IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transa/v98y2017icp1-13.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Corporate social responsibility and classical competitive strategies of maritime transport firms: A contingency-fit perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Yuen, Kum Fai
  • Thai, Vinh V.
  • Wong, Yiik Diew

Abstract

Drawing on path dependence theory, this paper argues that the financial benefits from engaging Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are contingent on the primary competitive strategy employed by shipping firms. Survey data were collected from 223 shipping firms operating in Singapore and analysed using hierarchical regression modelling. The results reveal that there are greater financial benefits for shipping firms employing the strategy of differentiation (rather than that of low-cost) to implement CSR by virtue of greater mass in existing complementary resources (operational fit) as well as inherent congruency with customers’ value orientation (customer fit).

Suggested Citation

  • Yuen, Kum Fai & Thai, Vinh V. & Wong, Yiik Diew, 2017. "Corporate social responsibility and classical competitive strategies of maritime transport firms: A contingency-fit perspective," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 1-13.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:98:y:2017:i:c:p:1-13
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2017.01.020
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856416306632
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tra.2017.01.020?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hongwei He & Yan Li, 2011. "CSR and Service Brand: The Mediating Effect of Brand Identification and Moderating Effect of Service Quality," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 100(4), pages 673-688, June.
    2. Lagoudis, Ioannis N. & Theotokas, Ioannis, 2007. "Chapter 4 The Competitive Advantage in the Greek Shipping Industry," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 95-120, January.
    3. Wagner, Marcus, 2010. "The role of corporate sustainability performance for economic performance: A firm-level analysis of moderation effects," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(7), pages 1553-1560, May.
    4. Yuen, Kum Fai & Thai, Vinh V. & Wong, Yiik Diew, 2016. "The effect of continuous improvement capacity on the relationship between of corporate social performance and business performance in maritime transport in Singapore," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 62-75.
    5. Zhi Tang & Clyde Eiríkur Hull & Sandra Rothenberg, 2012. "How Corporate Social Responsibility Engagement Strategy Moderates the CSR–Financial Performance Relationship," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(7), pages 1274-1303, November.
    6. Anis Ben Brik & Belaid Rettab & Kamel Mellahi, 2011. "Market Orientation, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Business Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 99(3), pages 307-324, March.
    7. Drobetz, Wolfgang & Merikas, Andreas & Merika, Anna & Tsionas, Mike G., 2014. "Corporate social responsibility disclosure: The case of international shipping," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 18-44.
    8. Seo, Kwanglim & Moon, Joonho & Lee, Seoki, 2015. "Synergy of corporate social responsibility and service quality for airlines: The moderating role of carrier type," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 126-134.
    9. Vinh V. Thai & Linkesh Balasubramanyam & Karen Kai Lin Yeoh & Sofian Norsofiana, 2013. "Revisiting the seafarer shortage problem: the case of Singapore," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(1), pages 80-94, January.
    10. Photis M. Panayides, 2003. "Competitive strategies and organizational performance in ship management," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(2), pages 123-140, January.
    11. Marc Orlitzky & Diane L. Swanson, 2008. "Corporate Social and Financial Performance: An Integrative Review," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Toward Integrative Corporate Citizenship, chapter 4, pages 83-120, Palgrave Macmillan.
    12. I. N. Lagoudis & C. S. Lalwani & M.M. Naim, 2006. "Ranking of factors contributing to higher performance in the ocean transportation industry: a multi-attribute utility theory approach," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(4), pages 345-369, September.
    13. Duygu Turker, 2009. "Measuring Corporate Social Responsibility: A Scale Development Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 85(4), pages 411-427, April.
    14. Acquaah, Moses & Yasai-Ardekani, Masoud, 2008. "Does the implementation of a combination competitive strategy yield incremental performance benefits? A new perspective from a transition economy in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(4), pages 346-354, April.
    15. Marc Orlitzky & Diane L. Swanson, 2008. "Toward Integrative Corporate Citizenship," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-59470-8, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Caiyun Cui & Meng Liu & Yong Liu & Bo Xia & Martin Skitmore & Guobo Han, 2021. "The Influence of Passengers’ Perceived Social Responsibility Efforts on Their Satisfaction in Public-Private-Partnership Urban Rail Transit Projects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-16, November.
    2. Lijun Tang & Victor Gekara, 2020. "The Importance of Customer Expectations: An Analysis of CSR in Container Shipping," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(3), pages 383-393, September.
    3. Yuen, Kum Fai & Thai, Vinh V. & Wong, Yiik Diew & Wang, Xueqin, 2018. "Interaction impacts of corporate social responsibility and service quality on shipping firms’ performance," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 397-409.
