Corporate Social Responsibility in the United States and Nigeria

Corporate Social Responsibility in the United

States and Nigeria

Chapter 1: Introduction to the Study

Scholars such as Carroll and Shabana (2010), Hanlon and Fleming (2009),

Kinderman (2012), and Marens (2013) have asserted that they are witnessing a sustained

corporate effort to convince a more diverse group of stakeholders that fundamentally

capitalistic corporations are embracing CSR as a desirable business development goal and

strategy of sustainable shared values (as cited in Agudelo et al., 2019; Freeman &

Dmytriyev, 2017). Corporations have been casting aside decades of empirical evidence of

Concurrently, several scholars have been wary in the face of this effort, asserting

their critical interpretations of evolving corporate motivations. What the analysts argued

they could have been seeing are renewed propaganda efforts at marketing and branding

(Hanlon & Fleming 2009), a predatory grab for greater power (Marens, 2010), a

diversionary tactic or smokescreen to mislead (Banerjee, 2008), or a quid pro quo for less

regulation (Kinderman, 2012). Kurucz et al. (2008) asserted that when scholars have

examined the business pitches for CSR theoretically (Carroll, 1979; Swanson, 1999;

Wood, 1991) and empirically (Cochran & Wood, 1984; Graves & Waddock, 1994;

Mattingly & Berman, 2006; Rousso & Fouts, 1997), test results were mixed when

comparing social performance against financial performance.

oilproducing nation in the world and contains some of Africa’s largest multinational

corporations in oil and gas such as Shell Petroleum Development Company of the United

Kingdom (Egharevba & Ovenseri-Obomo, 2019), in banking such as the First Bank of

Nigeria established as the Bank of British West Africa banking of Lagos, Nigeria

(Michael, 2014), and in diary such as Friesland Camina of the Netherlands (Ekumankama

et al.. 2019). Stakeholders in the broadest possible perspective include shareholders,

executive officers, employees, customers, suppliers, service providers, communities,

infrastructure providers, governments, and those who benefit and depend upon the

environment in which the multinational corporations work in, in the sense of

employment, economic security, safety, dispute resolution, and infrastructure

could enable positive social change by clarifying perceptions and validating the claims of

either side of the ongoing debate on these matters, as the following narrative reveals.

found in practice.

Corporate Social Responsibility Versus Capitalism

Smith has been widely considered to be the originator of the idea of modern

capitalism when he asserted that business benefits everyone in society when it is free

from hindrance in seeking profits and efficiency (as cited in Lantos, 2001). In the recent

past, Friedman’s neo-classical stance based upon Smith’s definition elevated the ethical

and lawful production of profit as the principal social responsibility of business. Smith

focused his definition of capitalism upon generating shareholder wealth through finance

and marketing models and techniques to build and operate product and services

businesses that generate profits using capital and human resources. Friedman’s

sole focus on profit generation. This challenge initiated a debate that went on for decades

up to the present where there has been little consensus about the technicalities of what

an organization’s responsibility to social welfare or the environment (Lantos, 2001) even

though there is no shortage of ideas inspired, advocated, or applicable to single cases

Although there is little that all of these interpretations have in common, the CSR

paradigm as asserted by numerous corporate representatives could replace the classic and

neoclassic capitalism models by expanding their focus to also include social

responsibility models and techniques to build and operate product and service businesses

that generate profits and other benefits using capital and other resources to benefit

corporate shareholders, executive officers, employees, customers, communities, and other

general stakeholders (Moura-Leitre & Padgett, 2011; Yuan et al., 2019). Moreover,

activities could be conducted that do not directly benefit the corporation’s shareholders.

The stakes are higher now than they have ever been. There are more stakeholders (Wang

et al., 2016) and a larger number of corporate leaders both supporting and criticizing the

CSR development effort, so the scope and complexity of CSR has, in turn, expanded

features and business arguments about CSR’s emergence (Kurucz et al., 2008). What

appears to be different now as distinguished from decades earlier are more complex

contexts and scales of global trade and more competition (Carroll & Shabana, 2010;

Kurucz et al., 2008). Accompanying this new global complexity are fundamental changes

in the concepts of capitalism (Hanlon & Fleming, 2009; Kinderman, 2012); the changing

nature, policies, and effectiveness of the institutions of labor unions, government, and

business; as well as the associated relationships between them and other special interest

activists, stakeholders, and cultural groups (Marens, 2013).

Motivations for Corporate Origination and Participation in CSR Programs

From the corporation’s point-of-view, the primary and general reason for

where financial performance either preceded social performance or was explained by

positive synergies between the two.

(a) corporations have interactive links between stakeholders such that the decisions of

both entities affects the other, (b) there is a high level of concern upon the relationship

processes and outcomes between the corporation and its stakeholders, (c) all legitimate

stakeholder interests have value and no interests dominate the other (Clarkson, 1995;

Donaldson & Preston, 1995), and (d) there is a focus upon managerial decision making

(Donaldson & Preston, 1995).

Clarkson (1995) defined primary stakeholders as those who have risked some

enable ongoing operations. These stakeholders could be investors, banks and financiers,

shareholders, managers, employees, suppliers, and governments that provide

infrastructure resources. The natural environment is also a stakeholder within the

communities they operate as well as the communities themselves, which provide taxes to

governments that tax corporations and collect licensing fees and regulatory fines, and

spending that money on providing community services (municipal police, fire fighting,

regulation, and public utilities). The number and mix of stakeholders who occupy these

insufficient knowledge about international stakeholders’ CSR attitudes about

multinational operations.

