corporate social responsibility in viet nam a study of its importance for vietnamese investors

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN VIET NAM A STUDY OF ITS IMPORTANCE FOR VIETNAMESE INVESTORS BY NGUYEN CONG VIET Graduation Project Submitted to the Department of Business Studies, H

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN VIET NAM

A STUDY OF ITS IMPORTANCE FOR VIETNAMESE INVESTORS

BY NGUYEN CONG VIET

Graduation Project Submitted to the Department of Business Studies, HELP University College, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Bachelor of Business (Accounting) Hons

June 2010

Declaration of Originality and Word Count

DECLARATION

I declare that this graduation project is based on my original work except for

quotations and citation which have been duly acknowledged I also declare that it has not been previously or concurrently submitted for any other courses/degrees at HELP University College or other institutions

Word Count: 10,125 words

Nguyen Cong Viet

Date

Abstract

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN VIET NAM: A STUDY OF

ITS IMPORTANCE FOR VIETNAMESE INVESTORS

BY

NGUYEN CONG VIET

June 2010

Supervisor: Dr Le Van Lien

Corporate Social Responsibility is no longer a new term for developing countries It has developed through the long history and nowadays it is expected to implement by any business entities in the world However, the term is not familiar to Vietnamese until the recent years when the economy is more open and there are many critical cases and scandals concerning about Corporate Social Responsibility as the result of the economic boom There are not so many researches on that field; therefore, the understanding of Corporate Social Responsibility in Viet Nam is limited That is the motivation for the researcher to conduct the survey about the importance and

perception of CSR among Vietnamese individual investors in FPT Securities

Company’s office (FPTS)

The objective of the research is to access the understanding of Vietnamese individual investors on the topics of CSR Besides that, the research also wants to define which major factors contributing to the CSR importance by asking respondents’

understanding and opinion on CSR awareness, investment decision and CSR

reporting

By conducting the research, the research is able to show that the understanding of CSR concepts and its importance is limited The investors have little basic

knowledge of CSR; however, the understanding is somehow distorted such as

thinking of CSR as regulation compliance only Besides that, the investors in Viet Nam find hard to use CSR as a tool to value firm and it is also difficult for them to make investment decision when CSR issues are mentioned

