Alignment and Perception of CSR through Organisational Levels : A case study within the construction industry

Alignment and Perception of CSR through

Organisational Levels

A case study within the construction industry

MASTER THESIS WITHIN:General Management NUMBER OF CREDITS: 15 Credits

PROGRAMME OF STUDY:Engineering Management AUTHOR: Mathilda Eliasson & Eric Lindmark SUPERVISOR: Joaquin Cestino Castilla JÖNKÖPING: May 2020

Address: Visiting Address: Phone number:

Box 1026 Gjuterigatan 5 036-10 10 00

551 11 Jönköping

Acknowledgements

We would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone that has contributed in the work of this thesis. Especially acknowledge and gratitude to our supervisor Joaquin, who has from the first day been there and guided us thought out this entire process. The knowledge, experience and critical questioning has been highly appreciated and valuable for the result. Additionally, we would like to thank the people who agreed to take the time and participate in our research by interviewing them. Without your willingness to provide us with information it would not have been possible to find the results that we did.

Finally, would we like to acknowledge the members of our seminar group that have provided us with feedback, elaborated ideas and supported us.

Thank you!

________________________________ ________________________________

Mathilda Eliasson Eric Lindmark

Jönköping, May 2020

The thesis has been carried out at Jönköping International Business School in Jönköping in the subject area General Management. The authors take responsibility for findings, opinions, and conclusion for this research.

Examiner: Marcela Ramirez-Pasillas Supervisor: Joaquin Cestino Castilla Date: 2020-05-18

Abstract

I

Abstract

Title: Alignment and Perception of CSR through Organisational Levels Authors: Mathilda Eliasson and Eric Lindmark

Tutor: Joaquin Cestino Castilla Date: May 2020

_____________________________________________________________________

Purpose – To develop understanding of how the perception of CSR shapes the

organisation from policy to practice throughout organisational levels. Two research questions were developed to give answers to the purpose:

1. What different perceptions of CSR can be identified depending on the organisational level? 2. How the alignment of perceptions of CSR at different organisational levels shapes the

implementation of CSR?

Method – A qualitative single case study was conducted at an organisation within the

construction industry with the aim to fulfil the purpose. The empirical data collected was compared, analysed and discussed with the theories presented in the theoretical framework in order answers the research questions.

Findings – The research has identified that depending on the organisational level there

are different perceptions of CSR, project managers have low perception and team leaders have a lack of perception. To mitigate misalignment between organisational levels it is suggested that the top-managers continuously educate and communicate with all organisational levels. By understanding the CSR goals and the specific guidelines for those goals, the alignment of perception of CSR could become more clear and therefore make the outcome i.e. CSR actions, to align with the CSR goals.

Implications – The research highlights the importance of the alignment among

organisational levels regarding the perception of CSR, this can influence organisations on an individual level as well as the construction industry as whole.

Limitations – The research has been limited to one case company. Only project managers

and team leaders has been included in the interviews which may have affected the result. If more organisations and multiple organisational levels were to be included, the reliability, creditability and generalisability of the result would be increased.

Keywords – ‘CSR’, ‘CSR alignment’, ‘employees’, ‘organisational levels’, ‘construction

II

Contents

1

Introduction ... 6

1.1 BACKGROUND ... 6

1.2 PROBLEM DEFINITION ... 8

1.3 PURPOSE AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS ... 9

1.4 DELIMITATIONS ... 9

1.4.1 Delimitations due to COVID-19 ... 9

1.5 OUTLINE ... 11

2

Theoretical Framework ... 12

2.1 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES ... 12

2.1.1 Definition ... 13

2.1.2 Micro-level CSR ... 14

2.2 BUSINESS STRATEGY ... 16

2.2.1 CSR into Strategy ... 16

2.3 ORGANISATIONAL REACTION TO CSRACTIVITIES ... 17

2.3.1 Managers participation on CSR activities ... 17

2.3.2 Employee participation of CSR activities ... 18

2.4 CSR ALIGNMENT ... 18 2.5 SUMMARY ... 19

3

Research Methodology ... 20

Contents III 3.5 SAMPLING STRATEGY ... 23 3.6 DATA COLLECTION ... 23 3.6.1 Interviews ... 24 3.6.2 Observations ... 25 3.6.3 Document Research ... 26 3.7 DATA ANALYSIS ... 27

3.7.1 Data analysis techniques ... 28

3.8 RESEARCH QUALITY ... 29

3.8.1 Trustworthiness ... 29

3.8.2 Ethics ... 30

4

Empirical Findings ... 32

4.1 CASE STUDY ... 32

4.2 CSRGOALS &ACTION ... 32

4.3 DEFINITION ... 34

4.4 CSR AS A LONG-TERM GOAL ... 34

4.4.1 Objective to reach responsbile practices ... 35

4.4.2 Focus on quality practices for sustainability ... 36

4.5 OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES TO FUNCTION RESPONSIBLY INTERNALLY ... 37

4.5.1 Strategies to develop as an organisation ... 39

4.5.2 Approach to set standards ... 39

4.5.3 Controlling stakeholder demands ... 40

4.5.4 Importance of evaluation ... 41

4.6 MANAGING EMPLOYEE AND ORGANISATION INTERACTION ... 42

4.6.1 Internal interaction ... 43

4.6.2 Internal investment ... 44

5

Analysis and Discussion ... 46

IV

5.1.1 The CSR concept ... 46

5.1.2 Project Manager Perception ... 47

5.1.3 Team Leader Perception ... 48

5.1.4 Findings of Research Question 1 ... 48

5.2 RESEARCH QUESTION 2 ... 51

5.2.1 Two perceptions shaping the implemenatation of CSR ... 51

5.2.2 CSR Goals ... 51

5.2.3 CSR actions ... 53

5.2.4 Findings of research question 2 ... 54

6

Conclusion ... 55

7

References ... 58

8

Appendice ... 62

8.1 APPENDIX 1–LITERATURE SEARCH ... 62

8.2 APPENDIX 2-CONSENT FORM ... 63

8.3 APPENDIX 3–INTERVEIW QUESTIONS ... 64

8.4 APPENDIX 4-CONSENT FORM IN SWEDISH ... 66

8.5 APPENDIX 5–INTERVEIW QUESTIONS IN SWEDISH ... 67

Contents

V

List of Figures

Figure 1 Outline of Research ... 11

Figure 2 Tripple bottom line (CSR) ... 12

Figure 3 Integrative framework (micro & macro CSR) ... 15

Figure 4 Data Analysis Process ... 28

Figure 5 Organisational Chart ... 32

Figure 6 Data structure - Dimension 1 ... 35

Figure 7 Data structure - Dimension 2 ... 38

Figure 8 Data structure - Dimension 3 ... 43

Figure 9 Perception connected to dimensions ... 49

Figure 10 From CSR Goals to CSR Actions ... 51

List of Tables

Table 2 List of observations ... 26

Table 3 List of document research ... 26

Table 4 CSR goals and CSR actions ... 33

Table 5 Findings Research Question 1 ... 50

6

1 Introduction

The chapter presents the background, importance and gap of employees’ perception in participating with CSR. The chapter also presents the purpose, research question, delimitation and outline of the research. 1.1 Background

