Corporate Social Responsibility: A Quantitative Analysis of the Differences between Black and White Employees in the Financial Services Industry

Abstract

 Corporate social responsibility initiatives affect all stakeholders within an organization to varying degrees. There is often a lack of understanding by key company decision-makers of how CSR activities affect employees of different races. The purpose of this casual-comparative study was to examine the differences in mean CSR scores between employees in the financial services industry who self-identify their race as White or Black. The stakeholder theory, which stresses the interconnectedness of various organizational stakeholders, provided the theoretical framework of this study. One hundred and fifty participants employed in the financial services sector and living in the Midwest region of the US were recruited to complete Turker's CSR survey. An Independent Samples t-test was used to evaluate the mean differences in CSR scores in Black and White employees. The findings indicated a statistically significant difference between the two groups' attitudes and perceptions of CSR. An organization's leadership team should be mindful of these differences when creating and implementing CSR initiatives, as it may impact their ability to recruit and retain top talent and maximize their overall profitability.