Table of contents

Declaration of Originality and Word Count 2

Abstract 3

Table of contents 5

List of Figures and Tables 8

List of Abbreviations 9

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 10

1.1 Research Background 11

1.2 Problem Statement 12

1.3 Objectives and Sphere of Research 13

1.3.1 Objectives of Research 13

1.3.2 Sphere of Research 14

1.4 Research Methods 14

1.5 Structure of Research 15

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 16

2.1 Research’s related concepts 17

2.1.1 CSR definition 17

2.1.2 Investment Decision 17

2.1.3 Responsible Investment 18

2.1.4 CSR Reporting 18

2.1.5 Investor Relation 19

2.2 Researches and Studies 19

2.2.1 Business Ethics in Viet Nam – Reality and Solutions 19

2.2.2 CSR in business entities in Viet Nam – Reality and Solutions 20

2.2.3 CSR – The Investors’ Perspective 21

2.2.4 CSR, PR of Foreign-Invested Companies 22

2.3 Researches Summary 24

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 26

3.1 Research Objectives 27

3.2 Theoretical Framework and Measurement 27

3.2.1 CSR Importance 28

3.2.2 CSR Awareness 28

3.2.3 Investment Decision 29

3.2.4 CSR Reporting 29

3.3 Measurement and Quality Design 29

3.3.1 Section 1 30

3.3.2 Section 2 30

3.3.2.1 CSR Awareness 30

3.3.2.2 Investment Decision 31

3.3.2.3 CSR Reporting 32

3.4 Research Method 33

3.4.1 Sampling 34

3.5 Hypothesis Statement 34

3.5.1 Correlation of Independent Variable 35

CHAPTER 4: RESULT ANALYSIS 36

4.1 Collection of Questionnaires 37

4.2 Description of Result 37

4.2.1 Age 37

4.2.2 Gender 38

4.2.3 CSR Awareness 38

4.2.4 Investment Decision 44

4.2.5 CSR Reporting 49

4.3 Result Analysis 51

4.3.1 Hypothesis 1 52

4.3.2 Hypothesis 2 53

4.3.3 Hypothesis 3 54

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMENDATION 55

5.1 Conclusion 56

5.2 Recommendation 57

5.3 Limitation of Study 58

5.4 Suggestion for Future Research 59

Reference (Harvard referencing system) 61

APPENDICES 63

List of Figures and Tables

Figure 1: Theoretical Framework 28

Table 1: Researches and Studies Summary 25

Table 2: Age 37

Table 3: Gender 38

Table 4: Question 1 - Result and Analysis 39

Table 5: Question 2 - Result and Analysis 41

Table 6: Question 3 - Result and Analysis 42

Table 7: Question 4 - Result and Analysis 43

Table 8: Question 5 - Result and Analysis 45

Table 9: Question 6 - Result and Analysis 46

Table 10: Question 7 - Result and Analysis 47

Table 11: Question 8 - Result and Analysis 49

Table 12: Question 9 - Result and Analysis 50

Table 13: Question 10 - Result and Analysis 51

Table 14: Hypothesis 1 52

Table 15: Hypothesis 2 53

Table 16: Hypothesis 3 54

VCCI Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry

NIRI National Investor Relations Institute

1.1 Research Background

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is relatively new terminology to not only individual but also to the business in Viet Nam Moreover, this term is limitedly understood as donation and the implementation is dependent on the directors’

willingness

With the join of Viet Nam to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2007, CSR is getting more concerns from businesses because of the requirements from the foreign clients and partners (WTO website, 2006) From year 2005, Viet Nam has an award

“CSR – towards the sustainable development” established by Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) to reward the companies which actively implement CSR in the international economics integration circumstances According to Dr Doan Duy Khuong, the vice-chairman of VCCI, “CSR is a requirement for the

companies and they could not reach the international market without CSR

implementation” (Securities Investment Newspaper, 2008) The problem is that regardless the importance of CSR, the companies in Viet Nam find it difficult to apply because of their understanding and perception, relatively small business size, and lack of financial and technical resources

As illustrated in more detail later, there is one firm which has been caught by

polluting a river in Viet Nam claims that it has to do so to keep it survive after the recent economic crisis We can see that the financial crisis has been pushing firms into a really difficult situation However, it is the end of implementation of CSR activities? Somebody may think of that way; however, in a complicated business climate, the firms which are responsible and sustainable will develop on the long-

term basis Therefore, the financial crisis will even alert the ones who do not care much about CSR activities and strengthen the importance of CSR

Businessman, 2009) Companies also participate in many events to help the poor, the disadvantaged and the sustainable development of the surroundings

Nonetheless, the public is concerning about the wrong-doing things made by many firms which have been discovered recently There is one Taiwan-owned firm named Veda International has been caught by the environmental police for discharging directly waste water into the Thi Vai River in Dong Nai province It used two

pumping systems; one is direct while other goes through refining process However, the later is rarely used and it is made just for inspection and supervision from the local governmental office (Invest in Vietnam, 2008) Another Vietnamese company which is well-known for soy sources has been claimed for 3-MCPD chemical

contained in its products The chemical is one factor that can cause people cancer The interesting thing is that the company’s product is compliant with current

Vietnam requirement standards; however, it is not the case in the Europe The

question is of ethical rather than legal issue and it draws lots attention from media and the public (Vietnamnet, 2007) Another wrong-doing is the melamine-

contaminated milk which is known all over the world Even though there is not much

contaminated milk in Vietnam, people are scared of using that product Recently, a Taiwanese-owned company in Quang Minh industrial zone near Ha Noi has been found discharging waste water directly into a river The interesting thing is that the firm’s deputy director general Mr Liu Chien Lin has explained in a press interview that the firm has to do so to keep it able to survive after the financial crisis By doing

so, the firm has saved around US$4,209-5,261 a month (Thanh Nien News, 2010)

As the results of those issues, the customers have been rejecting buying products from Vedan, the pollution-making firm mentioned above We can see that CSR issues are the problematic matter in developing economy like in Viet Nam That can affect the firms, the shareholders and stakeholders in the society as the whole The investors are those being strongly affected as their capital invested may be lost Therefore, understanding of CSR concepts, theories and especially its importance is important for the individual investors who care for their own, relatives’ and society’s benefits Therefore, the research is a demand of individual investors in Viet Nam It makes the contribution to the theory and implementation of CSR in Viet Nam which helps not only the managers, investors but also the society as the whole

