This thesis reports to examine and to extend the literature, by obtaining a deeper
understanding of the link between corporate social responsibility disclosure and
organizational performance in terms of financial performance, employee
commitment, and corporate reputation by using a mixed methodology
underpinned by stakeholder theory. This relationship between corporate social
responsibility activity and disclosure with organizational performance attracts the
interest of significant stakeholder groups. Numerous prior studies have sought to
examine the links between corporate social responsibility disclosure and
organizational performance using quantitative methods.
Two parts were undertaken in this study. The first part of this study involved a
statistical examination of the relationship between corporate social responsibility
disclosure and organizational performance for Libyan companies operating in
four sectors (manufacturing, banking and insurance, service, and mining). It used
longitudinal data drawn from annual reports for the period 2007 to 2009 and
tested for linear relationships to identify the relationship between this disclosure
and financial performance. It also utilized data gathered by questionnaire to
examine the relationship between this disclosure and employee commitment and
corporate reputation. This study expected to find a positive relationship between
corporate social responsibility disclosure categories and organizational
performance. On the one hand, the longitudinal data found a positive relationship
between levels of corporate social responsibility disclosure categories and
organizational performance in terms of financial performance measures and
corporate reputation indicators. More specifically, it revealed a positive
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relationship between environmental disclosure and return on assets, consumer
disclosure and revenues, community involvement disclosure and return on assets,
and employee disclosure and return on equity. It also found a positive
relationship between consumer disclosure and employee disclosure with
corporate reputation. On the other hand, the longitudinal data found no
relationship between levels of corporate social responsibility disclosure and
employee commitment indicators.
The second part of this study was a qualitative, interview-based inquiry about the
relationship between corporate social responsibility disclosure and organizational
performance in terms of financial performance, employee commitment, and
corporate reputation in Libyan companies. Twenty -four financial managers and
seven information managers from twenty-four companies were interviewed to
obtain an understanding about this relationship and how this disclosure affects
organizational performance. The findings of this study confirmed that there are a
number of motivations for Libyan companies across the four sectors to disclose
information about corporate social responsibility disclosure in their annual
reports. The qualitative findings of this study revealed that there is a positive
relationship between levels of corporate social responsibility disclosure and
organizational performance. The four categories of corporate social
responsibility disclosure levels have a positive effect on financial performance
and corporate reputation, while only consumer disclosure and employee
disclosure affects employee commitment due to stakeholders’ pressures, among
other reasons. In this study, the qualitative findings confirmed that levels of
corporate social responsibility disclosure are the major driver behind improving
organizational performance in the selected sample.
نجيب سالم محمد بيوض | Nagib Salem Mohamed Bayoud | 4833