IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jadmsc/v11y2021i4p139-d684731.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Universities’ Social Responsibility through the Lens of Strategic Planning: A Content Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Maria Teresa Nardo

    (Department of Political and Social Science, University of Calabria, 87036 Rende, Italy)

  • Georgiana Cristina Codreanu

    (Department of Political and Social Science, University of Calabria, 87036 Rende, Italy)

  • Fabiana Roberto

    (Department of Economics, Management Institutions, University of Naples “Federico II”, 80126 Naples, Italy)

Abstract

This paper examines the degree of social responsibility integration in Italian public universities’ medium and long-term planning documents. We adopted a qualitative approach, applying the content analysis technique to a selected sample of 20 strategic plans issued by Italian large and mega universities. The coding instrument was developed considering the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) contained in the United Nations 2030 Agenda. Therefore, we identified 17 categories and 103 key symbols. The analysis undertaken showed that to date, Italian public universities still pay little attention in their planning documents to objectives regarding the multiple dimensions of Social Responsibility, mainly in relation to environmental issues, a failure detrimental to University Social Responsibility implementation and achievement. However, there is a greater sensitivity to Social Responsibility issues in some universities’ planning documents, therefore also more mature practices can be identified, showing universities that have institutionalized the concept of sustainability in their planning documents.

Suggested Citation

  • Maria Teresa Nardo & Georgiana Cristina Codreanu & Fabiana Roberto, 2021. "Universities’ Social Responsibility through the Lens of Strategic Planning: A Content Analysis," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-16, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jadmsc:v:11:y:2021:i:4:p:139-:d:684731
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/11/4/139/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/11/4/139/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Issam Kouatli, 2018. "The contemporary definition of university social responsibility with quantifiable sustainability," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 15(7), pages 888-909, November.
    2. RAGMOUN Wided, 2020. "University Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development Awareness: The Mediating Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility Case of Qassim University," Journal of Social Science Studies, Macrothink Institute, vol. 7(1), pages 60-75, June.
    3. D Fedyunin & S Lochan & S Avtonomova & L Kutyrkina & I Mintusov, 2018. "The Scenario Approach to Establishing GR Communications in Higher Education Institutions," Journal of Advanced Research in Law and Economics, ASERS Publishing, vol. 9(2), pages 472-480.
    4. Monika Kansal & Mahesh Joshi & Shekar Babu & Sharad Sharma, 2018. "Reporting of Corporate Social Responsibility in Central Public Sector Enterprises: A Study of Post Mandatory Regime in India," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(3), pages 813-831, September.
    5. repec:srs:journl:jarle:v:9:y:2018:i:2:p:472-480 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Carroll, Archie B., 1991. "The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: Toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 39-48.
    7. Vivien Beattie & Sarah Jane Thomson, 2007. "Lifting the lid on the use of content analysis to investigate intellectual capital disclosures," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(2), pages 129-163, June.
    8. Danut Ileana, 2015. "Social Responsibility in Public Sector: Case of Romania," Eurasian Journal of Social Sciences, Eurasian Publications, vol. 3(2), pages 16-23.
    9. Elva Lizeth Ramos-Monge & Xavier Llinàs-Audet & Jesús Barrena-Martínez, 2019. "Catalysts of university social responsibility into strategic planning by thematic analysis and deductive coding," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 23(4), pages 327-355.
    10. Małgorzata Kieżel & Paweł Piotrowski & Joanna Wiechoczek, 2021. "Perception of Social Responsibility Strategy in Higher Education: Empirical Study in Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-19, August.
    11. Wendy Stubbs & Colin Higgins & Markus Milne, 2013. "Why Do Companies Not Produce Sustainability Reports?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(7), pages 456-470, November.
    12. James Guthrie & Amanda Ball & Federica Farneti, 2010. "Advancing Sustainable Management of Public and Not For Profit Organizations," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 449-459, July.
    13. Sylvie Formánková & Andrea Hrdličková & Tomáš Grabec, 2017. "Corporate Social Responsibility of Public Administration through Eyes of Enterprises," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 65(6), pages 1901-1909.
    14. Tom Christensen & Per Lægreid, 2015. "Performance and Accountability—A Theoretical Discussion and an Empirical Assessment," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 207-225, June.
    15. John Dumay & James Guthrie & Federica Farneti, 2010. "Gri Sustainability Reporting Guidelines For Public And Third Sector Organizations," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 531-548, July.
    16. Natasja Steenkamp & Deryl Northcott, 2007. "Content Analysis in Accounting Research: the Practical Challenges," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 17(43), pages 12-25, November.
    17. Parker, Lee, 2011. "University corporatisation: Driving redefinition," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 434-450.
    18. Christiana Kappo-Abidemi & Ogujiuba Kanayo, 2020. "Higher education institutions and corporate social responsibility: triple bottomline as a conceptual framework for community development," Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, VsI Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, vol. 8(2), pages 1103-1119, 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. Juan Abello-Romero & Claudio Mancilla & Walter Sáez & Francisco Ganga-Contreras & Ivette Durán-Seguel, 2023. "Sustainable Development and Corporate Sustainability of Chilean State Universities: Evidence from Their Strategic Elements," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-16, July.

