Corporate Social Responsibility Practices and Performance of Public Organizations in Kenya: A Critical Review

Abstract

There’s no doubt that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is now a global concept and a prominent feature of international business, with its practice localized and differing across countries. Past studies suggest that a firm which is socially responsible acknowledges that it exists and operates in a shared environment. The purpose of this study was to critique corporate social responsibility practices (philanthropic, ethical, economic and legal activities) on public organization’s performance. This is characterized by a mutual impact of an organization’s relation on a broad variety of stakeholders, who are affected by and can eventually affect the achievement of its objectives. This article concludes that for the institutionalization of CSR in Kenya, attention must be paid to conditions that stifle CSR uptake such as lack of government regulations and its capacity and commitment to enforce regulation. It also recommends that the government should provide incentives to organizations to enable them practice CSR more. Further research should be done to identify other variables that may influence the performance of a firm such as government policy on taxation and regulations existing in a country. Based on the findings of the study, all public organizations should embrace CSR unlike current practice where some of the organizations consider it as a strategic issue. The study concludes that CSR activities in public organizations cannot operate in isolation from other elements of the business. It is important that all the functional area strategies and capabilities, including full support from management in order to be consistent with the business unit goals and strategies, organizations to be competitive, they have to strive to achieve greater coordination and collaboration of corporate social responsibility approaches required in its management.