CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS ON CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR DEVELOPERS

Abstract

Despite the growing importance of CSR globally and the high relevance of CSR to developers, local developers are still not practicing it. This is mainly due to the lack of necessary skills to cope with the complex challenges involved in CSR. Company websites and sustainability reports only show how well developers perform on their triple bottom line, yet they do not reveal what is necessary to do well in CSR. Till date, no attempt has been made locally to study the critical factors to excel in CSR. As such, it is the aim of this dissertation to identify the critical success factors of CSR for local developers so as to enhance their commitment towards it. Through a comparative case-study of two local developers that are reputable for their CSR, the following factors are identified: Top management support, CSR vision and mission statements, CSR committee, employee support, strong CSR culture, stakeholder engagement, communication, sustainability reporting, provision of skills and tools for CSR, an innovative spirit to develop CSR initiatives beyond green buildings, a pioneering spirit and perseverance despite initial difficulties faced. All of these factors can be interrelated to others as well. As it is only within the scope of this dissertation to study on developers, the applicability of these findings to other industries and other stakeholders in the construction industry may be limited. In addition, this study focuses on big developers, hence these critical success factors may not be found in small and medium size developers.