Corporate social responsibility, competitive advantage and profitability: A case study of a telecommunications provider in an emerging economy

This was a qualitative case study exploring the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on competitive advantage and profitability of a multinational telecommunications corporation in an emerging economy. Methodology of the study followed a single-case embedded design and patterned studies dating back to 1956. The study was a single experiment which tested the relevance of a well-formulated and proposed theory, and was conducted in an environment where circumstances were proposed as true (Yin, 2009. Case Study Research: Design and Methods, Applied Social Research Methods Series, 4th ed., Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage). The first research question addresses how CSR-sponsored initiatives affected organizational competitiveness. The second research question addressed how CSR-sponsored initiatives affect profitability. Emerging economies are increasingly more important to the growth of the world economy as international players enter the very diverse and changing global playing field. Study data emerged from corporate websites, observations, and interviews with executives, employees, and CSR beneficiaries. The study revealed a strategic alignment of CSR and corporate strategies as the corporation employed principles of the stakeholder theory. The study showed that in an emerging economy sustainability, socioeconomic growth, positive cultural impact, and economic benefits must be implicit in the objectives of CSR initiatives to ensure their positive effects on profitability and competitive advantage. Emerging economies generally operate in an environment that displays these similar attributes; therefore, it is critical that the trajectory of CSR initiatives maintain an alignment with that of the emerging economy so that both phenomena can share the ride of the wave of economic growth to result in maximum impact.