In Nigeria, the aftermath of the Niger Delta crises had spark off research interest on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental sustainability. However, how telecommunication firms in Nigeria perceive and practice CSR and the link with competitive advantage is rarely investigated. This study examines the extent of relationship between CSR and mobile telecommunication competitive advantage. The survey design was adopted, making use of random sampling to select 200 participants from staff of MTN. Structured questionnaire was employed to collect relevant primary data and analysis was carried out through regression analysis and Chi-square technique. Results showed that except staff welfare, significant relationship existed between environmental awareness, community wellbeing and competitive advantage. To further enhance competitiveness, the firm’s social responsibility to its workforce should be improved upon by introducing flexible working hours, facilitating work/life balance, ensuring prompt promotion, and considering internal advancement as a strategic option.
The mobile telecoms industry in Nigeria is currently going through intense competition as several communication companies (MTN, Globacom, Airtel and Etisalat, Visa phone, Multtichoice, Starcomms among others) jockey for fair share of market space. Consequently, it would not be out of place for communication firms to device strategies and programs capable not only to contend the forces of competition, but also to achieve and sustain competitive advantage. Beside the well known generic strategies dominating the literature, telecoms companies globally are currently considering socially responsible behaviours as a viable strategy with a view to winning and sustaining customers’ patronage.
In this regard, more and more organisations are beginning to see the competitive benefits from setting up strategic CSR agendas, as the CSR movement spread the world over. Indeed, the concept of CSR and its variants (public accountability, corporate governance, corporate citizenship and corporate sustainability) has even found inroad application lately into the public sector [
The widespread research interest and continuous academic discussions on CSR have perhaps been sustained in response to the challenges posed by globalization, environmental awareness and sustainability issues, intense market competition and its sociological implications, and the ever increasing growth in communication and information technology [
CSR is a way companies manage their businesses with a view to making positive and healthy impact on the society, through their economic, environmental and social activities. It is a business strategy meant to assist firms strike a balance between the need to achieve economic and financial objectives and the socio-environ- mental impact of their activities [
In Nigeria, interest and research on CSR have recently been upbeat following the aftermath of the Niger Delta crises involving multinational oil firms. Most of these studies have focused on multinational companies. They have ignored indigenous companies and the context in which they operate [
1) Does the MTN’s concern towards improving staff working conditions impact on its level of competitiveness?
2) How does the company’s concern towards the working environment affect its competitive advantage?
3) To what extent does the company’s contribution towards community wellbeing enhance its competitive advantage?
This study adopts the Achie Carroll’s CSR Pyramid theory. One of the most used and quoted models of CSR is Carroll’s 1991 Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility [
For the past two decades Carroll’s Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility has been used widely by both business managers and academics to better define and explore CSR [
The legal component which is the second on the hierarchy expects businesses to comply with the laws and regulations of the society whilst pursuing profit within the framework of the law. The third hierarchy in Carroll’s pyramid is the ethical responsibilities which are about how society expects businesses to embrace values and norms even if the values and norms might constitute a higher standard of performance than required by law
[
At the top of the pyramid is philanthropic responsibility. The philanthropic responsibilities are those actions that society expects from a business to be a good corporate citizen [
As pointed out by [
For example, the Australian Treasury, in a submission to the Joint Parliamentary Inquiry on CSR, defined CSR as “a company’s management of the economic, social and environmental impacts of its activities” [
[
The concept of competitive advantage can be applied at different levels, from the firm (micro) level, to the regional and national (macro) level. Competitiveness at macro-economic level is defined as a sustained rise in the standards of living. Sector-level competitiveness refers to the performance of a given industry in a given country or region relative to the same industry in other countries or regions. A sector could be characterized as competitive on the basis of its capacity to grow, to innovate and to produce more and higher-quality goods and services, and to keep or gain market shares in international and domestic markets. A frequently cited definition of competitiveness at the firm level is provided by the US President’s Commission on Industrial Competitiveness: “A firm is competitive if it can produce products or services of superior quality or lower costs than its domestic and international competitors”.
Accordingly, competitiveness is then synonymous with a firm’s long-run profit performance and its ability to compensate its employees and provide superior returns to its owners. In the narrow sense, measures of competitiveness at the firm level therefore comprise indicators of financial performance, such as the development of sales, profits, and costs, as well as stock performance.
