The Relationship Between Financial Perfprmance and Corporate Social Resposibility on Saudi Electricity Company - Case Study Example

The pragmatic parallel mixed methods design was adopted for the study using the questionnaire, structured interview guide and content analysis were the primary instruments utilized in the collection of data. A total of 500 respondents participated in the study. These respondents represented the five sectors considered in the study, namely: the community residents, SEC employees, SEC managers, personnel from other establishments (i.e., the marketplace) and the government.  A combination of sampling techniques was used in this study: stratified random sampling, for the community respondents and SEC employees; simple random sampling, for the respondents of other companies; and purposive sampling for SEC managers and a representative from the Saudi government ministries.

Data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistical measures. The testing of hypotheses was performed using a two-tailed analysis and a 0.05 level of significance.Findings revealed that financial performance is significantly related only to societal perceptions about the firm’s corporate social responsibility. However, no significant association was observed between financial performance on one hand, and the variables expenditures on CSR programs, SEC stock prices, and oil prices.

Results also showed that by and large, the respondents view environment-related facets of CSR to be most important and programs that help safeguard the environment to be most beneficial. No significant differences in the perception of the respondents were detected when the respondents were grouped according to the sector they represent, age and gender.Among the recommendations formulated based on the findings include: enhancing community awareness about SEC’s stance on its “good neighbor” commitment and how the firm’s CSR programs are serving the society; maintenance of the companies good reputation by being social and ethically responsible; increasing company visibility in the community as a result of positive experiences in their operations and CSR programs, etc.