Corporate social responsibility : an exploratory study of CSR in Mactan Island, Cebu

The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been conventionally viewed as a developed-country phenomenon. However, in recent years, the concept of CSR had extended to the developing countries, contexts especially in the case of beach resorts as they are highly dependent on the natural environment and the support of the local community for their successful operation. This study seeks to investigate the motivation for CSR activities by resorts in Mactan island, the common trends among these resorts’ CSR practices and their respective outcomes. A range of resorts from ungraded to five star international chain properties were investigated. The Wood model is used as an evaluative framework for the Corporate Social Performance of each property for the outcomes of their CSR activities. In order to enhance the relevance of the framework, triple bottom line principles were incorporated into the Wood model. Economic, environmental and social indicators from the Global Reporting Initiative were used to compare the CSR programmes of the resort properties. This study found similarities in the CSR programmes in Mactan island. Most of the resorts fulfill the basic requirements, abiding by the regulatory requirements. Larger hotels have more resources and are able to carry out more extensive CSR activities. Differences among the resorts’ CSR activities were mainly related to the amount of resources available to each.BUSINES