According to [
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The study employed descriptive survey approach based on its economy, rapid data collection and ability to understand the characteristics of the population under study [
Taking a census of the entire population was not feasible, probability and non-probability sampling techniques were then used. Firstly, purposive sampling was used to select respondents from the operations units, customer care service, public relations, and corporate services units of MTN Nigeria because, by the nature of their job function, workers in these units were considered to have requisite information on the issues discussed in the study. Then, simple random sampling technique was employed to select 200 respondents from the above groups and 200 copies of questionnaire were administered accordingly. Collection of relevant primary data for the study was possible through structured questionnaire which was drawn from the research questions. There were 15 questions in all; each having five close-ended scales. CSR was taken as the explanatory variable while corporate competitiveness was the response or criterion variable. Consistent with [
Descriptive presentation tools such as tables, frequency counts, and percentages were used to present research results. Data was analysed through multiple regression and Chi-square analysis. Regression was carried out to ascertain direction of relationship between dependent and independent variables and to determine the contributions of each predictor (independent) variable towards forecasting changes in the criterion (dependent) variable. It was necessary to employ a non-parametric test statistics (the Chi-square) to determine the contribution effect of community awareness on competitive advantage of the study organization. The collected data were coded and entered using the Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS), version 20.
As earlier stated, 200 copies of the questionnaire were administered, but 142 returned copies were properly filled and usable for the study. Data on
On the basis of educational qualification, respondents consist of 2.1% SSCE/WASC certificate holders, 5.6% OND/NCE diploma certificate holders, 75.4% HND/B.Sc./B.A graduates, and 16.9% master’s degree holders. This simply suggests that most respondents were well educated to understand the issues at stake and to contribute accordingly.
The table also shows that 29.6% were below 30 years, 57.7% were between 30 - 40 years, 9.2% were between 41 - 50 years, and 3.5% were above the age of 50 years. Thus, majority of respondents were between 30 - 40 years old. This dominant age grade is plausible for this study as it is perceived that most respondents are matured enough to have witnessed the socially-related activities of the telecoms firms operating in their community, and would be in a position to make meaningful contributions accordingly to the study.
In addition, results also reveal that 53.3% of respondents have less than 5 years of working experience, 31.9% of respondents have worked between 6 - 10 years, 5.2% of respondents have 11 - 15 years experience, and 9.6% have 16 years and above job experience with their company. From this result, it can be inferred that greater majority of respondents have over five years. Thus, respondents are likely to be knowledgeable on the subject matter of this study and are expected to respond appropriately to the items on the research instrument. Respondents were also categorised on the basis of job status. Thus, 54.2%, were junior staff, 44.4% were senior staff, and 1.4% were management staff; signifying that the study cut across all staff categories with the junior level managers in simple majority. It appears that the study also cut across all departmental units of the organizations.
The question whether company’s concern towards improving staff working conditions impacts on its level of competitiveness is analysed and discussed. To that extent, staff working condition otherwise known as staff welfare was operationalised into five constructs: staff morale (SMorale); flexible work hours (WFlex); equitable compensation (Equitcom); work life balance (Worklife); and internal promotion (IntPromo).
Demographic characteristics | Variable | N | % |
---|---|---|---|
Gender | Male | 77 | 54.2 |
Female | 65 | 45.8 | |
Age of respondent | Less than 30 years | 42 | 29.6 |
30 - 40 years | 82 | 57.7 | |
41 - 50 years | 13 | 9.2 | |
51 yrs and above | 5 | 3.5 | |
Working experience | 1 - 5 years | 72 | 53.3 |
6 - 10 years | 43 | 31.9 | |
10 - 15 years | 7 | 5.2 | |
16 yrs and above | 13 | 9.6 | |
Highest qualification | SSCE/WAEC | 3 | 2.1 |
OND/NCE | 8 | 5.6 | |
HND/B.SC/B.A | 107 | 75.4 | |
M.SC/MBA | 24 | 16.9 | |
Marital status | Married | 77 | 54.2 |
Single | 65 | 45.8 | |
Work status | Junior staff | 77 | 54.2 |
Senior staff | 63 | 44.4 | |
Management staff | 2 | 1.4 |
Variable | Beta estimate | Std. error | T statistics | p | Remark |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
(Constant) | 9.081 | 1.658 | 5.476 | 0.000 | |
Staff morale (SMorale) | 0.107 | 0.332 | 1.228 | 0.222 | Not significant |
Flexible work hours (WFlex) | 0.177 | 0.374 | 1.840 | 0.068 | Not significant |
Equitable compensation (Equitcom) | −0.027 | 0.359 | −0.273 | 0.785 | Not significant |
Work life balance (Worklife) | 0.425 | 0.276 | 4.855 | 0.000 | Significant |
Internal promotion (IntPromo) | 0.326 | 0.207 | 6.630 | 0.000 | Significant |
R | 0.547 | ||||
R2 | 0.299 | ||||
Adjusted. R2 | 0.274 | ||||
Standard error | 2.90136 | ||||
D-Watson | 1.343 | ||||
F-value | 12.040 | ||||
Overall p value | 0.0867 |
Dependent variable: competitive advantage.
value (p = 0.867 > 0.05). Thus, in this context, we may construe that a firm’s concern towards improving staff working conditions has no significant effect on its competitive advantage. This may imply that staff welfare may not be a good predictor of competitiveness in Nigerian telecoms industry.