Problem Statement

The content of written CSR reporting in developing nations may not be as

legitimate as corporate stakeholders and the public had thought. In a study of published

annual reports of six major oil companies working in the Niger Delta of Nigeria, it was

found that there could be violations of accepted international CSR reporting norms and

transparency (Emezi, 2014; Odera et al., 2020). However, there have been only a few

other confirming studies (Osei-Kojo & Andrews, 2020; Uwalomwa & Jimoh, 2012) and

noncurrent, suggesting a gap in the literature. The social problem that these findings

(Babatunde, 2020; Hauser & Schembera, 2019; Tashman et al., 2019). The specific

management problem was that it was unclear whether CSR in practice has been aligned

with Freeman’s (2013, 2016, 2017) CSR theories that hypothetically CSR (a) lower cost

and sustain business, (b) elevate the legitimacy of stakeholders, (c) enhance competitive

and Nigeria.

The purpose of this correlational research design quantitative study was to

empirically test (a) the theory of CSR positing that CSR programs are correlated with

improved CSP and CFP; and (b) the stakeholder theory, asserting the existence of a

mutually beneficial interactive correlation between corporations and all of their

stakeholders and a positive association of such links with corporate competitiveness

(CC), corporate reputation (CR), and corporate value creation (CVC) effects of CSR in

developing nations such as Nigeria. Sociodemographic control variables and a

moderating variable of the United States' national culture (NC) versus Nigeria’s were

statistically controlled in the study.

Research Questions and Hypotheses

Research Question (RQ)1: Are CSR programs associated with improved CSP and

RQ2: What are the stakeholder multinational corporate connection differences

between Nigerian and U.S. multinational stakeholders in the costs and risks of doing

business, corporate reputation and legitimacy, competitive advantages, and win-win quid

H122: CSR has positive effects on CC, but the effects are moderated by the

H023: CSR does not have positive effects on CVC, but the effects are moderated

H123: CSR has positive effects on CVC, but the effects are moderated by the

The theoretical foundation that formed the basis of this study included stakeholder

theory as described by Freeman (2013, 2016, 2017) that predicted stakeholders’ behavior

in the context of the United States and Nigerian national cultures. The data were collected

using two research instruments: the English language version of the Values Survey

or Nigerian citizen, (d) at least three years of work experience in the current position, (e)

the company’s CSR program has been in effect for at least five years as reflected in the

company’s mission statement, (f) familiarity with the company’s CSR program and

ability to comment on it, and (g) English reading comprehension. The exclusion criteria

were as follows: (a) under 18 years of age, and (b) currently studying. These exclusion

criteria allowed for the elimination of individuals lacking direct knowledge about the

topic of the current study.

To determine the sample size required to detect an effect of .8 with α = .05 for a

generalized linear model (GLM), an a priori power analysis was conducted using the

GPower 3.1 statistical tool. The power analysis indicated that the minimum required

moderating variable. The tests of normality and tests for outliers were conducted on all

variables where such tests were appropriate. The internal consistency and dimensionality

of three constructs (CA, CC, and PI) were conducted to statistically assess constructs’

reliability and to obtain Cronbach’s alphas and Pearson Correlation coefficients for each

of them. Finally, the study's hypotheses were statistically tested using the GLM modeling

approach (see Dobson & Barnett, 2018; Fox et al. 2019).

Corporate competitiveness (CC): A multidimensional, theoretical, and relative

Corporate financial performance (CFP): A multidimensional construct that is the

economic aftermath as a result of the interactions among an organization’s actions,

Corporate social performance (CSP): The practices, principles, and

organization’s relationship with institutions, people, communities, businesses, societies,

participation, support of corporate philanthropy or cultural activities, labor relations, and

consumerism (Moon et al., 2015).

Corporate value creation (CVC): In the context of CSR, when strategic corporate

Ethical corporate behavior: Catering to stakeholders' needs, fulfilling regulatory

obligations, making the right financial decisions, transparency, and enhanced

environment, economy, and equity (Portney, 2015).

enable monitoring and spot-checking of how many people have completed the survey

prior to reaching the targeted population sample desired, and send the completed data to

my computer for statistical analysis. It was also assumed that the final number of people

the statistical power equation due to missing data and having to omit incomplete surveys.

The measures taken to use an existing validated survey instrument for most of the

survey questions included selecting a sample size to keep bias below 5%, selecting

standard statistical methods to analyze the data, asking demographic questions to check

that the inclusion and exclusion criteria were followed, checking for interaction of threats

to internal validity, including an exit interview to receive participant feedback, and using

Survey Monkey to pretest and standardize the procedures expected to minimize the

problems with internal validity. Specific independent variables that were tested in the

study against the dependent variable of CSR legitimacy and credibility in the perception

of internal and external stakeholders included four business case arguments that have

been pitched by corporations to support the CSR case: (a) lowering the cost and risk of

The measures taken to screen and target the study population with inclusion and

employer’s CSR program that has been in effect for at least five years, and a

stakeholder in at least one category (employee, shareholder, customer, member of the

compared to other undetermined variable influences. Preassessing what could be a threat

to the internal validity other than construct validity, none of the following potential

threats described in the literature were believed to be threats: maturation, history, testing,

instrumentation, statistical techniques, selection, sample depletion, and interaction of

was driven by the nature of the study's constructs and the hypothesized relationships

among them. The validity of statistical models included testing underlying assumptions

and descriptive validity diagnostics that addressed all threats to internal validity posed by

the statistical techniques used in the study, so no threats were anticipated. Covariate

control measures (see van Etten, 2009).

probability that the survey would be run in a time just following something scandalous

reported in the news related to CSR was very low. Confounding variables could exist but

questions admitting to or knowing about them, so this could have been a study weakness;

however, it was expected to be minimal. Again, anonymity could have been the best

countermeasure protecting the study from these possibilities.