The term corporate social responsibility (CSR) coined in the 1950’s by Bowen (1953) has been studied extensively. The concept of CSR can be described as economic, legal ethics and philanthropic expectance that organisations have towards society at any given point (Koch, Bekmeier-Feuerhahn, Bögel, & Adam, 2019). Further, scholars have described CSR as actions and policies delivered by an organisation in specific context that that take stakeholders’ expectations into account and the economic, social and environmental as the triple bottom line (Aguinis & Glavas, 2019; Aguinis H. , 2011), which relates to a firm’s competitive advantage in which they create “shared value” (Porter & Kramer, 2011), through influencing stakeholders’ behaviour. Juholin (2004) further explains that an organisation that seek to be sustainable have to be financially viable, eliminate or minimise its environmental impact and adhere to societal expectations. This correlates to the conceptualisation of CSR described by Koch, Bekmeier-Feuerhahn, Bögel & Adam (2019) and has in today’s climate become strategic imperative. According to Garriga & Mele

(2004), the field of CSR has been growing rapidly since the second half of the 20th _century

and established an extensive portfolio of theories, terminologies and approaches. Initially, environmental issues such as pollution and effects of the earths ecosystem from corporation was recognised, then followed by corporate social and economic aspects the term triple bottom line of CSR has emerged. More and more corporations are incorporating CSR to obtain competitive advantage and gain long-term success (Du, Bhattacharya, & Sen, 2015).

A global agreement of corporations’ significant contribution toward environmental deterioration is now acknowledged, thus more and more corporations are under scrutiny (Tian & Robertsson, 2019; Juholin, 2004). In addition, a growing number of global audiences such as governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), activists and media are making demands on corporations and their public practitioners. Business’ obligations toward sustainable behaviour has increased significantly and sustainability issues in general have become a worldwide debate. According to Bebbington, Larrinaga & Moneva (2008), there has been an increase in developed world economies regarding the

Introduction

7

production of CSR reports in the recent 15 years. Increased corporate attention has not entirely been a free will or voluntarily, Porter & Kramer (2006) are too describing that audiences are becoming more active in holding corporations to be responsible for the activities that can have social and environmental consequences. Furthermore, a countless number of organisations attract publicity toward corporations when grading their CSR performance, thus making CSR an inevitable priority for global business leaders (Porter & Kramer, 2006). Before this inevitable priority, the sole responsibility for corporations was to do business successfully which was advocated widely by Friedman (1970), thus, corporations had no external pressure in social and environmental consequences, but the sole focus concerned profit maximisation.

In the place of work, El Akremi, Gond, Swaen, De Roeck & Igalens (2018) explains that CSR perceptions has positive relations to the employees’ commitment toward the organisation as well as the identification that employees’ have to the organisation, organisational attraction for job applicants, the job performance as well as extra-role CSR performance. De Roeck, Marique, Stinglhamber & Swaen (2014) states that today, a great number of corporations use different approaches to CSR to communicate with their stakeholders. This engagement can to some magnitude coheres with the expectations put on corporations’ responsibilities from stakeholders, specifically employees. Moreover, there has been a growing interest in research regarding employees’ reply toward approaches within CSR. Despite this growing interest, there is still lack of research exploring the motivation of employees related to CSR activity participation (De Roeck, Marique, Stinglhamber, & Swaen, 2014).

8

1.2 Problem Definition

According to Aguinis & Glavas (2019), CSR has a broad spectrum of stakeholders and outcomes that reaches both stakeholders outside of an organisation and outcomes that does not necessarily touch upon financial result. Therefore, CSR extend the concept of work to go beyond task at hand, job, individual or organisational capacities and financial aspects but aim to provide ideal channels to find meaningful purpose through work for the individual. Moreover, Du, Bhattacharya, & Sen (2015) explains that by enhanced employee morale and reduced employee turnover through CSR incentives corporations can create increased business value. Corporations that have skilled, talented and employees with motivation constitutes an important factor for corporations to have sustainable success. Therefore, understanding the why and how employees acknowledge CSR would facilitate the implementation design of CSR that fulfil the perceptions of needs and benefits of the employees.

Societal development has seen a growing importance of utilising social sustainability related to and affecting the planning and execution of construction projects. Hence, the construction industry should consider social considerations to be a relevant part in their business (Lindell & Olander, 2019). Moreover, more focus has been added on the social consideration in the new Swedish legislations, grounded in the EU directives than earlier legislations (European Commission, 2014). Despite the increasing focus, the construction industry has no clear approach of how to manage the social considerations.

Earlier literature has conducted studies within the field of CSR, specifically identification of different types of needs and benefits that are perceived by employees’ in participating in CSR activities as well as identifying different levels of participation (Koch, Bekmeier-Feuerhahn, Bögel, & Adam, 2019). However, research within perception of perceived needs and benefits from team leaders as distinct from team members within CSR needs investigation, which is a gap in current literature (Koch, Bekmeier-Feuerhahn, Bögel, & Adam, 2019). Examining this gap could yield further understanding regarding different perception of needs and benefits depending on employees’ status in an organisation in addition, facilitate guidelines for managing social considerations within the construction industry.