    4. Su, Lujun & Gong, Qi & Huang, Yinghua, 2020. "How do destination social responsibility strategies affect tourists’ intention to visit? An attribution theory perspective," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    5. Anastasia Christodoulou & Kevin Cullinane, 2021. "Potential for, and drivers of, private voluntary initiatives for the decarbonisation of short sea shipping: evidence from a Swedish ferry line," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 23(4), pages 632-654, December.
    6. Zeeshan Raza & Johan Woxenius & Christian Finnsgård, 2019. "Slow Steaming as Part of SECA Compliance Strategies among RoRo and RoPax Shipping Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-19, March.
    7. Anastasia Christodoulou & Kevin Cullinane, 0. "Potential for, and drivers of, private voluntary initiatives for the decarbonisation of short sea shipping: evidence from a Swedish ferry line," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 0, pages 1-23.
    8. Bruce Gashema, 2021. "Predicting innovative work behaviors through transformational leadership:The moderating role of corporate social responsibility," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 10(1), pages 69-84, January.
    9. Yuen, Kum Fai & Wang, Xueqin & Wong, Yiik Diew & Zhou, Qingji, 2018. "The effect of sustainable shipping practices on shippers’ loyalty: The mediating role of perceived value, trust and transaction cost," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 123-135.
    10. Henry Schwartz & Tomi Solakivi & Magnus Gustafsson, 2022. "Is There Business Potential for Sustainable Shipping? Price Premiums Needed to Cover Decarbonized Transportation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-20, May.
    11. Kong, Dongmin & Cheng, Xu & Jiang, Xiandeng, 2021. "Effects of political promotion on local firms’ social responsibility in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 418-429.
    12. Yuen, Kum Fai & Wang, Xueqin & Wong, Yiik Diew & Ma, Fei, 2019. "A contingency view of the effects of sustainable shipping exploitation and exploration on business performance," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 90-103.
    13. Yuen, Kum Fai & Thai, Vinh V. & Wong, Yiik Diew, 2018. "An investigation of shippers’ satisfaction and behaviour towards corporate social responsibility in maritime transport," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 275-289.
    14. Yuen, Kum Fai & Wang, Xueqin & Wong, Yiik Diew & Li, Kevin X., 2020. "The role of stakeholder participation and sustainability integration in maritime transport: A structure-conduct-performance analysis," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 44-53.
    15. Liu, Jiaguo & Gu, Bingmei & Chen, Jihong, 2023. "Enablers for maritime supply chain resilience during pandemic: An integrated MCDM approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    16. Julen Castillo‐Apraiz & Jesus Matey, 2020. "Customizing competitive strategy to entry timing: Implications for firm performance in the pharmaceutical industry," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(6), pages 976-985, September.
    17. Arthur J. Lin & Hai-Yen Chang & Brian Hung, 2022. "Identifying Key Financial, Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG), Bond, and COVID-19 Factors Affecting Global Shipping Companies—A Hybrid Multiple-Criteria Decision-Making Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-29, April.
    18. Olympia Nisiforou & Louisa Marie Shakou & Afroditi Magou & Alexandros G. Charalambides, 2022. "A Roadmap towards the Decarbonization of Shipping: A Participatory Approach in Cyprus," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-27, February.
    19. Yuen, Kum Fai & Li, Kevin X. & Xu, Gangyan & Wang, Xueqin & Wong, Yiik Diew, 2019. "A taxonomy of resources for sustainable shipping management: Their interrelationships and effects on business performance," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 316-332.
    20. Chua, Jie Ying & Wang, Xueqin & Yuen, Kum Fai, 2023. "Sustainable shipping management: Definitions, critical success factors, drivers and performance," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 72-82.
    21. Huang, Xingyu & Zheng, Pengjun & Liu, Guiyun, 2024. "Non-cooperative and Nash-bargaining game of a two-parallel maritime supply chain considering government subsidy and forwarder's CSR strategy: A dynamic perspective," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    22. Martínez-Moya, Julián & Vazquez-Paja, Barbara & Gimenez Maldonado, Jose Andrés, 2019. "Energy efficiency and CO2 emissions of port container terminal equipment: Evidence from the Port of Valencia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 312-319.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yuen, Kum Fai & Thai, Vinh V. & Wong, Yiik Diew & Wang, Xueqin, 2018. "Interaction impacts of corporate social responsibility and service quality on shipping firms’ performance," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 397-409.
