An Educational Intervention on Chinese Business Students’ Orientation Towards Corporate Social Responsibility

Po May Daphne WONG; Kerry J. Kennedy; Zi YAN

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An Educational Intervention on Chinese Business Students’ Orientation Towards Corporate Social Responsibility

Po May Daphne WONG

College of Professional and Continuing Education, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Kerry J. Kennedy

The Education University of Hong Kong and University of Johannesburg

Zi YAN

The Education University of Hong Kong

Volume 18: 2021 pp. 79-102: ABSTRACT

A one-day educational intervention with multiple activities was developed and operationalized with a sample of Chinese business students in Hong Kong, China. Its effectiveness in influencing students’ corporate social responsibility orientation (CSRO) was measured with a Chinese version of a forced choice scale using Economic, Legal, Ethical, and Discretionary (Philanthropy) dimensions by Carroll (1979, 1991). A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) showed significant differences in the Legal and Discretionary dimensions between the post-test Experimental (X) group (N=82) and Control (C) group (N=83); in the Legal, Ethical, and Discretionary dimensions within the pre-post X group. Such significant differences may be explained by the content of the activities, especially the service learning component. Overall, the intervention appeared effective in influencing students’ CSRO within a Chinese context. Since it was designed upon Western CSR literature, its applicability goes beyond the Chinese community.