Introduction

9

1.3 Purpose and Research Questions

De Roeck, Marique, Stinglhamber & Swaen (2014) states that a growing interest of research within the field of CSR with an employee perspective has been growing over the years but how there is a lack of research within the field. Du, Bhattacharya, & Sen (2015) implies that the business value increases when employees have knowledge about CSR, to develop an understanding of why and how to facilitate the implementation. These statements relate to Koch, Bekmeier-Feuerhahn, Bögel & Adam (2019) when highlighting the gap regarding the employee perception of needs and benefits towards CSR depending on the organisational level within the literature. The purpose of the research is therefore:

To develop understanding of how the perception of CSR shapes the organisation from policy to practice throughout organisational levels

Two research questions where developed to give answers to the purpose: 1. What different perceptions of CSR can be identified depending on the organisational level? 2. How the alignment of perceptions of CSR at different organisational levels shapes the

implementation of CSR? 1.4 Delimitations

This research aims to provide understanding within employees’ perception of needs and benefits within the field of CSR depending on the employees’ status in the organisation. The research will be conducted through a case study using one single case company, i.e. the empirical data will be limited to that case company. Furthermore, this research will be limited to project manager positions and team leader positions within the case company and will therefore discard all else positions.

1.4.1 Delimitations due to COVID-19

This research was conducted during the spring 2020 when the world was affected by pandemic COVID-19, also called Coronavirus. The pandemic may have affected the research both directly and in-directly, something that is difficult to predict in the current situation. It is certain that the pandemic set the world on hold for a long period of time, to eliminate the virus organisations have closed down for external parties, encourage the employees able to work from home to do so and unfortunately let employees go. Therefore, a great worry among the society has been clear, people have lost their jobs, their friends and family.

10

Since most organisations has been affected by the pandemic negatively, resources have been limited to them. One direct effect is the possibility to include the number of interviews scheduled from the beginning, organisations has not been able to participate as wanted due to the limited recourses. Another direct effect that should be analysed is how the worry has affected the data collected.

During the pandemic, the Swedish government has recommended the population to stay home, the universities to close and if possible work from home. Some parts of the research have therefore been contributed by the two authors separately from their homes, even if constant communication through phone calls has been made this may have an indirect effect.

Introduction

11

1.5 Outline

To create an overview of this research, an outline of each chapters and sections is presented in Figure 1.

Chapter 1 – Introduction: The chapter presents the background, importance and gap of

employees’ perception in participating with CSR. The chapter also presents the purpose, research question, delimitation and outline of the research.

Chapter 2 – Theoretical Framework: The chapter presents the theoretical framework,

outlined in four separate categories which are used to build the foundation of the research.

Chapter 3 – Research Methodology: The chapter presents the methodology of the

research, the research philosophy, approach, strategy and design will be explained as well as a discussion of the trustworthiness.

Chapter 4 – Empirical Findings: The chapter presents empirical findings from both

primary and secondary data collected through interviews which are supported by observations and document research.

Chapter 5 – Analysis and Discussion: The chapter presents an analysis and discussion

of the collected empirical findings and theoretical framework. The focus is primarily to strengthen theories and statements made by other researchers through a reconciliation to provide answers to the research questions.

Chapter 6 – Conclusion: The chapter presents a summary of the research findings. A

conclusion of the findings, implications, as well as suggestions for further research will be presented.

12

2 Theoretical Framework

The chapter presents the theoretical framework, outlined in four separate categories which are used to build the foundation of the research.

2.1 Corporate Social Responsibilities

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a concept with multiple faces that demonstrate the response from a firm toward the expectations and requirements that originates from the society, the environment and individuals, i.e. the stakeholders. According to (Simpson, Robertson, & White, 2019; Koch, Bekmeier-Feuerhahn, Bögel, & Adam, 2019; Juholin, 2004; Aguinis & Glavas, 2019) the triple bottom line of CSR constitutes economic, social and environmental performance of an organisation, illustrated in Figure 2 Tripple bottom line (CSR). Initially, the idea of a company adhering to social aspects was seen as controversial and taunted by scholars, in particular Milton Friedmann who argued that the sole responsibility with social aspects for companies was to maximise profit for shareholders (De Roeck & Maon, 2018).

Figure 2 Tripple bottom line (CSR)

However, the attractiveness of CSR is lately growing with rapid pace is incorporated into corporation strategies widely across the globe (Yuan, Yi Lu, Tian, & Yu, 2019; Simpson, Robertson, & White, 2019). Further, Yuan et al. (2019) states that organisations in the U.S. has since 2012 spent $34.6 billion on CSR and in 2017 it is estimated to grow to $43.6 billion, and surveys explains that leaders are acknowledging sustainability as top priority. Moreover, CSR has become an important topic of research given the growing importance of leveraging CSR into organisation operations for increased performance as well as the impact CSR has on society.

Theoretical Framework

13

The highly increased attention brought toward CSR has not been completely voluntarily, as numerous companies became awoke to CSR after the surprisingly strong responses by the public regarding issues that were not yet considered a part of the business responsibilities (Porter & Kramer, 2006). Further, there are increased government legislations that mandates social responsibility reporting e.g. there are legislations that require every publicly listed company to expose ethical, social and environmental consequences through the annual report. Pressures like this displays the external stakeholders aim to hold companies accountable for the social, financial and environmental issues that may arise and demonstrates the risk that may involve if actions from companies are not acceptable (Porter & Kramer, 2006).

Yuan et al. (2019) further explains that the pressure derived from both internal and external stakeholders such as corporate governance and top management characteristics indeed affect the engagement of CSR. Simpson et al. (2019) argue that there is a high growth of CSR studies within individual levels. Further, research within CSR related toward individual level of analysis have emerged into a phenomenon called micro-level CSR, more detailed described as examination of individuals on individual-level analysis regarding effects and experiences.

2.1.1 Definition

There are various definitions that describes the CSR construct, which have resulted in multiple approaches and confusion when discussing the concept, according to El Akremi et al. (2018). The issues regarding CSR range from corporate profitability and financial stability, to work safety within and outside the organisation, and finally the prevention of environmental disruption. Even though there is a collective agreement of the importance of CSR (Porter & Kramer, 2006), it is still unclear how CSR is defined in both dialogue and general term. The definition is complex. Sheehy (2015), argues that the complexities are grounded in the nature and context of the problems since the economic, environmental and social systems are dynamic systems that in itself are highly complex and are each highly involved in CSR. Further, Sheehy (2015) argues that the lack of clear definition of CSR is not necessarily a matter of neglecting or lack of effort, but rather a limited progress in defining the concept. Osuji (2011), argue that observing from a definitional context perspective, CSR is in lack of development due to its exact meaning, content and practice, relation with authorities as well as design and implementation. Some authors have argued

14

that the concept of CSR is merely an “empty shell”, these types arguments does perhaps threaten the concepts meaningfulness and usefulness.