    2. Yuen, Kum Fai & Li, Kevin X. & Xu, Gangyan & Wang, Xueqin & Wong, Yiik Diew, 2019. "A taxonomy of resources for sustainable shipping management: Their interrelationships and effects on business performance," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 316-332.
    3. Kum Fai Yuen & Vinh V. Thai, 2017. "Corporate social responsibility and service quality provision in shipping firms: financial synergies or trade-offs?," Maritime Policy & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(1), pages 131-146, January.
    4. Yuen, Kum Fai & Wang, Xueqin & Wong, Yiik Diew & Ma, Fei, 2019. "A contingency view of the effects of sustainable shipping exploitation and exploration on business performance," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 90-103.
    5. Yuen, Kum Fai & Thai, Vinh V. & Wong, Yiik Diew, 2018. "An investigation of shippers’ satisfaction and behaviour towards corporate social responsibility in maritime transport," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 275-289.
    6. Yuen, Kum Fai & Thai, Vinh V. & Wong, Yiik Diew, 2016. "The effect of continuous improvement capacity on the relationship between of corporate social performance and business performance in maritime transport in Singapore," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 62-75.
    7. Franck Brulhart & Sandrine Gherra & Bertrand V. Quelin, 2019. "Do Stakeholder Orientation and Environmental Proactivity Impact Firm Profitability?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(1), pages 25-46, August.
    8. Antonio Martos-Pedrero & David Jiménez-Castillo & Francisco Joaquín Cortés-García, 2022. "Examining drivers and outcomes of corporate social responsibility in agri-food firms," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 68(3), pages 79-86.
    9. Lee, Gilsoo & Cho, Sam Yul & Arthurs, Jonathan & Lee, Eun Kyung, 2020. "Celebrity CEO, identity threat, and impression management: Impact of celebrity status on corporate social responsibility," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 69-84.
    10. Tomasz L. Nawrocki & Danuta Szwajca, 2021. "A Multidimensional Comparative Analysis of Involvement in CSR Activities of Energy Companies in the Context of Sustainable Development Challenges: Evidence from Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-19, July.
    11. Nur Faliza, 2016. "CSR and Islamic Banking Performance in Aceh: The Role of Innovation as Mediation ," GATR Journals jmmr116, Global Academy of Training and Research (GATR) Enterprise.
    12. Min Zhang & Biying Jin & G. Alan Wang & Thong Ngee Goh & Zhen He, 2016. "A Study of Key Success Factors of Service Enterprises in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(1), pages 1-14, March.
    13. Yuen, Kum Fai & Wang, Xueqin & Wong, Yiik Diew & Li, Kevin X., 2020. "The role of stakeholder participation and sustainability integration in maritime transport: A structure-conduct-performance analysis," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 44-53.
    14. Antonio Martos‐Pedrero & David Jiménez‐Castillo & Vera Ferrón‐Vílchez & Francisco Joaquín Cortés‐García, 2023. "Corporate social responsibility and export performance under stakeholder view: The mediation of innovation and the moderation of the legal form," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 248-266, January.
    15. Ben Lahouel, Béchir & Ben Zaied, Younes & Managi, Shunsuke & Taleb, Lotfi, 2022. "Re-thinking about U: The relevance of regime-switching model in the relationship between environmental corporate social responsibility and financial performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 498-519.
    16. Dolores Gallardo-Vázquez & Luis Enrique Valdez-Juárez & Ángela María Castuera-Díaz, 2019. "Corporate Social Responsibility as an Antecedent of Innovation, Reputation, Performance, and Competitive Success: A Multiple Mediation Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-28, October.
    17. Antonio Martos‐Pedrero & Luis J. Belmonte‐Ureña & Francisco Joaquín Cortés‐García, 2024. "Are there any differences in the corporate social responsibility strategy of fruit and vegetable production‐commercialization cooperatives and other companies operating in southeastern Spain?," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95(1), pages 249-274, March.
    18. Paula Rodrigues & Hélder Oliveira, 2016. "The Relation of Cultural Values and CSR: A study in Portugal and Greece," Proceedings of Business and Management Conferences 3405970, International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences.
    19. Chua, Jie Ying & Wang, Xueqin & Yuen, Kum Fai, 2023. "Sustainable shipping management: Definitions, critical success factors, drivers and performance," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 72-82.
    20. Kumar Ramesh & Raiswa Saha & Susoban Goswami & Sekar & Richa Dahiya, 2019. "Consumer's response to CSR activities: Mediating role of brand image and brand attitude," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(2), pages 377-387, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:98:y:2017:i:c:p:1-13. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/547/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.