Comparative Study of Librarians’ Attitude Towards the Provision of Corporate Social Responsibility in Federal and State Universities in Southern Nigeria
Abstract
The concept and practice of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a norm among large business organisations in Nigeria, unlike university libraries. The study examines librarians’ attitude towards the provision of corporate social responsibility in federal and state university libraries in the South-East and South-South Nigeria. The descriptive survey research method was adopted with four-point Likert rating scale used to generate data for the study. A total of 234 copies of the questionnaire were distributed and 190 were retrieved, representing 81.2% return rate. Descriptive statistics were used in analyzing the data with the hypothesis tested using t-test. It was revealed that there is no significant difference in the mean responses of librarians in federal university libraries when compared with those in state universities in the areas of attitude towards provision of corporate social responsibility (CSR), what librarians perceived as viable means of providing CSR and challenges in the provision of CSR in university libraries in southern Nigeria. This paper has opened a new horizon for exploration within the domain of library setting as it relates to the relationship with the host communities and parent institutions. The study concludes that the positive attitude of Librarians in southern Nigeria towards the provision of CSR by libraries should be put into policies and action to better their host communities. Formulation of formal policy on CSR and the creation of public relation/corporate social responsibility unit were recommended
Keywords: corporate social responsibility, library community, library outreach programme, comparative studies, university libraries.
Introduction
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in libraries can be referred to as how libraries, through its service delivery, aim at leveraging on available opportunities to impact positively on their immediate community with emphasis on stakeholders within such a clime. In other words, it has to do with libraries going out of their comfort zones to initiate actions that will impact positively on its host community, its environment and the people generally. Librarians are gradually being faced with the challenges of taking library and information service provision beyond the walls of libraries. Steps are being taken by libraries at various levels to see that they impact positively on the society, thereby changing the societal perception of libraries as places for keeping books and other related documents. Moreover, the library as a social institution has a role to play within the society. One basic fact is that libraries are managed by people that provide information services for individuals and groups of persons (Benson, 2019).
CSR no doubt is fundamentally a function of what organisations assume as its responsibility to be and what the society at large expects from them. CSR is a promising theoretical concept in social science and humanities (Camilleri, 2012). CSR as a concept has gathered great momentum over the past number of years and is now considered to be at its most prevalent. The concept has evolved over a large number of years, with definitions and understanding of the term consistently changing (Kazingizi, 2017). Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a deliberate effort of business organisation to act in ways that promote the interest of its owners, employees, suppliers, consumers, government, host community, ecosystem, society at large generally referred to as “stakeholders” (Nwoba & Michael, 2016). It refers to strategies that corporations or firms adopt to conduct their businesses in such a way that is ethical, societal, friendly and beneficial to communities in terms of development.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the context of librarianship is a broad set of policies, practices and programs integrated into library services delivery and decision-making processes. CSR in Libraries simply refers to librarians’ commitment to improve societal well-being though discretionary library practices and contributions of corporate resources (Benson, 2019). CSR is an initiative that could significantly change the perception of the public about the libraries. CSR seems to be a new concept in the practice of librarianship. Research in this area is relatively scarce when compared to other areas.
It is against this background that this study seeks to compare librarians’ responses towards providing corporate social responsibility in federal and state university libraries in south east and south-south Nigeria.
Purpose of Study
The general purpose of this study is to compare the responses of librarians towards providing corporate social responsibility (CSR) using federal and state university libraries in south-east and south-south Nigeria. The specific objectives are to:
- Compare the mean responses of librarians’ on attitudes towards the provision of CSR programmes based on federal and state university libraries in south-east and south-south Nigeria.
- Compare the mean responses of librarians’ on viable means of providing CSR based on federal and state university libraries in south-east and south-south Nigeria.
- Compare the mean responses of librarians on the challenges that may affect the provision of CSR based on federal and state university libraries in south-east and south-south Nigeria.
Research Questions
The following research questions will be used in eliciting data for the study:
- What is the mean response of librarians’ on attitudes towards the provision of CSR programmes based on federal and state university libraries in south-east and south-south Nigeria?
- What is the mean response of librarians’ on viable means of providing CSR based on federal and state university libraries in south-east and south-south Nigeria?