When the concept of CSR was initially introduced and discussed, it was formally defined by Bowen in 1953; “it refers to the obligations of businessmen to pursue those policies, to make those decisions, or to follow those lines of action which are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society” (Archie, 1999, p. 270). When discussing CSR, one of the underlying components is sustainability and the most accepted definition of sustainability was initially defined as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability for future generations to meet their own needs” (Brundtland Commission, 1987). The concept defined in the Brundtland’s initial discussion of environmental sustainability has according to Sheehy (2015) drifted away from its foundation and sustainability has become a broader concept which includes, social, economic and environmental aspects at organisational level.

CSR has indeed a rich history with numerous contributions within many streams of research (Carroll, 1999). The earlier conceptualisation of CSR, originated from Carroll’s definition have been argued by scholars, to ignore cases in which a corporation engage in evaluation of employees’ perception of CSR as well as ethical, legal, economic and discretionary dimensions, but yet fails to appeal to internal and external stakeholders (El Akremi et al., 2018). This research uses the definition following Aguinis (2011), which is also adopted by (El Akremi, Gond, Swaen, De Roeck, & Igalens, 2018; Aguinis & Glavas, 2019): “context-specific organisational actions and policies that take into account stakeholders’ expectations and the triple bottom line of economic, social and environmental performance” (Aguinis H. , 2011, p. 855).

2.1.2 Micro-level CSR

Micro-CSR is to this date more extensively focused on the consequences of employee’s perception of an organisations CSR activity grounded in the organisational behaviour (Simpson, Robertson, & White, 2019). Scholars have stated that 96% of CSR research have been toward macro levels i.e. the organisation have been the unit of analysis (Agunius & Glavas, 2012). However, CSR research at individual levels (i.e. micro level CSR) have now increased rapidly according to Simpson et al. (2019), which is intended to explain how employees respond to the CSR activities within the organisation (e.g. initiatives, policies). According to De Roeck & Moan (2018), earlier research has investigated and argued that

Theoretical Framework

15

companies’ social responsibilities are not necessarily linked with traditional legal and economic obligations of companies, but have only found a small positive link between economic performance and CSR. Further, this suggests that there is no direct answer to whether it pays off to be good (De Roeck & Maon, 2018). Consequently, further research investigations have been made to elucidate the underlying mechanisms that generates return on investments in CSR (Agunius & Glavas, 2012; Bhattacharya, Korschun, & Sen, 2009).

Research have evolved from investigating narrow perspectives that emphasise economic performance, to a broader perspective that include variables e.g. stakeholders’ attitudes and behaviour toward CSR activities, which could more likely explain the performance of CSR (De Roeck & Maon, 2018). Furthermore, De Roeck & Moan (2018) argues that managers and corporate leaders should reward employees as gapping the bridge between internal and external activities within CSR and its effect on social and economic performance of the organisation. They have created an integrative framework illustrated in Figure 3 Integrative framework (micro & macro CSR), (Godwin & Glavas, 2013) that describes a parallel of how micro and macro relate to different areas in the organisation. Further, it is argued that this framework facilitates the development of micro-level approaches toward CSR and further argue to support managers to create CSR initiatives that impact employees both positively and supportively (De Roeck & Maon, 2018).

Figure 3 Integrative framework (micro & macro CSR)

The outcomes of micro-CSR have in recent research shown a positive effect of CSR on employees (Brieger, Anderer, Fröhlich, Bäro, & Meynhardt, 2019). Research within micro-CSR has focused on how employees are influenced by the actions of an organisation, it shows that the actions develop the attractiveness and reputation, especially when it comes to employees’ that displays potential. Moreover, micro-CSR will also enhance employees positively by their attitude, motivation, behaviour and work commitment (Hur, Moon, & Ko, 2018).

16

Simpson et al. (2019) discuss the body of literature that presents the positive employee perception to CSR activities e.g. that organisations putt more emphasis on social and environmental responsibilities in which the organisation experience more positive job attitudes and overall behaviour from employees’, which consequently correlates to the arguments demonstrated by both Brieger et al. (2019) and Hur et al. (2018). The association of the organisation can by micro-CSR influence the employees’ performance as it is reflected by the employee interpretation of the actions of CSR (De Roeck & Farooq, 2018).

2.2 Business Strategy

Business strategy are actions and decisions taken by an organisation with the aim to understand and adjust to the environment (Porter M. E., 1980). According to Porter & Kramer (2006) many corporations have during the past years attempted to incorporate dimensions within CSR in order to improve the consequences of their social and environmental activities, but the outcome has not been as productive as it could be. Subsequently, Porter & Kramer (2006) further states that corporations put business and society as dependent to each other when they are two interdependent entities. Further, corporations tend to think of CSR as something generic rather than the way it should be designed into the corporate’s strategy (Porter & Kramer, 2006).

It is highlighted by Yuan et al. (2019) how CSR has been known for a long time as an effective way for organisations to develop resources or capabilities that lead to competitive advantages. Hejjas, Miller & Scarles (2019) describes that CSR is associated with a great number of organisational advantages, some of these advantages relates specifically to employees, such as recruitment, detainment, morale and productivity. According to Yuan et al. (2019), multiple research show that there are positive outcomes for those organisations that have CSR included in their business strategy. Hence, the business strategy is the fundamental determinant for an organisations CSR performance since at early stage, decides the approach of CSR performance.

2.2.1 CSR into Strategy

To implement CSR into the business strategy there is no method suitable to every organisation, each one has their unique physiognomies and circumstances that must be evaluated (Hohnen, 2007). There are signs that indicates the challenge to integrate the CSR elements, economic, social and environmental, into the day-to-day decision making process for management (Neergaard & Pedersen, 2014). Further, Neegard & Pedersen

Theoretical Framework

17

(2014) implies that managers are important players for change, as they are skilled to shape business practises by integrating CSR in the values, vision and mission. De Roeck & Moan (2018) argues that for an organisation to be as successful as possible the leaders and managers should consider employees as constituting a bridge between the internal and external activities of CSR. Sendlhofer (2019) explains that there are two motivators for why employees participate in actions of CSR, usually have a perception of a better future or personal winning. Important influencers of CSR implementation in the business strategy is the CEO, thus the CEO do rely on the understanding from managers for achievement (Reimer, Doorn, & Heyden, 2018).

