Forming index of barriers to corporate social responsibility in the Construction industry

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to define barriers and compute an impact index among barriers to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the Vietnamese construction environment. A review of the literature and semi-structured interviews were carried out to identify barriers affecting CSR implementation. Through factor analysis, 19 identified barriers were classified into five factors, namely, internal perspectives of enterprises, construction industry characteristics, difficulties of CSR, political, and stakeholders. The fuzzy synthetic evaluation approach developed an impact index of barriers and indicated that the internal perspectives of enterprises are the most crucial factor for CSR implementation in the Vietnamese construction sector. Apart from this, most developing countries in Asia and Africa contain challenges regarding construction firms' context when implementing CSR. The study result may contribute to CSR knowledge of barriers to CSR practice in the construction field and a theoretical perspective. The findings also help policy-makers in developing countries integrate full strategies for ensuring effective CSR implementation and reducing conflicts and disputes in business activities.

Keywords: Barrier; corporate social responsibility; developing country; construction; fuzzy synthetic evaluation; Vietnam