations and gives up such control to the sponsoring firms. The third problem of sponsorship is that sponsorship clutter might turn off the audience and thereby make no sponsor to turn out. Finally, sponsorships can also lead to ambush marketing, and this happens when a competitor deflects some audience from the sponsor hence reducing market share in the market (Lins, Servaes and Tamayo 2013). Sponsorship affects return on assets because it markets products and services of a company which leads to a rise in the number of clients hence a higher sales and profits and revenues. The net result of the same is that it helps a company to generate more profits from its assets.

Energy Saving   : how Energy Saving affect ROA (Malik 2015).

The other activity of CSR which is energy saving also has various advantages and disadvantages on the operations of companies. The first advantage is that it helps the sponsoring firms to use the initiative of energy saving to market their products hence increase the sales of the same to expand their market segment (Harjoto, Laksmana, and Lee, 2015). The second advantage of the same is that it creates an avenue for sponsoring companies to conduct research and understand opportunities in the market which they can fill and increase their profits and revenue. The result of such a possibility is an improvement in the innovation and inventions in companies and the creation of products of higher values. Finally, Malik (2015) posits that energy saving as a component of CSR enables sponsoring companies to interact with the society and boost association between companies and the society which strengthens customer loyalty.

However, the plan of energy saving as a CSR activity has related disadvantages, and one of them is that is not a cost-effective plan because it requires companies to spend a lot of resources in such activities to carry out such activities. The second disadvantage is that it may not directly lead to the increase in the customer segment but might market products of other companies in return (Madsen and Rodgers 2015). The relation between energy saving and the return on assets is that it creates an opportunity for firms to vend and sell their products which expands the market share of companies. It is because, through energy saving activities, corporations get the opportunity to manufacture their products and can be a means of introducing new products in the market to fulfill the needs of customers. However, the strategy reduces the return on assets because firms use their assets for non-profitable activities in the society; this creates a negative impact on organizations and affects their business activities (Grant 2016).

Water Recycle :    How water recycle affect ROA

The third CSR activity, which is water recycle, also has associated negative and positive impacts on the society. The first advantage of the same is that it preserves the environment by eliminating, or otherwise reducing, harmful and toxic substances in the water sources; this leads to a healthier population (Harjoto, Laksmana and Lee 2015). Additionally, water recycle reduces the cost of acquiring water for both commercial and domestic use because recycled water is cheaper hence decreasing budgeting in the population. Furthermore, water recycle reduces pollution, and this is because it eliminates effluence of toxic water into other water sources thereby removing the cases of water pollution. Moreover, the same CSR activity plays a critical role in the conservation of natural resources through the prevention of indiscriminate utilization of natural resources such as water sources (Lys, Naughton and Wang 2015). Finally, water recycles increases employment activities through the creation of opportunities to recycle water which offers employment to the society.

Water recycle as a corporate social responsibility activity also has related disadvantages to the populace and one of them is that it is an unhygienic process of providing services to the population. It is because the debris that with which water recyclers interact may create a health issue and for the workers and the surrounding community (Chen, Hung, & Wang, 2017). When water is not recycled correctly, there may be contamination of other water sources hence become a massive health concern in the population. Finally, the other disadvantage of the CSR activity is that it is a costly process that requires high investments to make the plan a success. The high cost of machines and technical workforce for recycling water makes it an illegal CSR activity. In this manner, water recycling hurts the return on assets as it requires enormous capital investment and this reduces the return on investment on companies hence making it an unfortunate CSR venture (Lins, Servaes and Tamayo, 2017).

Donation:    how Donation affect ROA

The final CSR activity is a donation, and it has various advantages in the population, and the first advantage is that it has a direct impact on the recipient thereby making it a very effective method of carrying out CSR activities in the modern society. Additionally, the process of donation creates an opportunity for companies to have a personal interaction with the community thereby boosting commitment that corporations have on the welfare of the population (Madsen and Rodgers 2015). Moreover, the method can be used to gain information from the community and identify a niche which companies can use to improve their quality of service and build a better society. Finally, the initiative can be cost-effective as it enables firms to choose among the various types of donations and can accept the least expensive forms of contribution but still fulfill the aims of the CSR (Grant 2016).