Donia, Ronen, Tetrault Sirsly, & Bonaccio (2019) have explored the different attributions of CSR as it may be a genuine action or an action of greenwashing. The different attributes are explained as substantive CSR and symbolic CSR, where genuine is the substantive and the greenwash is symbolic. Donia et al., (2019) argues that both substantive and symbolic CSR affects the performance of the employees, even if the substantive is more attractive for job seekers. Sendlhofer (2019) implies that the importance that the interpretation of CSR for the individual employee and the organisational CSR are aligned. Further, explained to be even more important in smaller organisations were the structure is more diffuse. Neegard & Pedersen (2014) highlight the significance of evaluating CSR constantly. Consequently, if the organisation is genuine about their CSR work constant evaluation must be obvious.

2.3 Organisational Reaction to CSR Activities

2.3.1 Managers participation on CSR activities

Managers could face dilemmas regarding whether to approach CSR activities, especially when the action is philanthropically or unprofitable (Knox, 2018). According to Lythreatis and Wang (2019) it is key for the leadership to stay participative within CSR to manage the employees to increase performance and stay motivated. Tekleab et al. (2020) explains that research regarding the social motives of engagement within CSR shows that employees’ need and desires of participation of CSR relates to their leaders and organisations. According to Beaudoin, Cianci, Hannah, & Tsakumis (2019) it is possible that managers influence how the organisational CSR commitment is perceived, this may influence the ethical performance of individual as well. Beaudoin et al., (2019) states that corporate CSR commitment influence manager behaviour on an individual level, the

18

effects of the employees are difficult to define. Finally, Beaudoin et al., (2019) suggest that organisations should encourage managers to make decisions in the interest of the organisation instead of personal interest for greater CSR commitment.

2.3.2 Employee participation of CSR activities

The benefits of employee participation of CSR activities have been highlighted to result in improved organisational commitment, loyalty, satisfaction, performance and trust (De Roeck & Delobbe, 2012; Brieger, Anderer, Fröhlich, Bäro, & Meynhardt, 2019; Hejjas, Miller, & Scarles, 2019). According to Tekleab, Reagan, Do, Levi & Lichtman (2020) employees will become more engaged and motivated in CSR activities when their leaders show motivation and enthusiasm that goes beyond their requirements. Further, it is explained how the employee participation will not be a result of their personal benefits but also their relationships to others within the organisation. It is stated by Brieger et al. (2019) that when organisations implement CSR, the organisational culture will be inspired towards shared morals, goals and values that in the end will promote the employees’ responsibility and commitment.

The interpretation employees have of the organisations action on CSR will enhance their work, it is shown that employees with a positive interpretation are more likely to develop productivity and creativity (Hur, Moon, & Ko, 2018). Donia et al., (2019) explain how research have identified that employees do not only care about the organisational engagement of CSR but the fundamental reason for CSR engagement. It is stated in previous research and again identified by Serrano Archimi, Reynaud, Yasin, & Bhatti (2018) that the perceptions of employees’ organisational CSR perception influence the behaviour. Further, Serrano et al., (2018) highlighted the importance for organisations to have CSR policies, as it prevents employees to misunderstand the actions.

2.4 CSR alignment

Godwin & Glavas (2013) explore how organisations are perceived when perception and reality are misaligned or aligned regarding their actions of CSR. It is argued that the perception of an employee regarding what the organisations CSR behaviour is, are equality important as to understand the reality (Godwin & Glavas, 2013). The CSR perception of an organisations employees must be given attention and understood (Akremi, Gond, Swaen, De Roeck, & Igalens, 2018). Further Godwin & Glavas (2013) discuss how the organisational identification are affected by employee’s perception of CSR and the

Theoretical Framework

19

organisations measured CSR action. Hence, when there is either positive alignment or negative alignment the identification is strengthened since the view of perception and reality matches, just as it will for the employee with a positive misalignment it. The worse situation for an organisation is the negative misalignment, when the employee believes there are CSR actions within the firm and are proven wrong. This may have negative outcomes and Godwin & Glavas (2013) highlight how the employees may experience cognitive dissonance. If misalignment appears, managers should act and change their way of sharing information about the organisations CSR actions (Ng, Yam, & Aguinis, 2019). According to Tian & Robertsson (2019), scholars have linked organisational identification to employee behaviour and come to the realisation that any perceived differences between employees’ interest and the interest of the employer i.e. the organisation tend to be reduced when the employees embodies various aspects within their organisation into how they define themselves. Thus, generating a more powerful alignment between the organisational mission and goals and the employee (Tian & Robertsson, 2019). In addition, employees tend to internalise the values, beliefs’ and goals of the organisation, as their own (Ashforth, Harrison, & Corley, 2008).

2.5 Summary

The aim of this research is to fill the current gap in literature regarding the understanding of how the perception of CSR shapes the organisation from policy to practice throughout organisational levels. To garner insight into the topic of CSR perception, this research has provided an extensive frame of references to develop an understanding of current literature and scholarly argued and stated research. CSR has been around for more than 50 years and have been developed into corporates’ strategies in attempt to answer the consequences of their business actions. The CSR construct is set as a triple bottom line with economic, social and environmental performance. Over the years, macro-level CSR has been the focus for many scholars, but in recent years the focus of analysis has transposed into micro-level CSR. This is an important part as analysis of the individual perception of CSR is related to the aim of this research.

Furthermore, literature regarding CSR into corporate strategy, manager and employee perception of CSR, and the alignment of CSR incentives within the organisation has also facilitated the analysis of this research as current literature is compared with the retrieved

20

data. The current literature in relation to the retrieved data of this research have helped to elucidate discussions in attempt to answer the research questions of this report.

Research Methodology

21

3 Research Methodology

The chapter presents the methodology of the research, the research philosophy, approach, strategy and design will be explained as well as a discussion of the trustworthiness.

3.1 Research Philosophy

The research philosophy that is used constitutes important assumptions of how the world is perceived from the view of the researchers. These assumptions will underlie the research strategy and the methods adopted that aligns with that certain strategy. Furthermore, Easterby-Smith, Thorpe, Jackson & Jaspersen (2018) argue that research philosophy is the belief about a certain phenomenon that is supposed to be gathered, analysed and interpreted, consequently the idea of research philosophy includes being attentive as well as formulate assumptions and beliefs.