1.3 Objectives and Sphere of Research

1.3.1 Objectives of Research

- Summarize the CSR concepts and its definitions

- Inspect the understanding of Vietnamese individual investors of CSR concept, its importance and implementation

- Establish theoretical model and inspect the relationship between CSR importance

for Vietnamese individual investors and other contributions such as CSR awareness,

investment decision and CSR reporting

- Raise the understanding of individual investors on CSR issues, concepts and its

importance

- Recommend some solutions for the organizations to raise the awareness and

understanding of investors CSR concepts and its importance, solutions for the firms

to have better investor relation

1.3.2 Sphere of Research

- Research conducting place: FPT Securities Company office, Ha Noi, Viet Nam

- Object of the research: Vietnamese individual investors

- Time duration of conducting the research: from April 19, 2010 to May 07, 2010

1.4 Research Methods

Investigation and survey are used for the project:

The researcher distributes the questionnaire and conducts the study among investors

in FPT Securities company (FPTS) office, Ha Noi, Viet Nam FPTS is one of the

largest securities firm in Ha Noi, Viet Nam at its office the individual investors

usually stay on the weekday to look at electronic board, discuss with each other and

make investment decision by writing commands or using their own laptops The

researcher comes to each individual investor to ask them to answer and fill in the

survey The previous researches and studies are used for making the questionnaire

The measurement is made in accordance with the past researches The quantitative

method is used to carrying out the research Besides that, the sample of n equals 60 (n = 60) By surveying the investors in FPTS office, the researcher can analyze the collected data to see how individual investors understand the CSR concepts and CSR’s importance

In the research, Microsoft Excel software is used to assist the researcher in analyzing and check the measurement after all data has been collected Besides, the data from previous studies help the researcher to understand and be able to use statistical and descriptive methods of analysis

1.5 Structure of Research

This project is divided into five following chapters:

Chapter I: Introduction

Chapter II: Literature Review

Chapter III: Research Methodology

Chapter IV: Result Analysis

Chapter V: Conclusion and Recommendation

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Research’s related concepts

2.2 Researches and Studies

2.3 Comparison and Summary of all Researches

2.1 Research’s related concepts

2.1.1 CSR definition

There are many CSR definitions made by different researchers and organizations throughout the world; however, there is one definition that is widely used by World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) According to WBCSD (WBCSD, 1998), corporate social responsibility is defined as “the continuing

commitment by business to contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the community and society at large" Even though there are many ways to define what CSR is, many organizations around the world recognize the growing economic benefits of CSR activities and policies Furthermore, the firms fully understand its responsibility for its employees, customers, society and the natural environment Many companies have used CSR as competitive advantage which help the firm to improve their

financial status, employees’ motivation and customers’ loyalty and the company’s image

the change CSR becomes one of those concepts with which investors consider CSR

as a “central” or “important” consideration in investment decision (Economist

Intelligence Unit, 2005)

2.1.3 Responsible Investment

According to Louche C (2005), responsible investment (RI) is defined as an

“investment strategy which seeks to generate both financial and sustainable value” This is not the single concept but the bunch of investment manners that include social, governance and environmental and ethical issues This is used to put into the financial analysis process and decision making In the past, RI is used for equities market only; however, throughout the time of development, the concept which is also known ethical investing or sustainable investing can be used in many investment asset categories RI is not only the target but also the process It is the target in the sense that investors want to achieve that Furthermore, it is also the manner with which RI is used to identify the performance, sustainability and responsibility of the investment

2.1.4 CSR Reporting

CSR reporting is a new model with which the company has a new business protocol

of ethics (Kevin Wilhelm, 2009) Even though the concept has been newly

developed, CSR reporting is emerging need for the business in the world today That

is because of the demands by investors, consumers and society for CSR reporting There are many reporting schemes and standards which are used in different

organizations and countries Those CSR reports help the company to better

communicate with the investors and other stakeholders They also increase the image and reputation of the organizations which issue the reports

2.1.5 Investor Relation

Investor Relations is defined by NIRI (2001) as “a strategic management

responsibility using the disciplines of finance, communication and marketing to manage the content and flow of company information to financial and other

constituencies to maximize relative valuation” NIRI as the first recognized

profession investor relations body defines its main reason for existence is to maintain the firm’s fair relative market value With that approach, the role of investor relations has been focus on the firm valuation However, there is another perspective with which the researchers believe that IR includes three phases: simple communication, focus on financial results and active marketing (Marcus and Wallace, 1997)

