Trust as a Moderating Factor Between Employees' Perceptions of Corporate Social Responsibility and Organizational Commitment

Abstract

This research focused on the moderating influence of trust on the relationship between Employees' perception of Corporate Social Responsibility and organizational commitment among the employees of Company X. In this study, it is hypothesized that: (1) there is a positive relationship between employees, perception of their company9 s social responsibilities and organizational commitment; (2) there is a positive relationship between employees * perception of their company's social responsibilities and the three dimensions of commitment: affective, normative, and continuance; (3) trust has a moderating influence on the relationship between employees, perception of their company's social responsibilities and organizational commitment; and (4) trust has a moderating influence on the relationship between employees' perception of their company's social responsibilities and the three dimensions of commitment: affective, normative, and continuance. To test these hypotheses, a number of 120 employees of Company X were chosen through simple random sampling and were surveyed. Of these 120, only 105 came back with full answers. Employees5 perception of CSR was determined through the instrument adapted from Maignan et al (1990), organizational trust was measured using the scale developed by Binikos (2006), and the instrument for determining the organizational commitment was the Revised Affective, Normative, and Continuance Commitment by Meyer and Allen (1997). Data collection was done through the distribution and collection of a four-part questionnaire. Each of the dimensions of CSR was correlated with each of the component of organizational commitment using Pearson5s r. The resulting values indicated whether there is correlation between the compared variables, as well as the degree of the correlation. Confirmatory data analysis or test of significance was then performed to know whether the relationship were significant or not and to eliminate the possibility that the resulting correlation happens only by chance. To test whether employees' perception of CSR and organizational commitment is moderated by the organizational trust, regression analysis was used. The findings of the study supported all the hypotheses. The present study found that there is a positive and significant correlation between perceptions of CSR and organizational commitment and that organizational trust has a significant moderating influence on the relationship between the two constructs. Furthermore, it is found that among the CSR dimensions, employees of Company X ascribed more favorable perceptions to their company's legal and ethical responsibilities and they have higher levels of continuance and normative commitment. In keeping with the literature and the significant findings of this research, conclusions and recommendations were made fOr Company X and for future researchers.