Corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement in the Ghanaian Construction Industry

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Date
2015-04-24
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Abstract
In the last two decades, business managers have come under pressure to allocate scarce corporate resources to the environment that is continually mounting pressure on them. This concept of allocating scarce resources has gained currency recently, although its existence can be traced some late decades. However, to the increasing consternation of construction companies, efforts to affect communities positively are not appreciated by the public. The aim of this study was to explore the extent of corporate social responsibility engagement by D1K1 contractors in the Ghanaian Construction Industry. Hence the study was guided by the following objectives in achieving the aim including; to identify the drivers of CSR engagement by D1K1 construction companies in the Ghanaian Construction Industry; to identify the benefits of CSR engagement in the constr uction industry; and to explore the inherent challenges of CSR engagement by D1K1 construction companies in Ghana. The study adopted quantitative research strategy. Subsequently, survey questionnaire was used to elicit response from the target population. The data gathered was subjected to rigorous analysis involving one sample t -test and relative importance index. Based on the overall sample, the findings revealed that the identified drivers were all significant obtaining mean score values exceeding 3.50 i.e. the hypothesized mean. Likewise the challenges and the benefits. However, some of the factors emerged as strong among the variables. Brand name and Consumer demands ranked 1 st and 2 nd drivers respectively. Under the challenges, Time consuming and communication were the first two challenges. The activities the contractors usually engage in were more of internal rather than pertaining to the society as a whole. It is recommended that central regulatory body to oversee the CSR activities be set up, rating agencies and rewarding structures must be put in place and ultimately, companies must develop coherent strategies to address CSR engagement. The study is an epitome of CSR in the Ghanaian construction industry.
Description
A dissertation presented to the Department of Building Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of a Master of Science (MSc.) in Construction Management,
Keywords
Corporate Social Responsibility, Engagement, D1K1 contractors, Ghanaian Construction Industry, Core business
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