The impact of corporate social responsibility on the reputation of universities within developing countries: Evidence from Jordan

• Published date: 01 December 2022
• Author: Mohammad. M Taamneh,Rokaya. Q Albdareen,Shaker A. Aladwan,Abdallah. M Taamneh
• Date: 01 December 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2807

RESEARCH ARTICLE

The impact of corporate social responsibility on the

reputation of universities within developing countries:

Evidence from Jordan

Mohammad. M Taamneh

1

| Rokaya. Q Albdareen

1

| Shaker A. Aladwan

2

|

Abdallah. M Taamneh

1

1

Department of HRM, Jadara University, Irbid,

Jordan

2

Chairman of Public Administration Dep.

Faculty of Economics and Administrative

Sciences, Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan

Correspondence

Shaker A. Aladwan, Department of Public

Administration, Public Administration -

Excellence and Quality, Faculty of Economics

and Administrative Sciences, P.O. Box

566 (21163), Yarmouk University,

Irbid, Jordan.

Email: shaker@yu.edu.jo,shakeraladwan@

gmail.com

This paper aims to investigate the impact of corporate social responsibility on organi-

zational reputation in Jordanian universities. Quantitative approach was adopted;

electronic survey was employed wherein there was distribution of questionnaires to

a sample of employees selected through a simple random approach. The sample was

made up of a total of 340 employees based within both private and public universi-

ties in Jordan. This current study was founded upon the assumption that the commit-

ment of organizations to social responsibility leads to increases in their abilities to

achieve an organizational reputation that is good. The findings showed that all social

responsibility practices (ethical, philanthropic and legal) have a significant and posi-

tive impact upon improving organizational reputation. In addition, the findings found

that the legal responsibility is considered most practiced in Jordanian universities

followed by ethical responsibility. Finally, there no significant impact for economic

responsibility on organizational reputation. This paper can provide theoretical and

practical contribution to social corporate responsibility and organizational reputation

knowledge through explored the role of social responsibility in organizational reputa-

tion in new context in general and universities in particular.

KEYWORDS

corporate social responsibility, Jordan, organizational reputation, public universities

1|INTRODUCTION

The system of education is seen as a key central issue for all nations

across the world since it is the bedrock to every aspect of social and

economic development. So that success can be ensured within such a

competitive, international environment, there is a need for institutions

of higher education to meet expectations held by various stakeholders.

Interests ought to extend to various employees and their families, the

environment, and numerous societal groups so that charitable, health

and developmental purposes can be served as well as the achievement

of profits for the associated shareholders (Fombrun et al., 2015). Pro-

cesses for evaluation of institutionsneed to look beyond just evaluation

of financial matters and profits accrued; instead, suitable evaluations

require consideration of social responsibilities, the reputation of the

organization in question and the ability for provision of an appropriate

work environment that can deal with rapid societal change and devel-

opment. It was emphasized by Altbach(2012) that universities offer an

ideal setting for ecosystems involving thinkers willing to work hard to

search for fresh ideas to contribute toward the development and

advancement of society. For a university to morefully play out its role,

it has to have sound awareness of the importance of its part in inter-

acting with the community. As an integral part of society, universities

have reciprocal relationships within which they are affected by society

and vice versa,and the reputation of the organization is a keyconsider-

ation since stakeholders base their decision making upon the status of

that reputation(Carpenter, 2010).

Received: 28 June 2021 Revised: 4 December 2021 Accepted: 18 December 2021

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2807

J Public Affairs. 2022;22(Suppl. 1):e2807. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1of11

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2807