Moreover, the researchers also focus not only on financial aspects only but also the CSR activities and practices which will be delivered to the investors

2.2 Researches and Studies

There are not so many researches conducted on the topic of CSR in Viet Nam;

therefore, the research faces with difficulties in finding enough studies and

researches to use for reference and foundation As the limitation of conducted studies and researches, the researcher has to use some studies which consist of more than one topic Those topics usually are quite related such as business ethics, corporate culture However, CSR is mostly discussed and studied in those researches;

therefore, it is still appropriate to use them

2.2.1 Business Ethics in Viet Nam – Reality and Solutions

Ethics is concerned with moral obligation, responsibility and social justice The word ethics is rooted from the Geek words “ethikos” and “ethos”, meaning custom or usage However, business ethics is only four decades old despite the fact that it is

self-conscious academic discipline According to Nguyen (2008), business ethics has become a topic of popular discussion by American business officers, employees, shareholders, consumers and college professors Therefore, the study of business ethics has expanded widely to almost all countries in the world

One major part of this research is about corporate social responsibility In the

research, Nguyen conducts with two emphases on corporate responsibility of

production quality and corporate responsibility in environment protection In order to study the matter, the researcher conducts a survey with which questions on CSR topic are asked The questions are asked to access the understanding of students, investors and managers on the term of CSR The question about 3-MPCD rate that complies with Vietnamese regulations but exceeds EU permissible levels is

appropriate or not This question attempts to gain the perception of stakeholders who mostly think of a vague delimitation between regulations and CSR

Nguyen (2008) has made several proposals for developing and completing CSR in Viet Nam Firstly, regulations and laws should be strengthened to eliminate the wrong-doing things of the business entities Secondly, awareness of CSR in Viet Nam should be enhanced through not only the media, business organization and researchers but also support from governmental offices and departments Last but not least, the enterprises should be encouraged in raising their business ethics for both their and other stakeholders’ benefits

2.2.2 CSR in business entities in Viet Nam – Reality and Solutions

Tran (2009) concludes that there are two ways to define CSR The first one is that there is one and only one responsibility That is to solve the issues of scarce

resources and operation of the organization to enhance the operation performance

The main point is to approach the goals and objectives which the managers desire in the borders of law and regulations The social welfare is directly guaranteed through economic operation in term of usage and distribution of benefits from economic activities The later understanding of CSR is that CSR is practiced and implemented not only through economic operation but also non-economic activities This

perception considers CSR as a social responsibility outside the requirements of laws and regulations To sum up, the two perceptions can be understood that the firms should be able to not only balance the economic benefits and social interests but also have to participate in CSR activities such as environmental protection, healthcare, and so on

Tran (2009) also discusses responsible investment as a strategy with which both economic and long-term values are achieved With the survey, it is concluded that responsible investment is relative new term to Vietnamese investors although the usage of this concept has lasted for decades in other developed countries (Tran, 2009) Responsible investment also involves several actors: investors, rators and connectors Investors are those who invest their capital into funds, stock and other equity and non-equity markets Rators are ranking group which rate business entities and RI indices Last but not least, connectors are initiatives and platforms related to the term of RI

2.2.3 CSR – The Investors’ Perspective

There is no significant difference between investors and other stakeholders in the society In making investment decision, CSR is considered as “central” or

“important” (Economist Intelligence Unit, 2005) In this research, Céline Louche (2009) quoted that the fund managers are able not only to use CSR for accessing the

firm’s potential viability but also effectively use CSR related information in valuing firms (Taylor Nelson Sofres, 2003; Ambachtsheer, 2005; Guyatt, 2005; PLEON, 2005; Jaroski, 2007) The two questions accessing the above matter will be used in this research However, we should not expect that individual investors are the same

as fund managers That is because of the difference in background and understanding

of different type of investors The managers of fund usually have long-term

investment strategy rather the short-term objectives of individual investors

Therefore, the usage of new concepts and theories is mostly done by the institution investors