It was also speculated that corporate concern towards the working environment would have no significant effect on competitive advantage. Environmental concern can be demonstrated by implementing workplace safety initiative (Wsafety), reducing operational impacts on climate and air pollution (Climate), reducing workplace hazard (Wharzard), enhancing health of community dwellers (Hcommunity), and sponsoring voluntary community development programmes (Voluntary CDP).
The result of multiple regression analysis (
Note also that except Hcommunity (Beta = 0.418; t = 5.005; p < 0.000), all other measures of environmental development used in this studies were positive and significant. In particular, Wsafety (Beta = 0.125; t = 2.273; p > 0.065), made the highest and most significant contribution towards predicting CA. This simply suggests that telecoms firms that consider the safety of their operating environment as part of the social responsibilities are most likely to make significant competitive gains.
It was predicted that the firm’s contribution towards community wellbeing does not enhance its competitive advantage. The Pearson Chi-square was used in this context to analyze the effects of CSR contributions towards community wellbeing on market competitiveness. Results (
increased brand awareness and patronage, good corporate image and corporate reputation, higher employee commitment, enhanced job pursuit intention and increased profit etc. As shown on the study, these advantages can be achieved by regularly awarding scholarship and employment to qualified indigenes, provision of recreational and educational facilities to its operating communities, improving socio-economic welfare of the people through development programmes, supporting internal security initiatives and arrangement (e.g., community policing), and peace building.
Variable | Beta estimate | Std. error | T statistics | p |
---|---|---|---|---|
(Constant) | 15.051 | 1.619 | 9.297 | 0.000 |
Wsafety | 0.418 | 0.221 | 5.005 | 0.000 |
Wharzard | 0.262 | 0.260 | 2.999 | 0.003 |
Climate | 0.231 | 0.321 | 2.583 | 0.001 |
Hcommunity | 0.125 | 0.256 | 2.273 | 0.065 |
Voluntary CDP | 0.207 | 0.260 | 4.102 | 0.000 |
R = 0.513; R2 = 0.263; Adjusted R2 = 0.230; Std. error = 2.987; F-value = 17.990, p = 0.001. Dependent variable: competitive advantage.
S/N | Variable | SA | A | U | D | SD | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | SEQIW = The organisation award scholarship and employment to qualified indigenes. | 51 | 43 | 14 | 19 | 15 | 142 |
2 | RFCY = The organisation provides recreational facilities to its operating communities. | 63 | 49 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 142 |
3 | SEWS = The company strives to improve socio-economic welfare of the society. | 76 | 38 | 6 | 14 | 8 | 142 |
4 | ISCPPE = The company supports the community through internal security, community policing, and peace building. | 72 | 43 | 6 | 12 | 9 | 142 |
Total | 262 | 173 | 38 | 56 | 39 | 568 | |
Expected frequencies | 65.5 | 43.3 | 9.5 | 14 | 9.8 |
*Significant at p ≤ 0.05 level (df = 12; calculated value of
Understanding how corporate social responsibility can influence market competition in telecoms industry is important to researchers and practitioners in this economic dispensation. Consistent with the above, this study had as its primary aim to examine the influence of corporate responsibility on competitive advantage. To begin with, the study sought to find out the extent in which company’s CSR activities are related to competitive advantage in terms of brand awareness, profitability, reputation, and employee commitment. Results of the multiple regression analysis indicated that a statistically significant relationship exists between corporate social responsibility and competitive advantage (R = 0.837, R2 = 0.701, F-value = 52.825, & p < 0.01) of telecoms giant. Thus, the increasing investment in socially responsible practices by firms is capable of enhancing firms’ competitive position in its chosen market segment.