It is imperative, according to Easterby-Smith et al. (2018) to gain understanding of the ways one is engaging in the natural and social world, this can be associated with the study of epistemology. Epistemology is the study of knowledge theories i.e. how we know what we know. Sustained debate among social scientists has emerged as a ground focused on two views of how social research should be performed: positivism and social constructionism. Moreover, Easterby-Smith et al. (2018) explains that the positivistic view is created around the belief that the social world exists externally, with properties being measured through objective methods. Oppose to positivism, the idea of social constructionism is that “social reality” has many aspects and are decided people rather than external and objectives factors. Similarly, Saunders et al. (2015) states that the view of the subjectivist is that social phenomena are established from the interpretations and actions of social actors. Consequently, retrieving facts and analysing patterns of social behaviours should not be the sole task, but to also recognise different meanings and constructions that people interpret through experience (Easterby-Smith, Thorpe, Jackson, & Jaspersen, 2018).

This research will have a social constructivist approach since the aim is to examine different perceptions of a certain topic. CSR could be seen as a phenomenon that is socially constructed however, individuals will perceive different aspects and situations in different perspectives as result from their own way of observing the world (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2015). The qualitative method of this research enables rich data to be collected from interviews that will provide perceptions of how respondents not only interact with

22

their settings but also aim to make sense of the interactions through interpretations of their experiences within CSR implementation. The socially constructed interpretations of the respondents will therefore be meaningful to the empirical data of this research. Therefore, regarding the respondents that are studied in this research, it is imperative to try to interpret the respondents’ subjective reality in order to understand their motives, behaviour and aims.

3.2 Research Approach

A research can have two different types of approaches according to Saunders et al. (2015), deductive and inductive. A deductive approach is when a theory is developed by testing a hypothesis and an inductive approach is when a theory is developed by the data analysed from the data is collected. The research approach chosen is induction as it has strong connections with the social constructivism research philosophy and due to the unsuitableness of a deductive approach for this research since empirical data will be collected and then analysed.

A social constructivist philosophy is usually associated to a qualitative research, this since the aim with the research is to understand the subjective and socially constructed meanings that appear in the research (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2015). The basic principle of this research is based on developing a theory after the data has been collected, which relates to an inductive approach. The reason for choosing an inductive approach is to construct a rigid methodology that allows alternate explanations of different beliefs and perceptions, as oppose to deductive approach. Furthermore, as this research is concerned with the context in which the data will be retrieved, small number of samples from respondents will be more appropriate when using an inductive approach rather than large numbers of samples with deductive approach. According to Easterby-Smith et al. (2018) an inductive approach will also enable this research to understand what will work, and more interestingly, what will not work. By adapting an inductive approach, the researcher enable this research to make decisions about the design and give an overall composition about the research involving what kind of evidence is retrieved and how the evidence is interpreted in order to answer the question of this research in a good way. The development of the inductive approach for this research will be based on the perception of CSR depending on the organisational position that the respondents hold, with the aim to derive in a conclusion drawn from this empirical data (i.e. primary and secondary data). Further, since CSR in practice is socially constructed and to understand the perceptions of

Research Methodology

23

CSR across different organisational levels it is appropriate to retrieve subjective experiences of practitioners in the field, specifically within the construction industry.

3.3 Research Method

There are two different types of research methods, qualitative approach and quantitative approach according to Saunders et al. (2015). These methods are used to differentiate both techniques of data collection and procedures in data analysis. However, Saunders et al. (2015) explains that quantitative and qualitative methods are used in a wide range within business and management research, the two methods can be distinguished by their focus on numeric (numbers) data which is related to quantitative research or non-numeric (words) data which relates to qualitative research. The method used for this research is a qualitative method, due to the focus on the in-depth words collected from interview, and objective observations.

3.3.1 Qualitative Research

Saunders et al. (2015) states that by using multiple techniques for collecting and analysing the data researchers study participants, meaning and relationships with the aim to provide theoretical contributions through a conceptual framework. It is further explained that the qualitative research does not need to use a standardise technique for the data collection and that the procedure can change and develop during the research (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2015). With the aim to understand opinions, reasons and drivers of the interviewees it is suitable that the research is qualitative. The outcome of the research is unclear, by using a qualitative research it is possible to focus on the words and go deeper into the situations. It is possible to evaluate the data collected and analyse it.

3.4 Research Strategy

Experiment, survey, case study and grounded theory are a few of multiple strategies that can be used for a research, which strategy that is most suitable for a research depends on if the approach is deductive or inductive (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2015). Research questions formulated with ‘what’ and ‘how’ Saunders et al. (2015) argues that a case study is the most suitable strategy.. As this research conduct an inductive approach and the research questions are formulated with the goal of understanding ‘how’ the authors argue that a case study would be the most suitable strategy. The aim of this research is to examine perceptions between organisational levels, therefore two levels within one case company

24

has been included to retrieve subjective answers. Since the aim is to elucidate perceptions of CSR within the same organisation, it is more likely that the finding is generalizable using one case company.

It is explained by Yin (2014) that a case study is a strategy by which multiple sources are used while exploring a phenomenon. Saunders et al. (2015) clarifies that the differences between a case study and experiment is the evident of the phenomenon studies, it is not as controlled in a case study as it is when conducting an experiment. This research will adapt a single-case study as it will be conducted at one construction company using interviews, observations and document studies as methods.

3.5 Sampling Strategy

The sampling strategy has been conducted in two steps, first by selecting the case company and second selecting the participants. For both selections, a non-probability sampling strategy were chosen to be used. Saunders et al. (2015) clarifies that the non-probability sampling strategy has multiple technique that can be used for sampling selections, for example self-selections sampling, snowball sampling and purposive sampling. In this research the purposive sampling is the most suitable since the aim is to work with a small sample within a case study. Thus, snowball sampling will be used as well to identify more participants within the case company. Before the case company and participants were selected a list of principles were conducted that needed to be fulfilled in order to be selected for the research. Finally, the sample selection resulted in one case company with several participants being interviewed. The participants have different positions within the organisation, equally divided between the levels to analyse the alignments between them.

3.6 Data Collection

By using the right method for the research question the possibility to answer the research questions increases, especially if multiple methods are applied (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2015). Further, Saunders et al. (2015) explains how the collected data can be seen as primary or secondary data depending on the purpose of the collection, primary data is self-collected while as the secondary data is reanalysed and from pervious collections. Saunders et al. (2015) highlight the importance of analysing the secondary data, to ensure that the data is updated and accurate by the source providing the data.