Significance of the Study

The primary significance of this study was that it could contribute new insights to

theory and practice and bring about positive social change regarding stakeholder attitudes

concerning CSR policies that have been put into effect by U.S. multinational corporations

of the makeup of modern corporations, including among those who have claimed to be

the corporation’s stakeholders. Focus upon one and only one type of stakeholder and

beneficiary, the owner, was the concern written about in the “Wealth of Nations” in 1776

Donaldson & Preston, 1995; Freeman, 1984) as part of CSR conceptual models that have

inspired scholarly debates for several decades.

Significance to Theory

Classical capitalism (Smith, 1991) and neoclassical capitalism theory (Friedman,

2002) both conceive of one category of corporation stakeholder – the shareholder(s), the

owner(s) who is (are) the principal beneficiary (beneficiaries) of the corporate profits.

The concept of CSR has been a concept portraying multiple stakeholders, and with that,

practicality, and sustainability of CSR policies as a departure from classical and

neoclassical capitalism theories and stakeholder theory as it relates to various conceptions

of CSR.

multinational corporations from countries of origin such as the United States, of “doing

well by doing good” in other nations where they have a substantial presence through the

Significance to Practice

Study participants provided insights in this study concerning the general CSR

conceptual framework about four potential practice benefits frequently asserted by

representatives of many multinational corporations in many past studies to be made

managerial mindset…to…better create value, and…explicitly connect business and

ethics” (Freeman et al., 2010, p. 29). The idea uniting them all together was using

stakeholder relationships as the unit of analysis – how groups of customers, suppliers,

interactively create and trade value. These relationships proceed and change over time.

The executives of the corporation organize, reimagine, and restructure these relationships

to create a maximum of stakeholder value, especially where there are conflicting interests

and tradeoffs, that is then decided and distributed (Freeman, 1984; Freeman et al., 2010;

Harrison et al., 2019).

Although Freeman was one of Friedman’s most persistent supporters, Freeman’s

introduction of the stakeholder model led others to believe that he was also one of

Friedman’s critics. Freeman viewed the stakeholder model as a complementary

enhancement embedded in Friedman’s capitalism model (as cited in Agle et al. 2008).

Many critics of Friedman may not have understood that Freeman’s stakeholder theory

was a push to improving the strategic management of stakeholders to enhance and

improve the capitalistic model (Agle et al. 2008; Freeman, 1984).

Freeman asserted, “The key idea about capitalism is that the entrepreneur or

p. 165). Freeman asserted further, “Stakeholder theory…is a very simple idea about how

people create value for each other. It’s a theory about what good management is” (as

more effective in identifying, analyzing, and negotiating with key stakeholder groups”

(pp. 230-231):

business functions, and we can especially rethink how the strategic planning

process works to take stakeholders into account.

6. Stakeholder interests need to be balanced over time. (p. 231)

Freeman (2001) also proposed to reform corporation law in the interests of stakeholders:

1. The Stakeholder Enabling Principle – Corporations shall be managed in the

interests of their stakeholders, defined as employees, financiers, customers,

employees, and communities.

2. The Principle of Director Responsibility – Directors of the corporation shall

have a duty of care to use reasonable judgment to define and direct the affairs

of the corporation in accordance with the stakeholder enabling principle.

Stakeholders

Stakeholders have been generally defined by Clarkson (1995) as those people who

have converted their convictions into personal risk by putting some form of financial or

human resource capital into a corporation’s asset base to facilitate the corporation’s

ongoing operations. These stakeholders are in one or more of the following categories:

that provide infrastructure resources, regulations, licenses to operate, and laws and

standards to guide behavior. The natural environment could also be considered a passive

stakeholder within the communities where the corporations operate in and the

communities themselves that provide taxes to fund the infrastructure and protect the

environment either in the form of prevention or restoration of the corporation’s degrading

impact. This definition was expanded by Starik (1995), who suggested that there are two

categories of stakeholders:

2. There are also external stakeholders including customers; local communities

that contribute a labor pool as well as benefitting from job offerings; corporate

giving that supports community charities through monetary and human

licensing fees and regulatory fines, spending that money on providing

community services and clean-up of environmental emissions that

corporations externalize (Starik, 1995, p. 215).

stakeholders contribute monetary or human resource assets directly to the corporation,

whereas external or secondary stakeholders contribute or are affected by the firm. Over

relation to the corporation has changed. Freeman et al. (2007) used the diagram in Figure

4 to describe the relationship between two tiers of stakeholders and the corporation.

The Two Categories of Stakeholders

Competitors

The Firm

Financiers Employee

s

engagement by stakeholders in the operations of corporations has grown and more

stakeholders have been identified, the corporation has been pushed out of the center of

the activity and the line separating primary and secondary stakeholders has become

blurred as stakeholders have become more integrated into the corporations' ongoing

operations, as is conceptually shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5

Multistakeholder Value Map

Industry

Society

Intermediaries Alliance Other

Competitors

Suppliers

Communities

Customers

Joint Valu e Creation

Advocate

Note. Multistakeholder value map showing a joint value creation emergent process. From

Stakeholder relationships and responsibilities: A new perspective (p. 52), by C. Civera

and R. E. Freeman, 2019, Symphonya. Emerging Issues in Management, (1), pp. 40-58

Freeman.

The following is a description of each of the major stakeholder categories:

Industry: All stakes are reciprocal in terms of potential benefits and losses,

rights, and responsibilities. All stakeholders under this category are

indispensable to the success and survival of the firm.

Communities: When local communities where the firm resides grants firms

the rights to operate their business and take advantage of local infrastructure,

jobs to help their citizens. The firm also agrees not to create externalities in

the form of pollution that impose uncompensated costs on the community

they provide is also indispensable to the firm's success and continuation. This

information about products and services as stakeholders, they can help each

other better understand how those products and services' true value can help

improve quality, delivery, and satisfaction (Freeman, 2000).

