The COVID-19 pandemic and corporate social responsibility of Korean global firms: from the perspective of stakeholder theory
The COVID-19 pandemic and corporate social responsibility of Korean global firms: from the perspective of stakeholder theory
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DOI：
10.35241/emeraldopenres.14511.1
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发表时间：
2022-03
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Soyeon Kim
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Soyeon Kim
背景：持续的2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行造成了巨大的社会经济问题。全世界所有社会都面临着一种紧急情况，许多人对克服这种情况的各种对策的执行情况感到困惑。此类活动需要私营部门的积极参与和支持。注意到私营部门的预期社会角色，本研究以利益相关者理论为基础，调查了面临这种困境的韩国跨国公司的企业社会责任（CSR）活动。方法：本研究收集并分析了三家具有代表性的韩国跨国企业（三星电子、LG电子和现代汽车）的企业社会责任活动的新闻报道。收集了2019年1月至国内发生新冠肺炎疫情的2020年1月之后的新闻报道。从报告中提取了说明企业社会责任活动的主要关键词，并分析了每家公司的企业社会责任活动频率。结果：调查结果显示，企业在新冠肺炎大流行期间的企业社会责任活动进行得及时、系统。他们专注于企业社会责任的主要活动，这些活动与他们的业务和企业社会责任愿景密切相关；同时，他们从日常业务活动中迅速确定需要支持的领域，并立即酌情作出反应。这凸显了他们企业社会责任活动的真实动机和良好的公民意识，以及他们在全国性灾难中作为救援者的重要作用。结论：支持利益相关者理论，本研究显示了韩国跨国公司关注其目标利益相关者的广义CSR活动。灵活、系统地开展企业社会责任活动，既有利于社会，也有利于企业，有助于创造社会价值，实现与社会的持续共同繁荣。此外，本研究发现，与政府的紧密合作关系，可在全国性灾后重建的社区建设中产生协同效应。
Background: The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused tremendous socio-economic problems. All societies worldwide were faced with an emergency situation, and many were puzzled by the implementation of various countermeasures to overcome this situation. Such events call for active engagement and support from the private sector. Noting the expected social role of the private sector, this study builds on stakeholder theory and investigates the corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities of Korean global firms facing the difficulties of this situation. Methods: This study collected and analyzed news reports about the CSR activities of three representative Korean global firms (Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, and Hyundai Motors). News reports posted from January 2019 and after January 2020, when the COVID-19 outbreak occurred in Korea, were collected. From the reports, the main keywords illustrating their CSR activities were extracted, and the frequency of each company was analyzed. Results: Findings showed that their CSR activities during the COVID-19 pandemic were conducted in a prompt and systemic way. They maintained focus on their main CSR activities, which were closely aligned with their business and CSR visions; simultaneously, they rapidly identified the areas needing support from their daily business activities and responded to them immediately and discretionary. This highlights their genuine motives in their CSR activities and good citizenship, as well as their significant role as rescuers during countrywide disasters. Conclusions: Supporting stakeholder theory, this study shows the broadly defined CSR activities of Korean global firms focusing on their target stakeholders. The agile and systemic approach to the companies’ CSR activities can benefit both society and businesses, contributing to creating social values and sustained co-prosperity with society. Furthermore, this study suggests that a close collaborative relationship with the government can produce a synergistic effect on community building recovering from a nationwide disaster.