- What is the mean response of librarians on the challenges that may affect the provision of CSR based on federal and state university libraries in south-east and south-south Nigeria?
Research Hypothesis
The following null hypothesis will be tested at 0.05 level of significance:
Ho1: There is no significant difference between federal and state universities in the mean rating of librarians’ responses on attitude towards the provision of CSR Programmes
H02: There is no significant difference between federal and state universities in the mean rating of the librarians’ responses on the viable means of providing CSR in federal and state university libraries.
H03: There is no significant difference between federal and state universities in the mean rating of responses on the challenges that may affect the provision of CSR in university libraries.
Review of Literature
Librarians may exhibit different attitudes towards libraries engaging in CSR initiatives. The attitude of librarians irrespective of their institutional affiliations may be positive or negative depending on their understanding of the concept and the approach that may be adopted in providing it. Librarians' attitude, therefore, depicts their favourable or unfavourable reaction/disposition towards engaging in CSR initiatives. In the context of librarianship, perception about CSR may vary among librarians depending on their level of knowledge about the dynamics of CRSs. In other words, librarians’ perception of CSR is simply about how they see CSR. This implies that perceptual experiences justify beliefs. More so, perception is how librarians view CSR (Benson, 2019). Invariably, the perception of librarians is a determining factor in establishing the attitude of librarians toward the provision of CSR. Asemah, Okpanachi & Olumuji (2013) carried out a study on “Universities and corporate social responsibility performance: an implosion of the reality”. The study examined the need for universities to carry out corporate social responsibility programmes. Findings reveal that there are various areas of CSR that universities can pay attention to. These may be economic responsibility, philanthropic responsibility, environmental responsibility, employee wellness and health, employment of qualified lecturers and legal responsibility. The paper concludes that universities the world over need to always engage in corporate social responsibility so that they may win the goodwill of their stakeholders.
Furthermore, Adu-Boahen, Barima, Nana, Emmanuel, Kwaku & Ceaser (2014) also carried out a study on “assessment of management attitudes on corporate social responsibility in Ghana: a case of some selected companies in the Tema metropolis”. The study adopted an exploratory research design. The result of the study indicates that many managers and executive directors have a clear understanding of the importance and benefits of CSR to their respective companies. The findings also support the view of other research results that the most important factor that influences a manager’s attitude towards CSR is the company’s ethical values. Similarly, Fatoki & Chiliya (2012) carried out a study entitled "An investigation into the attitudes toward business ethics and corporate social responsibility by local and immigrant SME owners in South Africa". The survey design was used for the study. The results of the study indicate a good attitude towards business ethics and corporate social responsibilities by both local and immigrant SME owners. Attitudes, therefore, predict actual behaviour.
The study by Kazingizi (2017), reveals that the greatest challenge that the public library in Harare faces, like most public libraries in developing countries, is that of funding. It observed that the library operates on a stand-alone budget with no financial support from the government or the Harare City Council. It further established that the library obtains its funding through subscriptions, photocopying, printing, internet, rental income and donations from well-wishers, which the librarian indicated are insufficient to meet the library's needs.
Emezie & Igwe (2017) examined the delivery of community information service as corporate social responsibility by librarians in Nigerian tertiary institutions. Findings indicate that librarians perceived such an idea in the positive direction that could be rendered as CSR. The possible challenges that may affect the planning and delivery of such CIS programme were also discovered, among which are financial implications, unavailability of communication gadgets and other requisite resources, absence of approval and support from the management of parent institutions, and that librarians may see such as additional responsibility by leaders and traditional rulers in the communities involved.
Nevertheless, this study is anchored on “Stakeholders Theory”. The theory was developed and championed by Edward Freeman in the 1980s. The stakeholder’s theory posits that business exists to create maximum value for all stakeholders: where stakeholders include those that have a direct or indirect interest in the business as employees, suppliers, society and customers. The theory is anchored on the principles of organisational management and business ethics that addresses morals and values in managing an organisation. In other words, the stakeholder’s theory of CSR is based on the assumption that organisations, whether private or public, have obligations to several groups that make up the society. These constituents are referred to as stakeholders and include individuals and groups that are critical to the existence of the organisation. They can influence what the organisation does. They are also influenced by the actions of the organisations.