Employees: The stake that employees have is their jobs and livelihood. They

expect wages and benefits in return for skills they have that they apply to the

work, engaging work, and security (Freeman, 2000).

Firm: What is referred to as the firm are the corporation's managers and

employees who have an employment contract and a duty to protect the

corporation’s health and welfare. This means providing a balance between the

conflicting demands of its stakeholders (Freeman, 2000). Owners seek better

financial returns; customers want more research and development; employees

the firm’s resources.

Owners: The owners of the corporation – families, financiers, founders,

stockholders, are those who have the financial stake in the corporation in the

form of shares of stock and have put money into the firm to receive some kind

These changes had been foreseen and previously described by Freeman (2013). In

Despite strongly palpable movement in this direction, some research findings have

evidence to the contrary. Mitchell et al. (1997) presented evidence that stakeholder

relationships with the corporation are very much a power relationship in which

stakeholders are subordinated based upon corporate dependence, their leveraging power

relationships in the corporation, it is the firm that reacts to claims and either creates social

and economic solutions that have value or not (Tashman & Raelin, 2013). Transactional

focus, as distinguished from social relationships between stakeholders, also seems most

relevant (Civera & Freeman, 2019). This concept seems to hold even if market pricing

logic used to create value does not lead to beneficial social ends (Venkatamaran, 1997).

Bridoux and Stoelbohorst (2016) asserted that this pricing logic is frequently top of mind

among stakeholders as firms are perceived as always acting in their self-interest.

stakeholder ethical responsibility in (Mena & Palazzo, 2012). These initiatives are often

taken by a vanguard of innovative leaders with broad interests who have pursued

extended negotiations that provide a byproduct of norms for corporate behavior (Zeyen et

it demonstrates strong cooperation as to what is in the mutual interest of many

stakeholder groups (Strand & Freeman, 2015), and what could be as important a priority

in value creation as anything the firm puts forth (Boiral & Heras-Saizarbitoria, 2017).

1. Corporations have interactive links between stakeholders such that the

2. There is a high level of concern upon the relationship processes and outcomes

3. All legitimate stakeholder interests have value, and no interests dominate the

4. There is a focus on management decision making. (p. 92)

Over time, stakeholder theory has been gathering increasing attention, focus, and

momentum within academia, corporations, and government. Stakeholder theory

integrates profits, purpose, social morality, and ethics (Civera & Freeman, 2019), as the

theory has described from its inception.

Summary and Conclusions

who are potential stakeholders, the primary elements of stakeholder theory, and the

Friedman’s neoclassical capitalistic shareholder model introduced in 1962 (Friedman,

(employees, customers, communities, financiers, and suppliers) and external categories of

and media) linked to the corporation as it was redefined by Freeman et al. (2007). It also

credible in the opinion of multinational corporation stakeholders in the United States and

Nigeria. It is unclear that: (a) the CSR proposition that improving CSP will improve CFP,

and (b) the stakeholder theory that corporations have interactive links between

fill at least one of the gaps in understanding the extent to which stakeholder interaction

between corporations and stakeholders exists such that the links between both entities

the research design and rationale, the data collection and analysis plan, threats to validity,

and ethical procedures adhered to.

controlled in the study. In Chapter 3, I describe the research methodology that was

selected to achieve the research purpose of the study. I explain the research design and

rationale for the study, identify the target population, sample, and sampling procedures

plans. Finally, the threats to validity and the standards of ethical research are discussed.

In this study, I used a quantitative methodology. Quantitative methods are used

widely in social sciences and the management field due to high objectivity and reliability

across various designs, diverse populations, and different interventions (Cassell et al.,

2018). The quantitative methodology was selected because it is flexible and generalizable

(Wilcox, 2019), and it can be safely relied upon to make predictions about different

Research Design

I used a correlational, questionnaire-based survey research design with multiple

between-group comparisons and fixed effects in this quantitative study. No variables in

the study were manipulated. Cross-sectional research designs measure variables and the

hypothesized relationships between them at the moment of data collection as long as the

variables are properly operationalized, that is, they are observable and measurable

(Edmonds & Kennedy, 2017, p. 118). In turn, correlational designs investigate

2017, p. 119). The survey approach is the most common type of nonexperimental

research. Currently, the vast majority of survey-based research designs employ online

tools for sampling and especially data collection (Best & Krueger, 2019). The goal of

survey-based research designs is “to eventually generalize the findings to the entire

of the dependent variables was not feasible because of the sampling procedures and data

collection methods. Thus, quasi-experimental and experimental research designs were

Population

10,000 people (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020b).

(U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020a). The size of Nigeria’s total labor force in 2020

strongly correlates with its revenue size (Greene, 2018), it is safe to extrapolate that 76%

of the highest revenue companies can be classified as either large or very large. Thus, the

estimated total size of the study population was 52.5 million.

The participants were selected through purposive sampling, “a non-probability

sampling procedure in which the researcher utilizes specific criteria to choose members

of the population to participate in the study” (Arnab, 2017, p. 65). O employed

homogenous purposive sampling, that is, “intentionally selecting participants that are

comparable in nature and uniform across the drawn sample” (Lohr, 2019, p. 117).

Homogenous purposive sampling is used when there is “a need to conduct research to

of the current version of stakeholder theory (see Freeman, 1984, 1999; Freeman et al.,

The inclusion criteria were as follows: (a) currently working for a private,

forprofit company in the United States or Nigeria with an active CSR program, (b)

years of age, and (b) currently studying. These exclusion criteria allowed for the

elimination of individuals lacking direct knowledge about the topic of the current study.

converted to an online form for data collection using the SurveyMonkey service.

