Corporate social responsibility and worker skills: An examination of corporate responses to work place illiteracy

Using perceptions of human resource managers of top management's attitude toward corporate social responsibility, a survey of private sector firms (n=407) revealed that over half of those that employed basic-skill deficient employees took legal or economic views of corporate social responsibility toward these workers. These attitudes were confirmed by organizational policies. Employers with social obligation tendencies were less likely to undertake proactive programs such as basic skill training, deskilling, or related supervisory training. Corporate philosophies were almost independent of organizational variables. One exception was manufacturing firms that were more likely to take a legal-economic view of illiterate employees; however, the relationship was weak. Little evidence was found that skill shortages or union pressures are resulting in corporate proactive programs. Implications for research and practice are discussed.Dr. Claire J. Anderson is Associate Professor at the College of Business Administration, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia. Her research interests include human resources management and organizational behavior as well as business ethics. She has published articles in a number of academic and professional publications.Data for this article were drawn from a study jointly sponsored by Commerce Clearing House and the Society for Human Resource Management.