    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. Beck, A. Cornelia & Campbell, David & Shrives, Philip J., 2010. "Content analysis in environmental reporting research: Enrichment and rehearsal of the method in a British–German context," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 207-222.
    2. Ligorio, Lorenzo & Caputo, Fabio & Venturelli, Andrea, 2022. "Sustainability disclosure and reporting by municipally owned water utilities," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    3. Marta Vicente-Lama & Pilar Tirado-Valencia & Mercedes Ruiz-Lozano & Magdalena Cordobés-Madueño, 2023. "The impact of sectoral guidelines on sustainability reporting in ports: the case of the Spanish ports," Maritime Economics & Logistics, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), vol. 25(3), pages 499-519, September.
    4. Ruiz-Lozano, Mercedes & Tirado-Valencia, Pilar, 2016. "Do industrial companies respond to the guiding principles of the Integrated Reporting framework? A preliminary study on the first companies joined to the initiative," Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 252-260.
    5. Hooks, Jill & van Staden, Chris J., 2011. "Evaluating environmental disclosures: The relationship between quality and extent measures," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 200-213.
    6. Lin Zhang & Xiaochen Zhang & Jingjing An & Wei Zhang & Jingshen Yao, 2022. "Examining the Role of Stakeholder-Oriented Corporate Governance in Achieving Sustainable Development: Evidence from the SME CSR in the Context of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-22, July.
    7. Fabrizio Zerbini, 2017. "CSR Initiatives as Market Signals: A Review and Research Agenda," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 146(1), pages 1-23, November.
    8. Giuseppe Nicolo’ & Francesca Manes-Rossi & Johan Christiaens & Natalia Aversano, 2020. "Accountability through intellectual capital disclosure in Italian Universities," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 24(4), pages 1055-1087, December.
    9. Azilah Kasim & Bussalin Khuadthong & Noormala Jailani & Muhammad Fauzi Mokhtar & Jasmine Zea Raziah Radha Rashid Radha & Maebel Leong, 2022. "The Importance of Community Perspectives on Hotel Community-Related CSR: A Position Paper," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-17, April.
    10. Wendy Stubbs & Colin Higgins, 2018. "Stakeholders’ Perspectives on the Role of Regulatory Reform in Integrated Reporting," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(3), pages 489-508, February.
    11. Sreevas Sahasranamam & Bindu Arya & Mukesh Sud, 2020. "Ownership structure and corporate social responsibility in an emerging market," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 1165-1192, December.
    12. Alatawi, Ibrahim A. & Ntim, Collins G. & Zras, Anis & Elmagrhi, Mohamed H., 2023. "CSR, financial and non-financial performance in the tourism sector: A systematic literature review and future research agenda," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    13. An, Yi & Davey, Howard & Eggleton, Ian R.C. & Wang, Zhuquan, 2015. "Intellectual capital disclosure and the information gap: Evidence from China," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 179-187.
    14. Campbell, David & Abdul Rahman, Mara Ridhuan, 2010. "A longitudinal examination of intellectual capital reporting in Marks & Spencer annual reports, 1978–2008," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 56-70.
    15. Víctor Meseguer-Sánchez & Emilio Abad-Segura & Luis Jesús Belmonte-Ureña & Valentín Molina-Moreno, 2020. "Examining the Research Evolution on the Socio-Economic and Environmental Dimensions on University Social Responsibility," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-30, July.
    16. Williams, Belinda & Wilmshurst, Trevor & Clift, Robert, 2011. "Sustainability reporting by local government in Australia: Current and future prospects," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 176-186.
    17. Lucia Biondi & Enrico Bracci, 2018. "Sustainability, Popular and Integrated Reporting in the Public Sector: A Fad and Fashion Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-16, August.
    18. Kaur, Puneet & Talwar, Shalini & Madanaguli, Arun & Srivastava, Shalini & Dhir, Amandeep, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and hospitality sector: Charting new frontiers for restaurant businesses," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 1234-1248.
    19. Johann Meckenstock & Ana Paula Barbosa‐Póvoa & Ana Carvalho, 2016. "The Wicked Character of Sustainable Supply Chain Management: Evidence from Sustainability Reports," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(7), pages 449-477, November.
    20. Davide Giacomini & Laura Rocca & Cristian Carini & Mario Mazzoleni, 2018. "Overcoming the Barriers to the Diffusion of Sustainability Reporting in Italian LGOs: Better Stick or Carrot?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-14, January.

    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:gam:jadmsc:v:11:y:2021:i:4:p:139-:d:684731. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.