1982 for comparing culturally influenced values of respondents from two or more

1. Power Distance Index (PDI; Q1-4).

2. Individualism vs. Collectivism Index (IDV; Q5-8).

5. Long-term vs. short-term Orientation Index (LTO; Q17-20).

6. Indulgence vs. Restraint Index (IND; Q21-24).

As a research instrument, the VSM 2013 is an operationalization of Hofstede’s

attitudes within each culture and also to a significant degree the individual behavior of

The CSR Attitudes Questionnaire (CSRAQ)

increased the risk of incomplete responses, which in turn could have complicated the

analyses. Furthermore, four of the CSRAQ questions are identical to sociodemographic

questions in the VSM. Second, the selected CSRAQ questions closely matched, without

questions are only applicable to the United States. business context. The focus of the

study was on the comparison between the United States and Nigeria. Last, I did not

eliminate English language proficiency as a possible factor that could affect the

participants’ responses.

The constructs and their roles in the study as variables are presented in Table 1.

Table 1

study. No major economic policy or socio-political or legal changes occurred at the

period of data collection to affect its outcomes in any assessable way.

powerful tools to address all threats to internal validity posed by statistical techniques

used in the study (Verma & Abdel-Salam, 2019). The MVA was performed on the

original dataset to form the analytical sample (Molenberghs et al., 2014). The MVA

procedure addressed the selection and sample depletion threats to internal validity (Little

& Rubin, 2019). Finally, given how the threats discussed above were mitigated, it is

Construct Validity

operationalization, i.e., measurement of the theoretical construct back to the conceptual

basis responsible for the change in the outcome” (Edmonds & Kennedy, 2017, p. 9).

Methodology literature identified over 20 different types of threats to construct validity

(Mayo, 2018). The majority of threats to construct validity are typically classified as

to construct validity are hypothesis guessing, evaluation apprehension, and experimenter

expectancies. Because the study employed the survey approach with anonymous

responses, the effects of the hypothesis guessing, and evaluation apprehension were

study, it was the measurement of respondents’ attitudes and opinions about the CSR in

specific cultural contexts, so making appropriate and consistent generalizing based on the

study’s results was critical.

timing of measurement (Edmonds & Kennedy, 2017, p. 134). Assessment reactivity in

survey research refers to instances when respondents “change or alter the way they

& Kennedy, 2017, p. 134). The confounding effects of assessment reactivity cannot be

entirely eliminated in survey research (Rea & Parker, 2014), but this study employed

anonymity as the effective countermeasure for this threat (Reichardt & Gollob, 1989).

The threats to construct validity stemming from the timing of measurement did not

Ethical Procedures

may be physically located in Nigeria. Hence, because the study was implemented in the

United States and at an American research organization, according to the federal

regulations on the ethical conduct of research, any study involving human participants,

even responding to an internet survey, must fully comply with the principles of (a)

Human Services, 2020).

of the research between the researcher and the participants” (Lahman, 2018, p. 37).

To comply with these principles, the researcher abided by all ethical research

was carried out with full impartiality, i.e., with equal opportunity to participate,

regardless of their demographic background or socioeconomic characteristics. Respect

for persons and beneficence was ensured by using informed consent, anonymity, and

confidentiality. The IRB review was obtained and served as an additional safeguard for

the ethical conduct of the research and the IRB approval number is 04-09-21-0356520.

Informed Consent

During recruitment and data collection, all research participants received an

electronic informed consent form in which they agreed to participate in the study and take

the survey. The consent form was an online page that opened before the actual survey.

The consent form described all expectations as a participant in this research. The

participants were informed about the purpose of the study, the reason for the data

ethics standards. The participants also received an e-copy of their rights as a research

study participant if they express their desire to have one. The participants were informed

that at any time when they were responding to the survey questions, they were

completely free to discontinue their participation and withdraw from the study by simply

logging off without any ramifications for them. In this case, their responses were deemed

moot and were erased from the dataset.

Anonymity and Confidentiality

was fully assured for the entire duration of the study, including the process of data

plan, and (d) a “no-risk to participants” statement. The researcher did not expect, nor did

he become aware of any conflicts of interest in the study. The researcher does not occupy

any corporate position related to issues of the CSR. This study is not funded by any

selected research design and the rationale behind such selection, described the research

population, the sample and the sampling procedures, specified approaches to data

collection and data analyses, discussed three types of threats to validity of the study and

provided necessary explanations regarding the ethical procedures of the current research.

Chapter four will present the detailed results of the statistical analyses and the outcomes

Chapter 4: Results

legitimacy to business' stakeholders, (c) enhances competitive advantages, and (d)

facilitates win-win quid pro quo value creation. Thus, the purpose of this study was to

empirically test (a) the theory that CSR programs are associated with improved CSP and

CFP; and (b) the stakeholder theory, asserting the existence of a mutually beneficial

interactive relationship between corporations and their stakeholders, and a positive

association of such links with CC, CR, and CVC effects of CSR, using Nigeria and the

United States as a cultural comparison.

The research questions of the current study were as follows: (a) RQ1: Are CSR

programs associated with improved CSP and CFP, and (b) RQ2: What are the stakeholder

multinational corporate connection differences between Nigerian and U.S. multinational

stakeholders in the costs and risks of doing business, corporate reputation and legitimacy,

competitive advantages, and win-win quid pro quo value, considering the cultural

differences between both nations?

are associated with improved CFP. Three hypotheses addressed RQ2, asserting that the

tested effects are moderated by the national cultures of Nigeria and the United States: (c)

In Chapter 4, I describe the timeframe and procedures of the data collection;

present the outcomes of the missing values analysis; report baseline descriptive and

demographic characteristics of the sample; provide results of the univariate analyses of

work for large or very large private for-profit companies with active CSR programs. The

study population was defined using the definitions by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

as classification categories. The estimated total size of the study population was

approximately 52.5 million.