Research Methodology

25

For this research both primary and secondary data has been collected as the methods selected are interviews as the most relied source of sampling, with observations and document studies to utilise valuable information. By conducting semi-structured interviews and perform observations deep and comprehensive data have been the primary source of the empirical data and to bring context to the primary data document studies has been used as the secondary source. The documents that has been studied are policies and other official documents from the case company in order to retrieve information of their current CSR incentives. Furthermore, to put the collected data in relation to the already existing theories to reach a more trustworthy result, therefore the data collected was analysed and compared with the theoretical framework developed.

3.6.1 Interviews

According to Saunders et al. (2015) an interview is a conversation where the interviewer asks questions that the interviewee is willing to give answers to. The power of using interviews is also highlighted as it is possible to gather effective and trustworthy data, especially if the questions are relevant and the focus on listening to the answers to truly understand the context. Furthermore, Saunders et al. (2015) explains that interviews are a good method for collecting primary data and how there are the different types, for example structured interviews, semi-structured interviews and unstructured interviews.

A list of questions was developed before the interviews and can be found in Appendice 8.3. The questions were later used as a guideline for each interview, instead of questioning each question the interview was performed more as a conversation for around 35-60 minutes with open ended questions in order to gain thicker answers since it is not possible that the respondent answer yes or no. In addition, the open-ended questions helped to avoid bias as the researchers will not be able to influence the answers of the respondent. This research conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with members from the case company, where both researchers participated in asking questions and to maintain consistency only one took notes. The benefit of conducting semi-structured interviews is that it is possible to ask follow-up questions, for example ‘why’ to gain even deeper understanding of the statement and the context of the answer according to Easterby-Smith et al. (2018). The semi-structured interviews initially started off with a wide scope to later letting the conversation narrow down to relevant stand points. Questions that where asked in the initial stage of the interview were standardised across all interviewees. The initial stage included questions regarding the experience within the company, organisational

26

position, and general questions about daily activities. The later stage of the interviews developed into more elaborative conversations where different themes emerged. The different interviewees differentiated in positions between both project managers and team leaders within the organisational. Illustrated in Table 1, is a detailed list of the length of the interviews, number of interviews, and position of the interviewee within the organisation.

Table 1 List of participants

Participant Position Time

1 2 3 4 5 6 Project Manager 1 Project Manager 2 Project Manager 3 Team Leader 1 Team Leader 2 Team Leader 3 45 min 50 min 35 min 60 min 40 min 55 min

The interviews have been contributed at projects sites of the case company with the aim to ensure that the interviewee feel comfortable. Moreover, due to the current situation some of the interviews have been conducted virtually but contributed with the same structure.

3.6.2 Observations

An observation is described by Saunders et al. (2015) to be a method of understanding and analysing the behaviour of people, participant observation and structured observation are the two traditional approaches usually used. Which approach that is the most suitable can usually be identified based on of the research is qualitative or quantitative, this as the participant observation is qualitative and the structured observation is quantitative. Since the research is a qualitative research the most suitable approach for the observation is the participant observation. Saunders et al. (2015) explains that dependent on the goal of the observation four types of participant observations can be used, complete participant, complete observer, observer-as-participant and participant-as-observer. For this research the non-participant type observer was used to gather insight from the construction sites, thus the researchers stayed passive and not active during the observations. As presented in Table 2 below, two observations occurred during real time construction projects to locate behaviours while organisational members underwent daily activities. Furthermore, notes during the observation were used to highlight the most relevant and important details.

Research Methodology

27 Table 2 List of observations

Observation Location Time

1 2 Project Site 1 Project Site 2 20 min 30 min

The observations gave insight in the daily activates that underwent within both project sites. Observation at project site 1 was conducted in the earlier stage of the research and the second in the later stage. At project site 1, the authors were given a guided tour around the facility by one project manager, where different areas and activities were introduced. The project manager guided the tour in order to gain knowledge about a typical construction site. Further, the project manager aimed to illustrate the practices that they did in line with CSR policies brought up during the interview. The second observation was conducted more astronomically, where the authors observed project site 2 more independently in attempt to elucidate any obvious activates that related to CSR.

3.6.3 Document Research

Saunders et al. (2015) states that there are multiple different categories of documents available such minutes of meetings, policy documents and personnel records. However, documents that has been created for a different purpose than a research are considered to be secondary data as it is possible to use the documents and analyse them again. By analysing documents from the case company, such as policies, business strategy and certificates it is possible to collect complementary data. The documents analysed are presented in Table 3 below.

Table 3 List of document research

Document Purpose Retrieved

Codes of conduct Business Strategy

Certificate

Guidelines & rules for the employees’ Develop an understanding of the case

company

Corporate Responsibility policies

April 15th April 15th March 27th The rules, facts and recommendations written in documents such as code of conduct and agreements and comparing this to the data collected from the interviews and observations it is possible to understand the situation deeply. All the documents have been provided by participants during interviews. All documents retrieved from the case company was

28

secondary data, as these were used when comparing with the primary data from the interviews. The use of the document has been limited due to the privacy, stated by the case company.

3.7 Data Analysis

The research is of a qualitative approach meaning that the data collected will be without numbers, Saunders et al. (2015) implies the data should therefore be transcribed. Transcribed data is explained by Saunders et al. (2015) to be the process of reproduce non-numeric data into words, this can be conducted before, during or soon after the collection of data. Saunders et al. (2015) highlight the importance of the interest by the interviewer to note not only what is being said during interviews but how it is being said.

In Figure 4 the data analysis process is illustrated. The foundation for the theoretical framework was developed with theories relevant to the purpose and research questions by a literature review. To develop the empirical data, a case study was conducted through three methods, interviews, observations and document studies which were analysed to establish triangulation. Finally, the result where given by comparing and analysing the empirical data in comparison to the theoretical framework. Data collected from interviews are the primary source, observation and documents studies are used as a compliment for thicker information. These results in the empirical data that later is compared and analysed with the theoretical framework. The collected data was inductively analysed and provided the base of rigours collecting and analysing qualitative data. In addition, facilitating a base to outline the themes and dimensions through examining and comparing key events (Corley & Gioia, 2004).

