An Assessment of the Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Strategic Intent at Standard Chatered Bank Kenya Limited

Abstract

Corporate Social Responsibility is about how a business entity gives back to its stakeholders in a sustainable and acceptable manner while strategy refers to a plan of action for allocating resources effectively among the different stakeholders of an organization. Strategic Intent is a derivative of strategy and it denotes being prepared for flexibility when various situations occur and having an obsession of attaining excellence and excelling within an organization, market, and economy. This study specifically assessed the impact of CSR on Strategic Intent at the Organization. The objectives of the study were to establish the various CSR programmes that SCB engages in and evaluate their influence on the Strategic Intent. The study has also mentioned the challenges SCB experiences in the practice of CSR.

Data was collected from six top managers at SCB from six business lines namely, Treasury Department, Legal and Compliance Department, Corporate Affairs Department, Consumer Banking Department, Wholesale Banking Department and Human Resource Department. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using content analysis techniques. The results of the study showed that the CSR practice is aligned to the Strategic Intent of SCB. The study also showed that the prominent CSR programme is the SCB Nairobi Marathon and it is adequately publicised in line with the CSR theme of SCB: 'Seeing is Believing'. Other CSR activities like Sponsorship of Children Homes, Community Projects, Tree Planting, Wild Life Conservation and Donations are not only inadequately publicised but also localised in their geographical reach. However, all the CSR programmes were described as being sustainable.

Some of the stakeholders like Communities of SCB were identified as beneficiaries of the CSR programmes while others like employees of SCB were mere spectators. The key recommendation of the study was that the current CSR programmes at SCB should be expanded to engage more employees and serve more needy cases in a wider geographical area. Secondly, it was observed that SCB needs to attract more co-sponsors in order to benefit from the economies of scale. A further study should be conducted to establish a practicable model of CSR that can adequately address the Strategic Intent of commercial banks in Kenya.