The sample was drawn using homogeneous purposive sampling, that is,

intentionally selecting participants who are similar in nature and uniform across the

sample. Using the defined inclusion and exclusion criteria, participants lacking direct

knowledge about the topic of the current study were eliminated. The participants were

recruited through accessing the membership databases of 13 professional associations in

both locations of the study. Letters explaining the purpose of the study and requesting

permission to email members were sent to the associations. Once the permission had been

electronically confirming their agreement to participate in the study, the participants

accessed the provided SurveyMonkey live link to the research instrument.

of data cleaning and missing values analysis. In total, 457 individuals attempted the

survey. Considering the cumulative size of the professional associations' membership

internet surveys. Based on the Q1-9 of the survey, which assessed eligibility, 67

individuals terminated their participation. In total, 391 participants completed the survey.

Thus, the participation rate was 85.56%. There were no discrepancies in the data

collection from the plan presented in Chapter 3. Upon completion of the data collection,

The drawn sample was representative of the study's target population because the

observed frequencies of categories in all variables closely reflected the corresponding

frequencies in the rosters of the professional associations' databases. In 87% of

observations, the variance was less than 5%. The exceptions were as follows: (a) two

categories (high school, associate degree) in the variable education, (b) two categories

Nigeria and the United States.

The results overall suggested that the participants believed that the survey (a) addressed

expectations either completely (72.8%) or mostly (19.3%); (b) missed no relevant

questions (82.4%); (c) contained no inappropriate questions (98.7%); and (d) was timed

correctly (91.9%), with only 3.4% of the participants opining that the process provided

them with not enough time, and 1.6% that more time would be better. It is unclear why

5% of the participants felt that the survey required more time as the completion time was

in the range of Min = 12 min. 44 sec., Max = 51 min. 39 sec., with the mean completion

time of 38 min. 01 sec., which all were below the allotted 60 minutes.

The first step in the data analysis involved the MVA to check participants'

responses for completeness. The MVA results (Appendix B) indicated that the data were

missing not at random, thus requiring listwise deletion on all cases with ≥ 5% of missing

values (MVs) and prohibiting data imputation (see Little & Rubin, 2019). In total, five

cases were removed: (a) one case with three MVs (7% data loss), (b) two cases with

case with 29 MVs (67.4% data loss). Then, five cases with one MV (2.3% data loss) and

two cases with two MVs (4.7% data loss) were kept in the dataset and were used in the

statistical analyses using pairwise deletion. Also, because two participants indicated that

they had nationality other than of Nigeria or the United States, two cases were removed

as not satisfying the group sorting criterion. After the listwise deletion of seven cases, the

dataset contained 384 cases and 16,512 observations. The cumulative data attrition was ≈

Rubin, 2019).

Sample Characteristics

Table 2. The total size of the sample size N = 384, of which 195 participants reported

their current nationality as Nigerian and 191 participants as American. Because all

covariates were categorical, then they were characterized using frequency counts. In

terms of gender, males accounted for 58.3% of the total sample, while females for41.7%.

Thus, in general, males were overrepresented in the sample by 16.6%. However, while in

the United States group, the gender representation was somewhat more balanced (55.5%

males versus 44.5% females), in the Nigeria group, the gender representation was skewed

(a) mean as the first raw moment, (b) standard deviation as the derivative of the second

all modes were single, three modes = 7 (completely agree) and two modes = 6 ("agree"),

while all means ϵ [5.69; 6.33], i.e., answers were clustering towards stronger levels of

agreement with the questions, with all CVs substantially < 1, indicating very low

variations; (b) all coefficients of skewness G1 ϵ [-2.99; -1.42] indicating that the data

were highly negatively skewed, i.e., skewed towards higher values on the 7-item Likert

scale; and (c) coefficients of kurtosis γ ϵ [1.13; 12.47] indicating that three distributions

(Q34-35, Q27) were extremely leptokurtic, one distribution (Q26) was roughly mesokurtic (γ

= 2.99), and one distribution (Q25) was platykurtic (γ = 1.13). Taken as a whole, this

evidence suggested with high certainty that most participants were in "complete

"agreement" with the statement that CSR programs are associated with improved CFP as

measured by Q25-27, the participants clearly demonstrated a higher degree of diversity of

opinions compared to the total sample regarding the associations of CSR programs with

lower costs of doing business (Q25) and with lower risks of doing business (Q26). In the

United States group, the results revealed that for all five questions analyzed: (a) all modes

low variations in the opinions. The picture was more nuanced with the skewness. In

States group. Specifically, results for Q34 (γ = 25.14) and Q35 (γ = 21.94) indicated that

both distributions were extremely leptokurtic. This result was highly consistent with the

results of the skewness analysis, i.e., that the U.S participants consistently demonstrated

with improved CSP and H112: CSR programs are associated with improved CFP were

accepted. Therefore, since both main hypotheses were accepted, RQ1 was answered

affirmatively.

The next step in the analytical sequence addressed RQ2 and involved conducting

inferential statistical analyses to test the three main hypotheses related to RQ2: H121,

effects of the hypothesized relationships between CSR programs on CC, CR, and CVC

are moderated by the national cultures of Nigeria and the United States. The opinions of

the participants regarding the effects of CSR programs on (a) CC, were measured by

The responses were measured using a 7-item Likert scale indicating the degree of

participants' agreement with a specific statement about the effects of CSR programs.

