Personal values and approach of undergraduates towards corporate social responsibility

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to broaden the knowledge to identify which factors influence the relationship between business undergraduates and corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Design/methodology/approach

Hypotheses have been developed to test the relationship between personal values of business undergraduates and CSR. Results have been achieved from 434 questionnaires within a survey through seven campuses of Brazilian universities. The data were primarily submitted to descriptive statistics – univariate analysis, followed by a four-factor analyses and finally, a structural model – one of the components from the structural equation modelling (SEM) was applied.

Findings

The results identified that undergraduate students who valued issues and behaviours connected with self-direction, stimulation, universalism and benevolence are more prone to value organizational philosophy towards CSR. Furthermore, it was identified that the more business administration students value such themes, there will be a higher chance of them of getting involved in CSR, when occupying decision-making positions. Further results show that women valued the issue more – and their interest increased, as they become older.

Practical implications

The results contribute to the identification of a student profile with increased affinity towards CSR, as well as highlighting gaps in business education, which will affect future managers’ social responsibility standards and decisions.

Originality/value

This paper suggests new hypotheses and adopts measures towards personal values and CSR, which had not been used together previously.

Citation

Franco, I., Moura-Leite, R., Pereira, M.W.G. and Lopes, J.C.d.J. (2017), "Personal values and approach of undergraduates towards corporate social responsibility", Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 457-472. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-09-2016-0165