Aligning this theory to the library, librarians in the course of implementing CSR must consider the interest of all stakeholders if they are to achieve their organisational goal. Stakeholders’ theory is relevant to this study because it would be used to understand and comparatively analyse the attitude of librarians towards provision of CSR initiatives in university libraries in southern Nigeria. There is a nexus between the sustainability of university libraries and the appropriate management of its stakeholders. Effective management of stakeholders of university libraries will help the library to initiate CSR programmes, thereby giving the library a competitive edge in the information industry and the educational domain.
Methodology
The descriptive survey design was used in this study. A rating scale was used for data collection. The population of the study comprised librarians working in selected federal and state university libraries in south-east and south-south Nigeria. The names of the federal universities are: University of Nigeria, Nsukka; Federal University of Technology, Owerri; Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike; Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Warri; University of Calabar, Calabar and University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt. The state universities include Imo State University, Owerri; Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki; Chukwuemeka Odumegu Ojukwu University, Uli; Delta State University, Abraka; Akwa Ibom State University and University of Science and Technology, Agbani. A total of 234copies of the questionnaire were distributed, and 190 (81.2%) of the instruments were retrieved and used for the study. The descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis, while results were presented in tables. Responses to items statements were weighted as follows; Strongly Agree (SA) = 4; Agree (A) = 3; Disagree (D) = 2 and Strongly Disagree (SD) =1
Results and Discussions of Findings
The results and findings of the study are hereby presented as follows:
Table 1: Number of questionnaire retrieved from responding institutions
Research Objective 1: Compare the mean responses of librarians’ attitudes towards the provision of CSR programmes based on federal and state university libraries in south-east and south-south Nigeria.
Table 1: Mean responses of librarians’\ Attitude towards Provision of CSR Programmes
The data in Table 1 shows the responses on the attitude of librarians toward providing CSR programmes in federal and state university libraries in south-east and south-south Nigeria. The results report that majority of the respondents have a positive attitude towards the provision of CSR programmes as the result accounts for a grand mean of 2.4 for federal university libraries and 2.5 for librarians responses in the state university libraries, indicating that librarians from the federal and state universities believe that librarians should provide CSR in libraries. The result further accounts that out of the eight (8) items raised, librarians do not see CSR as boring, irrelevant to librarianship as a profession and that CSR is relevant to libraries image.
However, while librarians from libraries in state universities prefer public relations to corporate social responsibility (=2.7 ± 1.0), not wanting libraries to be involved in CSR activities (=2.9 ± 0.9), the reverse was the case with responses from librarians’ in federal university libraries at the mean and standard deviation of (= 2.3 ± 1.5) and ( = 2.2 ± 0.7) respectively. The librarians’ responses from libraries in federal and state universities indicate an attitude of excitement in participating in CSR activities at the mean of 2.5 ± 1.2 and 2.4 ± 1.0 respectively.
The result from the table could only account for a mean difference of 0.10 from the mean responses of librarians in federal universities when compared to the librarians in the state university libraries. To make a decision on or a significant difference between federal and state universities in the mean rating of respondents on the attitude of libraries towards CSR, hypothesis 1 was tested.
Hypothesis 1:
H01: There is no significant difference between federal and state university libraries in the mean rating of librarians’ attitude towards the provision of CSR programmes
Decision Rule: The null hypothesis will be rejected if the p-value is less than the alpha (0.05), otherwise, we will not.
Test Statistics
The table above reports Levine’s Test for Equality of Variances and to t-test for equality of means. The result reports that there is no significant difference between federal and state university libraries in the mean rating of the attitude of librarians towards providing CSR. Since the p-value (0.468) is not less than the alpha (0.05), the null hypothesis will not be rejected.
Since the p-value (0.468) is not less than the alpha (0.05), the null hypothesis will not be rejected and conclude that there is no significant difference between federal and state universities in the mean rating of respondents on the challenges affecting the implementation of CRS in university libraries which is not significantly greater than the expected mean.
Research Objective 2: Comparison of what librarians perceived as viable means of providing CSR based on federal and state university libraries.
