Influence of Perceived Shared Corporate Social Orientation of Employees and Volunteers with Sport Organizations on Attitudinal Outcomes

Increasing pressure from the public has raised expectations that corporations will be better citizens of their communities and society as a whole (Bennet, 2002; Carroll, 1999b; Epstein, 1989; Van Marrewijk, 2003; Wood, 1991). As a result, corporations have engaged in corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. Research on this topic through mainstream management has mainly focused on the impact CSR activities have on consumer response (e.g., attitudes, behaviors, etc.) (Bhattacharya & Sen, 2001, 2004; Porter & Kramer, 2006). Research on CSR in the sport industry has followed a similar pattern, focusing on consumer responses to CSR activities. No research studies have explored the influence and perceptions pertaining to CSR activities in relation to important internal constituents (employees and volunteers) of sport organizations. Of particular interest is uncovering what employees and volunteers specifically believe are important CSR elements (ethical, discretionary, legal, economic), and what impact a sense of 'shared CSR values' with a respective sport organization would have on employee and volunteer responses. For example, will the perception of shared social values influence on organizational commitment provide insight on recruitment, retention and/or development strategies of employees and volunteers? Further, assessing any difference in sensemaking between these two groups would be of additional value to this line of enquiry, as the perceptions of the organization are understood as "tantamount to reality, since organizations are social constructions made up of and acting in accordance with shared perceptions," (Brickson, 2007, p. 865) particularly those of employees and volunteers of sport organizations. The present study explored how CSR impacts organizational members (employees and volunteers) of sport organizations. Specifically, the main purpose of the present study was to assess the level of perceived shared values as they relate to CSR (measured as corporate social orientation) between organizational members of sport organizations (i.e., employees and volunteers) and the sport organization. Further, the influence of the level of perceived shared corporate social orientation (CSO) on organizational identification was evaluated in the context of a proposed model, which included the relationship of perceived shared corporate social orientation on the organizational identification → value commitment relationship. Using a sample of sport organization employees and volunteers, the respondents completed an online survey composed of demographic items, the corporate social orientation scale, and items that measure organizational identification, value commitment and other outcomes that were not empirically tested (job satisfaction, volunteer satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behaviors). Correlation analyses were conducted on tenure and CSO values congruence (on total CSO and each dimension); on CSO values congruence (on total CSO and each dimension) and organizational identification; and on organizational identification and value commitment. Difference on organizational member responses on economic and non-economic CSO dimensions (legal, ethical, discretionary combined) was tested using paired t-test. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the differences on male and female ratings on ethical and discretionary elements. Perceived shared corporate social orientation was assessed as an absolute difference between an individual's rating of CSO dimensions, and the individual's perception of an organization's CSO. The impact of the level of shared social values (measured through CSO congruence) on organizational identification and value commitment was assessed through moderated regression analysis. Results of the study are as follows: 1. The evidence did not support a four-factor corporate social orientation structure, based on the primary and alternative models. However, the parsimonious model (v2) showed both convergent and discriminant validity for the four CSO dimensions. 2. Length of tenure of the organizational member did not show a significant relationship with their measured corporate social orientation congruence across all dimensions (profit, legal, ethical, and discretionary). 3. Employee measures of ethical corporate social orientation congruence were positively and significantly correlated with organizational identification. 4. Volunteer measures of CSO total and all corporate social orientation dimension congruence (profit, legal, ethical and discretionary) showed strong positive correlations with organizational identification. 5. Organizational identification showed a strong positive correlation with value commitment for all organizational members and at the stakeholder level (employees and volunteers separately). 6. Perceived organizational corporate social orientation ratings on profit was significantly different (greater) than the ratings on perceived importance of non-economic elements (legal, ethical, discretionary) for the organization. 7. While female organizational members did show higher ratings on ethical and discretionary corporate social orientation levels than their male counterparts, there was no significant difference in their ratings. 8. Significant moderation effects were found for profit, legal and overall corporate social orientation congruence on the organizational identification-> value commitment relationship (all organizational members) 9. Significant moderation effects were found for ethical, non-economic elements and CSO total (employees); Legal dimension (volunteers) on the organizational identification → value commitment relationship. The findings provided preliminary knowledge to assist in better understanding corporate social responsibility in sport. However, it is acknowledged that the study was exploratory and did not clearly demonstrate discriminant validity for the four traditionally accepted dimensions of CSO when tested with organizational members within the sport context (profit, legal, ethical, and discretionary) (Carroll, 1979). For this reason, future research areas are suggested (in Chapter Five) to address the possible development of a CSO measure appropriate for the sport industry and also recommends other possible types of analyses that will be useful to the management of sport organizational member relationships as they relate to corporate social responsibility.