United States on the three hypothesized relationships of the RQ2, seven new variables

short-term orientation index, IND – indulgence vs. restraint index, and HGCDI –

Hofstede's global cultural dimension index) were computed using the participants'

answers to the 24 items of the 2013 version of the Hofstede's Values Survey Module

(subscales) of the VSM 2013. The scores for Nigeria and the United States were

calculated using the formulas of the VSM 2013 Manual. The composite Hofstede's global

cultural dimension index (HGCDI) was computed using the six new variables (PDI, IDV,

UAI, MAS, LTO, IND) as well as the formula and the country coefficients for Nigeria

and the United States. The HGCDI was developed by Roy in a cross-country

metaanalysis of 179 empirical studies that relied on the Hofstede's VSM as a research

instrument (Roy, 2020). The HGCDI was computed using the following formula:

HGCDI = 7 + 0.15PDI + 0.21IDV + 0.32UAI + 0.33MAS + 0.28LTO + 0.23IND.

Table 4

people are expected to look after themselves and their immediate family only. In contrast,

for loyalty. The IDV score for Nigeria was 54, which was somewhat higher than in other

studies, where such scores were ≈ 30% lower. However, comparatively, Nigeria is a

much more collectivist society than the United States (IDV = 70). The higher observed

IDV scores for Nigeria can be attributed to the demographic characteristics of the Nigeria

group, in which managers as a cumulative category accounted for ≈ 74.1%.

motivation, with desiring to be the best defining more masculine cultures while liking

what one does distinguishing more feminine cultures (p. 55). Nigeria scored 55, while the

United States scored 51, suggesting that both countries are more masculine than

feminine. However, females accounted for ≈ 38.9% of Nigerian participants and ≈ 44.5%

of the United States group, which can plausibly explain that the scores observed in this

study differed from scores in past studies. Regardless of the differences between the

observed and past empirical MAS cores, in general, in masculine countries, people "live

to work," managers are likely to be decisive and assertive, the emphasis is on equity,

competition, and performance and conflicts are typically resolved by fighting them out.

societal culture maintains links with its past while dealing with contingent challenges"

(Hofstede, 2002, p. 57). Surprisingly, while the United States scored relatively low on

this dimension (21), Nigeria scored quite high (46), suggesting that participants in the

sample had more normative cultural values rather than pragmatic. These observations

typically scored higher than Nigeria. Such reversal can possibly be explained by the

psychological effects of the COVID pandemic during which the data were collected.

Another plausible explanation could be that industries in which the participants worked

were affected differently in Nigeria and the United States by the economic slowdown due

to quarantine measures. The divergence between the two national cultures was the largest

on the LTO – 54.35%.

Last, the indulgence index measures "the extent to which people try to control

quite surprising. In contrast to past studies, Nigeria (73) scored 16 points lower than the

United States (89), suggesting that the latter may be a more indulgent culture than

previously thought. The IND scores specifically indicated that while both cultures

generally exhibit a willingness to realize their impulses and desires with regard to

Overall, the observed scores highlighted the differences between the national cultures of

Nigeria and the United States, especially on the three key points of cultural divergence –

the long versus short-term orientation by ≈ 54.35%, the power distance by ≈

The last step in the data analysis involved obtaining the estimates of the

moderating effects of the national cultures of Nigeria and the United States on the three

RQ2 were statistically tested using the generalized linear models (GLM). Initially,

according to the data analysis plan in Chapter 3, the effects of cultural differences

between Nigeria and the United States on the relationships between the CSR programs

and CR, CC, and CVC were first to be examined using six cultural dimensions

effects of separate cultural dimensions compared to the nation’s aggregates. The sample

and group sizes were probably insufficient to detect medium or/and small effects, i.e., d ≤

Nevertheless, the estimates of the moderating effects of the national cultures as

aggregates were obtained using univariate GLMs models. All GLMs were applied

iteratively, with backward elimination of covariates and using (a) optimization of

adjusted R2 and (b) significance at α = 0.05 as concurrent elimination criteria. The final

models contained covariates that were retained as per criteria. The independent variable

(IV) in all final models was NC as measured by the HGCDI for both countries, and thus

steps. First, the hypothesized positive effects of the CSR programs on CR, CC, and CVC

were established using frequency analysis and the method of moments. Second, the

estimates of the moderating effects, if any at all, of the aggregates of NC, were obtained.

The results of the frequency analysis are presented in Table 5. The results on the total

sample and the country groups were uniform and showed that (a) all modes, except in Q31

in the Nigerian group, were single and = 7, all means were clustering towards stronger

RQ1, Part 1 findings: Both Nigerian and U.S. study participants consistently

demonstrated nearly complete agreement that CSR programs were correlated with

improved corporate social performance in the response to two survey questions: (a) CSR

result occurred despite substantial and significant cultural differences between the U.S.

and Nigerian study participants.

CSR has positive effects on the financial bottom line. The cumulative evidence suggested

that CSR programs were in fact associated with improved CSP and CFP.

The findings for the RQ2, Part 1 were divided into seven parts: Both Nigerian and

U.S. study participants agreed that CSR does have positive effects on corporate costs and

risks of doing business, enhancing reputation and establishing legitimacy, in the response

to five survey questions: (a) CSR facilitated prominence, (b) CSR facilitated legitimacy,

(c) CSR facilitated reputation, (d), CSR facilitated productivity, and (e) CSR customer

base, considering the cultural differences between both nations. Again, this result

occurred despite substantial and significant cultural differences between the U.S. and

Nigerian study participants.

survey question about competitive advantage. Again, this cohesive result occurred despite

substantial and significant cultural differences between the U.S. and Nigerian study

participants.

least avoidance by U.S. participants; (d) IDV 23% in which Nigerian is the more

18% where the Nigerian participants try to restrain their desires and impulses more than

the U.S. participants; (f) HGCDI was only 13% between the Nigerian participants and the

Second, moderating influences appeared to be higher across all seven models on average

for U.S. participants by 10.2%. Third, the data suggested that of all the covariates, only

moderating effects of national cultures. Fourth, the moderating influence of national

cultures appeared to be weakest for the positive effects of CSR programs on corporate

productivity. Fifth, the moderating influence of national cultures could be the strongest

for positive effects of CSR stakeholder programs on CR and CVC.