According to Céline Louche (2009), the investors can recognize that both financial and long-term value generation is the result of managing social and environmental risks The researcher has inspected that the social and environmental risks through set of questionnaires The investors understand that the company will develop more

in the future if it implements CSR activities The CSR programs can be used to evaluate the long-term development of the firm Moreover, when the firm has

efficient and effective CSR program, the investors can see that the firm care about the investors, customers and others stakeholders in the society Therefore, it can lead

to demand for CSR reports from the firm

2.2.4 CSR, PR of Foreign-Invested Companies

There are some researches in the world on the topic of CSR such as the ones of Arthaud-Day (2005); Carroll (1979); Clarkson (1995); Friedman (1970); Jones & Goldberg (1982) Manakkalathil and Rudolf (1995) has defined CSR as the

responsibilities of organizations in manage, supervise the business in the manner of respecting human rights and human happiness The research of Carroll (1979)

expands the responsibilities into four types: economic, legal, ethical and arbitrary responsibilities The research also analyzes some familiar concepts to CSR such as corporate social performance, responsiveness, and philanthropy and business ethics The research is consistent with the definition of CSR mentioned in the previous part

There are different ideas of the components of CSR Stone (2005) defines this

concept to be including compulsory, approval, and arbitrary responsibilities for the business community Quazi and O’Birien (2000) state that CSR consists of two components: corporate responsibility and results of social commitment A firm which

is responsible should be responsible in many aspects Therefore, CSR is not merely participating in charity but the commitments and compliance in many ways

For any company, CSR is important because it responds to the expectation from society, is regarded as a type of investment, and is motivators for enhance the

business performance, raise the loyalty of customers, build up the brand-name of company and so on Moreover, from the characteristics of foreign-invested company; CSR is especially important and essential: employment relationship improvement, brand-name development, crisis management, social sustainable development and government and local relationship improvement Because of that, CSR reporting is important tool for providing information for the investors and society as the whole CSR reporting has been asked in the research to inspect the understanding and also the needs from investors and other stakeholders Even though CSR reports are

relatively new, there is an existing need for CSR reports (Ho, 2008)

2.3 Researches Summary

The researches summary part will be used to summarize all the above researches Furthermore, the comparison among those researches shows the difference in

presenting the theoretical framework of CSR in different geographic areas

Author Area Covered Country Summary

- Solutions to raise

CSR understanding and implementation

in Viet Nam

Viet Nam Even though there is

understanding of business ethics and CSR concepts among investors; it is usually limited to the incomplete knowledge on the topic CSR sometimes

is thought as regulation compliance only

- Responsible

Viet Nam The join of Viet Nam to

WTO is major factor by which CSR is widely understood and required The current CSR scandals raise the understanding and awareness of investors and

investment society as the whole

Lastly, responsible investment is not familiar among individual investors

Belgium Basic understanding and

related theories on the topic

of responsible investment and investor relation The investors tend to use CSR

as tool to access company’s potential viability rather than to value firm

- The needs of CSR

reports

Viet Nam Foreign-invested firms in

Viet Nam tend to be more social responsibility than the local ones Even though there is lack of CSR

reports, there is an existing need from investors and the society as the whole

Table 1: Researches and Studies Summary

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Objectives

3.2 Theoretical Framework and Measurement

3.3 Measurement and Quality Design

3.4 Research Method

3.5 Hypothesis Statement

3.1 Research Objectives

In the Literature Review section, the researcher has collected, summarized and

discussed the researches and theories related to the topic of CSR concepts and its importance for many types of stakeholders Dependent on the review of literature in chapter II, we can see that the perception, understanding of CSR concepts and its importance varies from countries to countries That is the reason why the researches which have been done in Viet Nam will be the major sources of reference for the researcher to carry out this research The study will show how individual Vietnamese investors perceive the CSR concepts and importance Furthermore, the relationship between the dependent variable or CSR importance in particular and the three

components which contribute to the importance of CSR for investors including: CSR awareness, investment decision and CSR reporting will be examined to establish a relationship

3.2 Theoretical Framework and Measurement

The researcher takes into account not only the researches and studies within in the border of Viet Nam but also in some other places in the world to have better

supporting sources Using the mentioned information and knowledge, there is a theoretical framework developed using components of CSR importance in Viet Nam They are: CSR awareness, investment decision, and CSR reporting The following figure will illustrate this model:

Figure 1: Theoretical Framework

3.2.1 CSR Importance

CSR importance is the dependent variable in the research Understanding the CSR importance helps investors to make better investment decision in a long-term basis as the firm with better CSR programs and activities seems to be more responsible for the whole society and its development will be more sustainable Since CSR is new term and concept in Viet Nam, its factors will be different from other countries’ to access the understanding and awareness of the CSR importance of investors

