EFFECTS OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) ON EMPLOYEES’ JOB SATISFACTION

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   Background to the Study

Corporations around the world are struggling with a new role, which is to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of the next generations to meet their own needs. Organizations are being called upon to take responsibility for the ways their operations impact their employees, societies and the natural environment. They are also being asked to demonstrate the inclusion of social and environmental concerns in business operations and in interactions with stakeholders (Van Marrewijk & Verre, 2003).

Organizations have developed a variety of strategies for dealing with this intersection of societal needs, employees’ welfare, the natural environment, and corresponding business imperatives with respect to how deeply and how well they are integrating social responsibility approaches into both strategy and daily operations worldwide (Babalola, 2012).

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities are no longer only charitable events but tools for boosting positive image of the company, employee and customer satisfaction and organizational profitability. Islam (2012) confirmed that the concept of business has changed from profit making activities to social welfare activities where businesses are not only responsible to its shareholders but also to all of its stakeholders of which employees satisfaction forms a nucleus. The main force that drives companies to adopt corporate social responsibility is CSR’s financial benefits (Rapti and Medda, 2012).

The World Business Council on Sustainability Development (cited in Folajin, Ibitoye and Dunsin, 2014) described corporate social responsibility (CSR) as “the continuing commitment by Business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large”. While Nicolau (2008) defined socially responsible companies as those which in profit-making operational decisions, considers the full scope of environmental impact and balances the needs of stakeholders.

The happier people are with their jobs, the more satisfied they are said to be (Odunlade, 2012). The perception of being paid what one is worth predicts job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is perceived as an individual’s attitude and behavior towards aspects of his own job. Employee job satisfaction is an affective or emotional response toward various facets and outcomes of one’s job; meaning that employee satisfaction in relation to a job is not unitary, as a person may be satisfied with one aspect of his or her job and may be dissatisfied with the rest (Bozeman and Gaughan,  2011).

In the domain of human resource management, hardly is any issue more important, relevant, and crucial to an employee than what he receives in exchange for his labour services to the organisation. Presently one of the manager’s tasks, is the need to create a socially responsible environment which motivates employees to perform satisfactorily and to be a profitable asset, so that they can foster the organisation’s growth and performance.

Employees will demonstrate pleasurable positive attitudes when they are satisfied with their job. Thus, high employees’ job satisfaction will increase the productivity of an organization and in turn increases the organizational overall performance (Millan et al, 2011). Whether corporate social responsibility is negatively or positively related to workers job satisfaction in Nigeria is an issue that remains open to empirical studies. Hence, this study will investigate the effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on employees’ job satisfaction with a special reference to MTN Nigeria Ltd.

1.2   Statement of the Problem

Dangers are associated with the neglect of Corporate Social Responsibility obligations by individuals and organizations which represent another type of cost.