One disadvantage of the CSR activity is that it is not a long-lasting solution to the problems facing the communities and can be an ineffective method to carry out a CSR. In this manner, companies can spend vast amounts of resources and funds on the donation without any positive impacts on the recipients thereby leading to loss of money (Malik 2015). Besides, a contribution can be a costly method of CSR thus leading use of vast amounts of money and resources in the process. Finally, the donation does not offer a holistic solution to the issues affecting the society because it only improves the social and economic welfare of the population without focusing on ecology. The donation has a positive impact on return on assets because it improves customer loyalty on the products and services of the company the offers donation (Harjoto, Laksmana and Lee 2015). The result is a higher return on assets. In this manner, there is a need to identify the most effective products to donate to fulfill the aims of CSR and benefit the population.

Chapter 3: Research Design and Methodology

3.0 Introduction

In this section, the paper focuses on the research design and methodology selected for conducting the study. Whether qualitative or quantitative, researchers are compelled to pick the most practical and appropriate design(s) and methodology for guiding the research (Johnston 2014) The design and method play a vital role in developing the basis on which the actual research is conducted. Therefore, the next chapter explains various research concepts as well as the procedures and processes that are relevant to this exact research.

3.1 Research Paradigm

3.1.1 What is Research Paradigm

According to Antwi and Hamza (2015, p.217), a research paradigm is usually described as a set of universal beliefs and agreements that scientists and scholars share regarding the way issues researchers are supposed to comprehend and resolve various issues related to specific phenomena. Rahi (2017, p.1) defined a “paradigm” as the important collection of beliefs that are universal to all scientists as well as a set of accords regarding the way researchers should understand problems, the way we should perceive the world and how to conduct research.

3.1.2 The selected research paradigms

a.) Positivism

This paradigm consists a group of supporters who hold a believes that people can obtain knowledge through observations and experiments. Positivists thus prefer the scientific method as the source of knowledge (Antwi and Hamza 2015, p.217). The positivist paradigm is preferred for this research for some reasons including the fact that when conducting research using this model, the positivism reality remains unchanged and that research can observe and describe it through objectives (Rahi 2017, p.1; and McGregor and Murnane 2010). Thus, the positivist paradigm is preferred for this research due to its belief in a single reality. By choosing this model, it is possible for the study to estimate and determine the real variables. Besides, this paradigm is necessary because it applies to the selected study methodology.

3.2 Research Design

What is research design

A research design is often described as the overall approach chosen by a researcher to incorporate diverse elements of a study coherently and logically (De Vaus 2006). This ensures that the researcher is capable of answering the research problem effectively. In other terms, the research design provides the blueprint for collecting, evaluating and analysis of findings. Flick (2010, p.128) on the other hand defined the research design as “a plan for collecting and analyzing evidence that will make it possible for the investigator to answer whatever questions he or she has posed.” The research design, therefore, covers all the essential elements of the research ranging from data collection, selection of study methods and even conducting data analysis (Flick 2010, p.128; Mitchell and Jolley 2012, p.33). This study will adopt the explanatory research design to assist in answering the questions in the earlier chapters.

Explanatory research design

The explanatory design seeks to explain why certain events take place to construct, explain, broaden or test theory. The greatest advantage why researchers choose explanatory design is because it permits the study to examine very particular concepts and make changes to existing theories. Also, the person carrying out the study using this design on phenomena, for example, how CSR involvement by multinational firms affects ROA would find thoughts and ideas by interviewing several businesses owners, managers or civil society organizations. Basically, this design is relevant to this study as it will assist in explaining some concepts and factors.