The findings of this study indicate that appropriate investment in CSR by a firm through environmental consciousness; active participation and interest on social welfare of communities; sponsoring educational program- mes; giving scholarship to deserving students; funding charitable causes; recruiting qualified indigenes and strik- ing a balance between work and family social demands of employees and the like would lead to enhanced positive image of such organization. This finding is consistent with work of [
It was also found that the company have demonstrated her environmental concern by implementing work- place safety initiative, reducing operational impact on climate and air pollution, reducing workplace hazard, enhancing health of community dwellers, and sponsoring voluntary community development programmes: (R = 0.513; R2 = 0.263; Adjusted R2 = 0.230; F-value = 17.990, p = 0.001) Thus, implementing CSR policies that consider the safety and development of environment is a pointer to market value competitiveness. Findings also showed that management of the organisation has demonstrated commitment toward its immediate operational community (p ≤ 0.05 level; df = 12;
Findings therefore uphold the fact that CSR actually have positive effect on corporate image of the organization under survey. The result of linear regression analysis shows that CSR makes a contribution of about 95.0% towards predicting and enhancing positive corporate image. The remaining 5.0% variance is accounted for because it is the believed that there are other variables outside this study which contribute to corporate image. However, there is a significant relationship between the variables of this study. This particular finding is supported by works of previous researches such as [
The current study has serious managerial implication on the premise that when management imbibe and sustain the philosophy of corporate social responsibility, the image of the company would be positive to customers and the general public. This would stimulate brand support from the masses and other stakeholders; increase revenue from boosted sales; generate positive word of mouth communication and referrals, enhance continuous survival and lead to product and service credibility.
Limitations and Suggestions for Further ResearchThough this study has contributed immensely to existing body of literature, there are still some limitations that may impinge on the generalisation of findings and needs to be brought to the fore. Data for the study were obtained from just one mobile communication firm out of a whole lot that operates in the industry. Perhaps findings would have been different if more locations were considered. In addition, use was made of primary data sourced through the questionnaire alone, other methods, particularly key personal interview (KPI) of respondents outside staff of the organization was not considered. This would perhaps have added additional insight as to how the identified CSR variables impacted on community members as well as the firms’ market competitiveness. Further studies should therefore involve more organizations and where possible should be an industry wide study with other methods of data collection employed. Such study should expand its scope to include operating community members as respondents.
In the course of the study, it was found that involvement in CSR activities may be influenced and constrained by certain contingent factors. However, it was beyond the scope of this study to undertake detail investigation of these contingencies. Future studies could examine the divers of corporate organization’s involvement in CSR to find out how these can affect their level of competitiveness in the market. It was also found that a firm responsibility to its employee’s welfare have moderate but insignificant relationship with achieving competitive advantage. While this finding appears disturbing and controversial, it is a significant aberration from previous research findings. Consequently, a call is hereby made for future research to evaluate the authenticity of this finding to other industries and culture.
This paper considered the influence of Corporate Social Responsibility (CRS) on competitive advantage in the Nigerian telecommunication industry. The study concluded that corporate social responsibility was having significantly positive influence on competitive advantage and this was equally statistically significant.
The study has demonstrated that a statistically significant relationship exists between corporate social responsibility and corporate competitiveness. This indicates that a firm’s involvement in CSR leads to competitive advantage. This can be achieved by being environmentally conscious, awarding scholarship, funding charitable causes, adopting transparent recruitment practices, and striking a balance between work and family roles.
Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations are made:
・ Operations, products and services of the organization should be environmentally friendly. This can be achieved by recycling waste products and other by products that may no longer be useful for sale and public consumption. At the design stage, products should be planned and produced taking environmental degradation into consideration. More so, as part of its social responsibility, awareness activities and campaigns on environmental protection and sustainability should be supported by the firm. The organization should support the government in its drive towards cleaner, greener and sustainable environment.
・ There is a need for the studied organization to increase its priority on actions that improve on community wellbeing; this has been shown in the study as having highest degree of positive association with market competitive success.
・ Top management should improve its record of environment activities by implementing workplace safety initiatives, enhance health of community dwellers, and reduce operational impact on air pollution and workplace hazard.
・ Management should create an enabling business environment where there is respect for socio-cultural values and societal norms, equal opportunities and access for all sexes, fairness and integrity in dealing with employees and customers, transparent and fairness to members of the public and employ a merit basis for awarding contracts.
・ Firm must show concern to the staff working conditions by practicing flexible working hours, equitable compensation, ensuring prompt promotion and internal advertisement, and striking a balance between work and family demands of employees.
We want to use this opportunity to say big thank you to the anonymous reviewers to this manuscript for a job well done and giving our paper the quality it deserves. Thank you so much Mrs. Keke, Ijeoma Ursula for providing the capacity and resources for carrying out this study. God Bless and take you to greater height in your endeavour.
John EfiokNsikan,Victor A.Umoh,MbaaBariate, (2015) Corporate Social Responsibility and Mobile Telecommunication Competitiveness in Nigeria: The Case of MTN Nigeria. American Journal of Industrial and Business Management,05,527-537. doi: 10.4236/ajibm.2015.58052
This survey instrument is designed to give you opportunity to evaluate how your company’s involvement in socially responsible activities has impacted on its competitive position in the telecoms industry. Kindly indicate the extent of your agreement with the statement below by ticking [√] one of the spaces provided.
Where: SA = Strongly Agree; A = Agree; U = Undecided, D = Disagree while SD = Strongly Disagree.