Corporate social responsibility in construction industry: a comparative study between UK and Turkey

TLDR: In this paper, the authors investigate the concept of CSR from the perspective of construction industry by questioning CSR awareness, CSR activities and CSR integration with a comparative case study between UK and Turkey.

Abstract: Purpose – Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has evolved to an important agenda for many industries and its scope has been widened from the responsible business to strategic decisions. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the concept of CSR from the perspective of construction industry by questioning CSR awareness, CSR activities and CSR integration with a comparative case study between UK and Turkey. Design/methodology/approach – Conducting comparative and qualitative research using a case study methodology, this study sets the context for understanding differences in these two countries as to how CSR is perceived and put into practice by selected case firms. Findings – The results revealed that construction companies are aware of the increasing importance of the CSR; however, company scale and the characteristics of the country have great impact on CSR preferences. Despite the differences in the approaches all firms take with regard to CSR domains and CSR types, ethical domain and t...

Frequently asked questions

Q1. What are the contributions mentioned in the paper "Corporate social responsibility in construction industry" ?

Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the concept of CSR from the perspective of construction industry by questioning CSR awareness, CSR activities and CSR integration with a comparative case study between UK and Turkey. Design/methodology/approach – Conducting comparative and qualitative research using a case study methodology, this study sets the context for understanding differences in these two countries as to how CSR is perceived and put into practice by selected case firms. Originality/value – This study provides the empirical evidence for the understanding and integration of the CSR concept in the construction industry ; shed light on missing knowledge about CSR integration and serves as a source for further in-depth researches on CSR. 

Q2. What is the main reason why the CSR concept has been accelerated?

Increased attention on sustainable development, and environmental, social and economic sustainability orientation accelerated the importance of the CSR concept in business. 

Q3. What is the main reason for the increase in the CSR awareness in the UK?

When the effects of the construction sector’s CSR awareness on the case companies were asked, results showed that British construction sector’s CSR awareness redounds positive effects on the case companies although there is an increase in low-cost strategy as main agenda. 

Q4. What is the reason for asking about stakeholder’s reaction to their CSR activities?

The reason in asking about stakeholder’s reaction is the increased importance of accountability to the business stakeholders and public. 

Q5. Why do they give high priority to social type of CSR activities?

For instance, Case A (MS-UK) give high priority to social type of CSR activities, because the company aims to differentiate itself with people-focused business approach in the market. 

Q6. What is the main reason why the results could not be generalized for the construction industry?

As a result of using case study methodology and focusing on limited size of cases, results could not be generalized for the construction industry. 

Q7. What is the common dominator of CSR?

The common dominator is that most definitions refer to the importance of CSR as a way of sprucing the corporation’s identity and image. 

Q8. What are the main obstacles in the construction industry?

Other obstacles came from the characteristics of construction industry such as limited project time, low-information sharing, being dependent on local conditions. 

Q9. What are the main reasons for different CSR types?

On the other hand, having different preferences in the importance ratings of CSR types is a natural consequence of changing characteristics of countries, company scales and the activity types and activity areas of the case companies. 

Q10. Why was there no attempt to generate a representative sample?

No attempt was made to generate a representative sample since the study aims to produce analytical, rather than statistical generalizations.