3.3 Data Collection Method

a.) Secondary Research

Given the technicality and complexity involved in conducting primary research, this study will adopt secondary research where secondary data or published data will be collected for analysis to aid in answering the study questions. Goowin (2010, p.113) emphasized the benefits of using secondary research in collecting data since secondary data is already collected and can be gathered at a lower cost. Besides, it is highly likely for researchers to find the answer to the problem when using secondary research and that it contains useful information that can assist researchers to project the primary research methodology (Goodwin 2010, p.113). Dunn, Arslanian-Engoren and DeKoekkoek, Jaack and Scott (2015) held that researchers enjoy a wide range of benefits by using secondary research including low risk to participants, uses less time and resources and permits researchers to use large volume of data. In this particular study, data will be collected from secondary resources including journals, articles, publications, annual reports, and periodicals published about the operations and functioning of multinational firms. The relevant materials only include those published within a period of 5 years. Moreover, the study will only consider resources that focus on American multinational firms including those based and operating within the country.

3.4 Total Population

The target population is comprised of manufacturing companies situated and operating within the United States. Specifically, the eligible firms to take part in this research will only include those that have been in action for at least 5 years. Also, information about only mid-sized and large corporations will be considered for review in this study. In order to collect a sizable volume of data that can offer adequate information and answers to the research questions, about 400 to 500 manufacturing multinational firms situated in different parts of the U.S shall be reviewed and their annual reports analyzed to obtain various types of data.

3.5 Sample Size and Sampling

The sample size to involved in this research will be comprised of between 400 to 500 companies situated and operating from the United States. Babbie (2011, p.206) mentioned that social research is mostly carried out in manner that does not allow the various types of probability samples that are in many cases utilized in large-scale social studies. This study will thus adopt nonprobability sampling particularly purposive sampling method to determine the sample population and sample size as well as collecting data using different secondary methods. Purposive or judgmental sampling methods involves selecting a sample based on the knowledge of the population, aspects of the population and the purpose the study seeks to achieve (Babbie 2011, p.206; Gravetter and Forzano 2006, p.154). That is, the purposive sampling gives the researcher the discretion to determine the units or number of subjects to be observed based on the knowledge of the researcher on which units are most useful and represent the entire population (Rubin and Babbie 2006, p.132; Lazar 20009). The purposive sampling will be used to select annual reports and other secondary records from online libraries and Internet databases and Google Search engine among others. About 35 mid-sized and large multinational firms will be selected through the purposive method and information about those multinational companies obtained. The period of the materials or resources is within the last five years with companies selected being the ones that have been in operation and published reports in the last 2012 to 2016.

3.6 Ethical Issues

In this particular study the researcher together will all the selected research designs, research methodology, sampling methods, and data collection methods are subject to ethical considerations that are applicable to social and scientific studies. The nature of ethical issues that are faced in qualitative research are different from those encountered in quantitative studies. In this qualitative study therefore, the ethical issues that underlie the use of secondary research could be summarized as inappropriately the sources or information when they should not be applied and inappropriately failing to use the sources where they should be used (Hair 2012, p.130). Just like in primary research, the use of secondary data also involves a number of issues that surround access and use of private or public information of companies in research without consent. The analysis of secondary data tend to raise questions regarding ethics if researchers do not seek consent from the owners of the information (Grinyer 2009).

3.7 Accessibility

The accessibility of data will depend on whether the selected firms publish their information on the platforms where it can be accessed. Since the study does not necessary require confidential information that require a lot of secrecy, the search will be carried out especially on the sites or the companies and search engines such as Google to find annual reports among other materials. Online databases that are freely accessible to the public will be used (Johnston 2014, p.623) Alternatively, consent from the companies will be sought in order to seek permission to access restricted materials from the companies. In most unlikely scenario, the researcher may choose to visit accessible and nearby firms to ask for access to annual reports and other materials that may useful to this research.

3.8 Data Analysis Plan

The analysis of secondary data will involve the procedures and techniques used for breaking down data to enhance interpretation and presentation. The analysis of secondary existing data is increasingly becoming a common method of enhancing efficiency both in social and scientific research (Cheng and Phillips 2014, p.371). The first step of the analysis will be recording and sorting the data according to various factors and variables. Basically, secondary data analysis of flexible and can be carried out in a number of ways (Johnson 2014, p.619). The data will also be separated as per the study questions to make it easier to do analysis. Secondly, statistical and other responses will be analyzed using data analysis tools such as E-views and SPSS and the generated output used to answer the specific research questions. After the data has been analysis, the questions underlying this research will be restated and discussed one by one by use of the output from E-views or SPSS software.

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