3.2.2 CSR Awareness

CSR awareness is the independent variable in the research To access the

understanding of CSR concept, the researcher use questions to ask about not only the awareness but also the understanding of investors about the concept CSR is

relatively new term for most Vietnamese; the awareness of this concept should be accessed and analyzed Without awareness of CSR concepts, the investors cannot

CSR Importance

CSR Awareness

Investment Decision

CSR reporting

3.2.3 Investment Decision

Investment decision involves lots of consideration and gathering information is one stage in that complicated process Traditionally, the investors will use financial performance measure to access the firm’s status However, since the information is based on financial and historical data only, the long-term development of firm seems not to be accessed Therefore, to have better and safer investment decision, the

investors should have information about the company’s CSR programs and activities

3.2.4 CSR Reporting

CSR reporting is independent variable which contributes to the CSR importance Requirement from investors to have CSR reports will help them to better understand the activities and objectives of firm The firm may use this kind of report to have better communication with its shareholders through which information is easily accessed and distributed to the one who needs

3.3 Measurement and Quality Design

Because the credibility of the research is important, the dependent and independent variables have been taken from the literature and researches discussed previously Besides that, using existing questionnaires developed and tested by the experienced researchers with little modification to adapt to the research’s context is also taken This modification and selection have been approved and confirmed by the supervisor

to ensure the accuracy, consistency and reasonability of the questionnaires as well as the research

As we can see in the Appendix A of the research, the researcher has divided this sheet of questionnaires into two sections The first section is merely for recording purpose The second section is developed to test the relationship and implication of

the dependent variable and independent variables As mentioned in the previous part, the already conducted publication’s questionnaires are used to develop this section Five-point Likert Scale method is used in measuring those questions

3.3.1 Section 1

As mentioned above, the research is conducted in FPTS office by surveying

Vietnamese individual investors there As the questionnaires is divided into two parts: the first part is quite general and only for the recording purposes This part includes two items: age and gender The researcher does not pay attention to these particular items as the objective of the research is not about age or gender factors

3.3.2 Section 2

Dependent variable and independent variables are measured and examined in the section 2 of this questionnaire As already stated, the three independent variables including CSR awareness, investment decision, and CSR reporting do affect the CSR importance which is the dependent variable

In Vietnam, CSR importance may be driven by the three factors which are awareness

of CSR, investment decision and CSR reporting This study will analyze from

coming out results to conclude whether those factors will have effect on CSR

importance and understanding of individual investors in Vietnam or not The factors that influence the importance of CSR are:

study was conducted widely to access the understanding of CSR of many objects like students, investors and managers; the questionnaires still fit with this research That

is because the cultural and economical contexts are mostly the same Moreover, the researcher has modified the questions catch of with the change and deviation in time

of surveying of different researchers The first question made by the researcher is for supporting the further analysis of question 2 to compare the awareness and

understanding of CSR concept The question is also reviewed and agreed by the supervisor

The modified and selected questions that have been appeared in the questionnaires are:

Question 1: I am aware of the term “corporate social responsibility”

Question 2: I fully understand the term “corporate social responsibility”

Question 3: Corporate social responsibility is NOT only limited to regulation

compliance

Question 4: To overcome the financial crisis in the recent year, a company said that it has to discharge untreated waste water to the environment to cut the refining cost This action is NOT appropriate

3.3.2.2 Investment Decision

The investment decision part consists of four questions Two questions (question 5 and 8) are taken and modified from Tran Ngoc Chau (2009) study The rest two questions (question 6 and 7) are taken from Céline Louche (2009) study The four questions also fit the research context and important for understanding and

evaluating the term and the usage of CSR in decision making The first question was

used to access the understanding of the term “responsible investment” The next two questions were to use to check whether there is a limitation and difference between potential viability and valuing firms The last question asked about ethical

investment decision in a real situation

The modified and selected questions that have been appeared in the questionnaires are:

Question 5: I fully understand the term “responsible investment”

Question 6: I use CSR to access potential viability of firm

Question 7: I use CSR related information in valuing firm

Question 8: I will NOT invest in a wrong-doing firm even though the firm is making high profit

Question 9: I fully understand the term “CSR reporting”

Question 10: I will be more likely to invest in a firm which issues CSR reports