Interpretation Related to the Peer-Reviewed Literature

CSR and expounding on expanding stakeholder roles for several decades. Freeman et al.

(2017) recently have been moving forward, nudging and countering the views of the

freemarket and capitalism foundational scholars such as Friedman (2002, 2007) and

others such as Lantos (2001) who were inspired by Smith, author of a seminal classic

entitled The Wealth of Nations first published in 1776. On these matters, Carroll and

operations of large, medium, small corporations and especially major multinational

corporations. Kurucz et al. (2008) posited that this change in corporate direction would

and should do well for corporate interests by doing good and specifically (a) lowering the

cost and risk of doing business, (b) improving corporate reputations and legitimacy, (c)

empowering competitive advantages, and (d) facilitating win-win quid pro quo value

creation.

suggest that CSR programs have positive effects on corporate reputations,

competitiveness, and value creation. The demographics of the study sample also

suggested that the people who would know best about CSR trends in their country

participated in this survey: (a) senior career professionals ages 40 to 60 made up more

managers of subordinates (28%) made up 47% of the sample, (d) those with master’s

degrees (66%) or PhDs (20%) made up 86% of the study sample, and (e) females made

up 42% and males 58% of the study sample. The study sample was recruited through

professional associations, so participants were active in their professions and likely could

have used these networks to stay informed of what was really happening below the

surface in their communities.

The results of this study, while filled with superlatives and positive views, could

this study and stakeholder sampling bias.

Skeptical Literature Reviews

been critical of corporate CSR, here is what might be observed. Hanlon and Fleming

medium sized corporations” (Hanlon & Fleming, 2009, p. 1). BP’s oil interests were

nationalized by Nigeria in 1979, so BP is no longer engaged in Nigeria, but Royal Dutch

Shell, which was the first major corporation to discover oil in Nigeria in 1936, still has a

destruction of farmlands and fishing grounds through communication about its oil spills,

gas flaring, environmental degradation, and pollution (Manzie, 2018).

attached to the corporate body, that repairs its appearance but in no way changes its

actual conduct” (p. 250). Marens (2010) was less charitable, labeling marketing use of

that its use was a diversionary tactic to mislead, while Kinderman (2012) cynically

described CSR as a quid pro quo for less regulation. This kind of commentary ordinarily

might not be regarded seriously in a low stakes environment, but in Nigeria where oil is

the primary industry that the nation depends on for much of its foreign exchange capital,

Stakeholder Sampling Bias

early part of the study to allow for government employees and nonprofits. It was also

believed that this group of participants who were better educated than most of the

Nigerian and U.S. general population could likely have been better informed about local,

brought up in the study survey. A decision was also made not to target only people who

had high levels of specialized knowledge about the oil industry or the impacts of oil

industry activities because it might have skewed and biased the survey result based upon

this specialized knowledge.

this was an academic, low budget study, with a limited time frame. Had the study

circumstances allowed for fewer restraints, perhaps a longitudinal study with wider

provided a better balance of interests and greater generalizability of results. An excess of

focus upon private sector participants could have overlooked corporate training bias in

which I could have attracted too many participants who had been indoctrinated in

overstating the corporation’s official positions rather than a more objective perspective,

Interpretation Related to the Theoretical Framework

(Friedman, 2002). It was clear from the study results that Freeman’s stakeholder theory

was what most likely led the responses. What was not clear was which stakeholders were

most in control of the responses. If Freeman’s theory was legitimately being followed,

stakeholders, but if Freeman’s theory was being followed as a smokescreen, as a number

of critics contended, the stakeholders most represented would likely have been the

owners, corporate officers, shareholders, consultants, and supply chain providers of

goods and services perhaps closer to Freeman’s theories because Smith’s theory would

not have been libertarian, a form of capitalism that rejects most regulatory restraints on

capitalism. Smith believed in legitimate government oversight of tax on businesses.

that limited the study outcome. In addition, the limitations of this study were evaluated

based on three criteria: generalizability, validity, and reliability. The study was a low

Generalizability, Validity, and Reliability

quantitative research design to empirically test whether the theory of CSR programs was

selection of the sample population used in the study, which might amount to a bias in the

selection process.

were found to be valid and highly reliable (Bakir et al., 2015; Beugelsdijk & Welzel,

2018; Eringa & Rieck, 2015; Minkov, 2018). The validity and reliability of the CSRAQ

(Fleishman-Hillard, 2019) instrument was also evaluated in over 170 CSR studies and

defined in the research literature as a growing number of those in multinational

corporations who support of the proposition of performing better by doing good.

stakeholders who believe the CSR approach might result in: (a) lowering the cost and risk

of doing business, (b) bolstering reputations and legitimacy, (c) empowering competitive

advantage, and (d) facilitating win-win quid pro quo value creation. An example of these

beliefs could be the emergence of other voices in recent years since 2011 of what appears

to be a parallel movement to the CSR movement called the environment, social, and

governance (ESG) investment movement (In, et al., 2019) that is increasingly being

growing appetite in the business community for additional investment in these kinds of

In opposition, on the other hand, are a plentiful array of critics who have made

themselves known in the research literature by expressing skepticism of the CSR/ESG

nations. Given the cross-national cultural differences, the stakeholder multinational

corporate connection differences between Nigerian and U.S. multinational stakeholders

were most pronounced in the CSR positive effects upon corporate value creation, less so

study are supportive of both CSR business development goals and strategy of sustainable

shared values and stakeholder theories and their continued growth if industry initiatives

a patronizing kind of subterfuge or smokescreen as some cynics and critics have asserted

and portrayed them.