Strategic Determinants of Adoption of Corporate Social Responsibility Programmes by Large Manufacturing Firms in Nairobi City County

Abstract

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) refers to the self-regulating culture of businesses in accordance with ethical and sustainability values of the organizational and business activities and is implemented in form of programs aimed at addressing the environmental, social, economic, ethical, and resource effects of a business on its surrounding communities and geographical space. The research objective was to determine the strategic determinants of adoption of CSR programmes by large manufacturing firms in Nairobi. This study was guided by stakeholder hypothesis and social contract hypothesis. The study adopted a descriptive cross sectional survey. The target population for this study comprised of Large Manufacturing Firms in Nairobi, Kenya. A sample of 41 firms was selected using stratified random sampling method from a total population of 328 of Large Manufacturing Firms operating in Nairobi. This study utilized primary and secondary data. The primary information was gathered through the use of questionnaires that were distributed to the target large manufacturing firms. The questionnaires comprised of semi structured questions. Secondary data was obtained from the firms’ publications, financial reports, policies and manuals. All the completed questionnaires were edited for consistency and coded to enable classification of the responses into the varied categories. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was utilized to analyze quantitative data. Descriptive statistics analysis such as frequency distribution and percentages were used to analyze the data. The data collected was presented in tables, frequency charts and bar charts. The study revealed that large manufacturing firms in Nairobi were found to have a corporate social responsibility policy in place and always review the CSR activities and initiatives. It was also clear that large manufacturing firms’ participation in corporate social responsibility is much influenced by stakeholders’ relationships, corporate pressure, long term profitability and company size. The study established that benefits realized due to adoption of CSR were sustainable competitive advantage and improved operational efficiency. The study concluded that there is much influence on large manufacturing firm’s participation in CSR activities by stakeholders’ relationships, corporate pressure, long term profitability and company size. The study recommends that the firms should engage more in CSR to conform to regulations and forestall possible losses from litigation or rejection by communities and that firms should adopt CSR so as to increase customer awareness of the core function and products offered, improve the level of customer loyalty, improve the firm’s product marketability, diversification, reduce the marketing costs and operational cost as well as promotion of the image of the firm.