Table 3: Mean responses of librarians on Viable Means of Providing CSR in Libraries in Universities
The result in table 2 shows the mean responses on what librarians perceived as viable means of providing CSR in libraries in federal and state universities. The result has shown that the libraries in both federal and state universities at the grand mean and standard deviation of (= 3.1± 0.17) and (3.0+ 0.21) accepted the seven (7) items raised as means of providing CSR in university libraries. The results have shown that out of the seven (7) means identified by librarians as means of providing CSR, creation of public relation/corporate social responsibility unit (federal = 3:4; state: =3.4), partnering with non-government organisations (NGO) (Federal = 3.0> state = 3.2) and formulation of formal policy on CSR (federal = 3.0; state: =3.1) were the highly accepted means of providing CSR initiatives.
The result further report a mean difference of 0.01 exist on what librarians from federal and state universities perceived as means of providing CSR in the libraries. To decide on whether there is a significant difference in the mean responses of librarians in federal and state university libraries on means of providing CSR, hypotheses 2 was tested
Hypothesis 2:
H02: There is no significant difference between federal and state universities in the mean rating of librarians on the viable means of providing CSR in federal and state universities.
Decision Rule: The null hypothesis will be rejected if the p-value is less than the alpha (0.05), otherwise, it will be accepted.
Test Statistics
From the above table, since the p-value (0.891) is not less than the alpha (0.05), the null hypotheses will be rejected and concluded that there is no significant difference between the responses of librarians in federal and state universities.
Since the p-value (0.891) is not less than the alpha (0.05), the null hypothesis will not be rejected and conclude that there is no significant difference between federal and state universities in the mean rating of the librarians on what is perceived as viable means of providing CSR in libraries in universities.
Table 4: Mean responses of respondents on challenges that may affect the provision of CSR in libraries universities.
The result in table 3 shows the mean responses on challenges that may affect the provision of CSR in libraries in federal and state universities in south-east and south-south Nigeria. The result reports a grand mean and standard deviation for responses for libraries in federal universities (= 3.0 ± 0.19) and state universities (=3.1± 0.15). The respondents from federal and state universities agreed with the 12 items raised as challenges to the provision of CSR in the libraries. Notable among these challenges are adverse economic factors (federal: =3.1, State: =3.1), demand for additional knowledge beyond the expertise of library practice (federal: =3.3), insufficient information on the benefits inherent in CSRs (federal: =3.3, State: =3.0), inadequate library qualified workforce (federal: x=3.1; state: =3.2) and unavailability of communication gadgets (federal: =3.1, State: =3.3). They equally agreed to “non-involvement of beneficiaries from the design stage of CSR at the = 2.9 and =3.2 for libraries in federal and state universities respectively, unavailability of information to identify the need of the community/society at the mean of 2.9 and 3.1 for federal and state universities respectively.
The result has further accounted that a mean difference of 0.08 exists between the mean response rate of librarians from libraries in federal universities and state universities. However, to decide whether there is a significant difference in the mean responses of librarians on challenges to the provision of CRS in federal and state universities, hypotheses 3 was tested
Hypothesis 3:
H03: There is no significant difference between federal and state universities in the mean rating of respondents on the challenges that may affect the provision of CRS in universities is not significantly greater than the expected mean.
Decision Rule: The null hypothesis will be rejected if the p-value is less than the alpha (0.05), otherwise, it will be accepted.
Test Statistics
The table above shows the t-test for equality of means. Since the p-value (0.251) is not less than the alpha (0.05), the null hypothesis will not be rejected. It will be concluded that there is no significant difference between the mean responses of librarians on the challenges to the provision of CSR in university libraries, when comparing federal and state universities in south-east and south-south Nigeria.
Since the p-value (0.251) is not less than the alpha (0.05), we will not reject the null hypothesis and conclude that there is no significant difference between federal and state universities in the mean rating of the respondents on the challenges affecting the implementation of CRS in libraries in universities which is not significantly greater than the expected mean.
