TITLE:
Comparison of CSR Activities between Global Construction Companies and Malaysian Construction Companies
AUTHORS:
Byung Gyoo Kang, Hussam Uddin Ahmad, Boon Hoe Goh, Myung Kyu Song
KEYWORDS:
CSR, Global, Construction, Company
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.3 No.7,
July
14,
2015
ABSTRACT: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is
becoming a new requirement for a successful business in the 21st century. This
trend continues to be strengthened throughout the industry and the construction
industry cannot be exceptional. Extensive literature reviews on CSR in the
construction industry have been conducted to find out the current status. Ten leading
construction companies in the global construction market have been selected and
their CSR reports have been analysed in five broad areas—“Leadership, visions
and values”, “Workforce activities”, “Stakeholder engagement”, “Community
activities”, and “Environmental activities”. Five-Malaysian construction companies
have been selected, each representing a different range of turnovers to reflect
the industry wide perspective. Comparisons have been made between global
companies and Malaysian companies, resulting in large gaps between these two
groups. Qualitative interviews have been conducted with the executives of the
Malaysian companies to identify the causes of the gaps. The interview questions
included CSR reporting, funding, Key Performance Indicators (KPI), challenges
of CSR implementation, roles of government, CSR initiatives, future CSR
activities, etc. CSR commitments of global construction companies have been
identified and the current status of CSR of Malaysian companies has been
grasped. The comparison shows that Malaysian companies lag behind global
companies in almost all aspects of CSR. The obstacles have been found out to be
studied in future—financial constraints, management attitudes, roles of
government, and the trend of CSR in the industry.