The Relationship Between Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility and Affective Commitment of Employees in a Local Government Unit

Abstract

The increase in the empirical understanding of corporate social responsibility (CSR) arises from organizations acknowledging the long-term gains of CSR initiatives on internal and external levels. Economic downturns such as the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the significance of CSR towards different stakeholders and concurrently introduced new and remote forms of employment and work opportunities. The recent shift in stakeholder or community demands and work arrangements provides a basis for a research approach regarding CSR and organizational commitment. The study applied the Social Exchange Theory to explore the relationship between employees’ perception of their LGU’s CSR activities and their affective organizational commitment, mediated by perceived organizational support to explain the underlying psychological process between the variables. The study analyzed corporate social responsibility, affective organizational commitment, and perceived organizational support within a Local Government Unit in Negros Occidental, Philippines. An online survey construct questionnaire was administered among 85 employees. A correlational analysis using R revealed (1) high levels of PCSR within the LGU, (2) high level of AOC within the LGU, (3) the weak to moderate relationships between the PCSR dimensions to the level of AOC, (4) the social and non-social stakeholder dimension of CSR as the strongest predictor of AOC among the CSR dimensions, and (5) the significant indirect effect of POS as a mediator. The results also revealed insignificant differences between demographic characteristics of the survey respondents. The findings determined the value of CSR dimensions to employee commitment and contributed to understanding the CSR-AOC link within a CSR-centric government unit. Keywords: perceived corporate social responsibility, perceived organizational support, affective organizational commitment, Social Exchange Theory.