Discussion of Findings
The respondents’ responses to the attitude of librarians towards the provision of CSR in libraries in federal and universities show that librarians have positive attitudes toward the provision of CSR initiatives in universities libraries. Their attitude toward provision of CSR in the libraries as revealed in this study is relatively high. The t-test result of the hypothesis 1 on the significant difference on the mean responses indicate f-value of 0.329, while the p-value was 0.468 at 0.05 level of significance, and based on this, the null hypothesis was accepted and the conclusion that there is no significant difference in the mean responses of librarians in federal and state universities was accepted. This study established that though librarians in both federal and state universities do have positive attitudes toward the provision of CSR, there is no significant difference in their mean responses.
The respondents’ responses on what is perceived as viable means of providing CSR in federal and state universities show that creation of public relation / corporate social responsibility unit, and formulation of formal policy on CSR and partnering with non-governmental organizations (NGO) were the notable means of ensuring that CSR can be provided in universities. However, the test of hypotheses on the mean responses of libraries on what they perceived as viable means of providing CSR indicates that the p-value (0.891) is not less than the alpha (0.05), therefore the null hypothesis was accepted and concluded that there is no significant difference between the mean responses of librarians in federal and state universities on means of providing CSR.
The respondents’ responses on the challenges that affects the provision of CSR in libraries in federal and state universities show that adverse economic factors, demand for additional knowledge beyond the expertise of library practice, insufficient information on the benefits inherent in CSR, and inadequate number of qualified workforce and unavailability of communication gadgets were the inherent challenges. The t-test of hypotheses revealed that there is no significant difference between the mean responses of librarians in federal and state universities. Since the p-value (0.251) is not less than the alpha (0.05), the null hypothesis is accepted and we conclude that there is no significant difference between the responses of librarians in federal and state universities in the south-east and south-south Nigeria.
Conclusion
Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that librarians in federal and state universities in the south-east and south-south Nigeria have positive attitudes toward the provision of CSR in libraries. There is no significant difference in the mean responses of librarians on attitude towards the provision of CSR, perceived means of providing CSR and challenges that affect the provision of CSR in university libraries. It is evident that libraries in both federal and state universities have not fully embraced CSR initiatives in south-east and south-south Nigeria. Evidence shows that librarians’ provision of CSR may demand additional knowledge beyond the expertise of library practice, and this is a major challenge among others, such as adverse economic factors, insufficient information of the benefits in CSR, non-involvement of beneficiaries from the design stage of CSR, unavailability of communication gadgets and unavailability of information to identify the needs of the community/ society. This study implies that university libraries should take practical steps towards embracing and providing CSR initiatives; and to actualize this, policy on CSR should be formulated to guide the design and implementation process; CSR as a sub-unit of public relation should be created and commitment by library management towards provision of CSR should be realistic.
Recommendations
The following recommendations are made based on the findings of the study:
- Formulation of formal policy on CSR: It is pertinent that heads of libraries in universities should formulate and produce a well-articulated policy to guide the design and provision of corporate social responsibility in the university settings. The policy should be able to specify the activities that libraries can engage in providing CSR, and the various stakeholders that should benefit and contribute to the success of providing CSR should also be well captured.
- Partnering with non-governmental organizations (NGOs): Heads of university libraries should create a platform for easy partnership with non-governmental organizations. No doubt, libraries may not fully provide CSR activities without partnering with other organizations. This will now provide a platform for providing a well-balanced CSR that will be relevant and impactful to all stakeholders.
- Creation of public relation/ corporate social responsibility unit: Librarians should endeavour to create a special unit for the sole purpose of CSR for it to yield maximal results.
- Commitment of library management toward CSR: If the provision of CSR must be successful in universities, then heads of libraries must show strong commitment to the provision of CSR. One specific area that library management should focus is in the area of lobbying and advocacy. The management of parent institutions should be extensively lobbied to buy into the idea of CSR.
- Provision of funds: Funds should be provided to ensure the availability of communication gadgets and other technological tools that may ensure the smooth delivery of the concept of CSR in libraries.
References
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Asemah, E. S., Okpanachi, R. A. & Olumuji, E. O. (2013). Universities and corporate social responsibility performance: An implosion of the reality. African Research Review. 7 (4), 195-224. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/1/afirev.7i4.12.
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Fatoki, O. & Chiliya, W. (2012). An investigation into the attitudes toward business ethics and corporate social responsibility by local and immigrant SME owners in South Africa. Journal of Social Science, 32 (1), 13 - 21.
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