Research Methodology

29 Figure 4 Data Analysis Process

3.7.1 Data analysis techniques

In order to garner more insight and understanding of the different perceptions of CSR implementation and how the alignment follow through depending on the organisational position that employees hold, this research has implemented a flexible and open interviewing techniques. It was imperative to make sure that the interviewing technique encourage the interviewee to express themselves freely and openly. Furthermore, the information retrieved from the multiple interviews was later analysed with the aim to detect possible similarities and differences within the organisation.

According to Easterby-Smith et al. (2018), language data is commonly used as a tool of collecting and garner insight into organisational and social realities, specifically within the field of management research. The analysis began by identifying relevant concepts retrieved from the interviews and grouped them into different categories, open coding (Corley & Gioia, 2004). This step included to establish codes i.e. descriptive phrases that encapsulate the answers from the interviewees. Second step was to engage in axial coding, which included searching for relationships within these categories to ease the assembling of the categories into different themes. In the last step, similar themes were retrieved in order to gather them into overall dimensions that established the base of the eruptive

30

framework. The data structure with the first order concepts, codes, second order themes, and finally the aggregate dimensions are presented in three figures, Figure 6, and Figure 8.

3.8 Research Quality

3.8.1 Trustworthiness

Lincoln and Guba (1985) explain the importance of evaluating the quality of a research and present a framework to implement to achieve trustworthiness. It is further explained how trustworthiness can be guaranteed through four criteria, creditability, transferability, dependability and confirmability. However, to establish a fair trustworthiness Saunders et al. (2015) states that there are multiple techniques that may be implemented, for example triangulation and prolonged engagement.

Creditability

Lincoln and Guba (1985) describes that creditability can be ensured by the internal validity, methods suggested to be used are for example triangulation and member checking. Triangulation is a technique of using two or more methods of data collection to evaluate the accuracy of what has been collected (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2015). The three methods of collecting the empirical data, interviews, observations and document studies has been triangulated to ensure the accuracy and trustworthiness.

In order to make the collecting of empirical data believable for the attendant both researchers were participating in the observation. In addition, the preparation of the observation with creation of a framework with regards to the purpose of this research enhanced the creditability of this research. To ensure creditability the data and interpretations collected from the interviews were discussed and afterwards presented to the interviewee to eliminate any possible misunderstanding.

Transferability

The external validity and the ability of generalise the research indicates the level of transferability according to Lincoln and Guba (1985), described to be accomplished by thick description. To ensure transferability, the comprehensive information regarding the research sections should be applicable to others. The transferability has been considered thoroughly throughout this research. With the goal to increase the transferability of this research the researchers have made comprehensive theoretical research to create a solid framework for the case company.

Research Methodology

31

Dependability

Stated by Lincoln and Guba (1985), dependability associates to the reliability of the research. Further explained to be the possibility for the researchers to ensure that the research process is presented in detail, to confirm that if the same research were to be conducted by other researchers the outcome would give the same result (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Furthermore, with constant communication with both case company and academic supervisor, the interpreted data collected, and conclusion drawn from them is evaluated constantly, which increases the dependability. The collected data has also been described in detail to guarantee that it is dependable.

Confirmability

Confirmability is associated with the research objectiveness according to Lincoln and Guba (1985). However, only if creditability, transferability and dependability is reached the confirmability is accomplished. Lincoln and Guba (1985) highlight the importance of the results not being based in the researchers’ personal motivations and bias, to ensure this in qualitative research interviews can for example be recorded. By putting a lot of effort into reaching a valid level of creditability, transferability and dependability it is possible to argue to a level of confirmability.

3.8.2 Ethics

When planning a research, accessing individuals and organisations, collecting, analysing and reporting the data, ethical concerns will inevitably emerge. Saunders et al. (2015), explains that within the context of research, ethics relates to the behaviour from the research in line with the rights and what is appropriate to the subjects within the research, or those affected by it. Furthermore, research ethics relates to how the researchers, in a responsible and moral way formulate the research topic and design, access, collect and analysing the data, as well as stating the research findings (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2015). With the topic of CSR being the focus in this research, which has ethics as one of the predominate parts, considerations of how to manage the ethics of this research must be made clear and has been discussed together with other researchers.

To ensure that all participants were aware of the research aim, all interviewees had to read and sign a consent agreement before the interviews started. The consent agreement informed about the possibility to remain anonymous and since some of the interviewees preferred to do so the decision was made that aliases would be used to everyone

32

participating. Further, recording and transcripts has been limited to only be accessible to the researcher themselves to make sure that the anonymity is remaining.

The ethical concerns in this research have been acknowledged and brought to consideration for full transparency towards those who are subject to this research. Moreover, those ethical concerns stated in this section will be managed through a morally and responsible approaches. Due to the interdependency of the research is it possible to argue for that there has been no associations that could affect the results, this as the research is not in collaboration with a specific organisation.

Examining how the alignment of perceptions will shape the CSR implementation depending on the organisational level the ethical implication must be evaluated as the results may influences individuals’ life. Since the research will examine how the behaviour of employees, managers and leaders affect the implementation of CSR. However, there is no indication that the findings of the research will have any major implications since the aim is to develop a deeper understanding of how CSR shape the alignment.

Empirical Findings

33

4 Empirical Findings

The chapter presents empirical findings from both primary and secondary data collected through interviews which are supported by observations and document research.

4.1 Case study

The case study was conducted at a medium sized construction company in the Jönköping area. Through conducting the case study, the aim of this research is to fill the current gap in literature regarding the understanding of how the perception of CSR shapes the organisation from policy to practice throughout organisational levels. The case company was established in 2005 and has a rapid growth since then, with focus on both large construction sites (e.g. apartment buildings and warehouses) and small sites (e.g. small condominiums). The case study has been conducted through both interviews, observations, and document research at the case company. The interviews consisted of six participants with three project managers and three team leaders. An organisational chart is illustrated in Figure 5, to show the levels included in the research.

Figure 5 Organisational Chart

The observations were conducted at two different construction sites at the case company, project site 1 and project site 2. The data collected from the case study was used in the data structure to conduct open and axial coding with the aim to establish different aggregative dimensions originating from the interviews.

4.2 CSR Goals & Action

Through the empirical data using both primary and secondary data, CSR goals and CSR actions has been identified, presented in Table 4 below. Secondary data has been collected through document research illustrated in Table 3 in chapter 3.6.3. The secondary data