An educational intervention on Chinese business students’ orientation towards corporate social responsibility

A one-day educational intervention with multiple activities was developed and operationalized with a sample of Chinese business students in Hong Kong, China. Its effectiveness in influencing students’ corporate social responsibility orientation (CSRO) was measured with a Chinese version of a forced choice scale using Economic, Legal, Ethical, and Discretionary (Philanthropy) dimensions by Carroll (1979, 1991). A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) showed significant differences in the Legal and Discretionary dimensions between the post-test Experimental (X) group (N=82) and Control (C) group (N=83); in the Legal, Ethical, and Discretionary dimensions within the pre-post X group. Such significant differences may be explained by the content of the activities, especially the service learning component. Overall, the intervention appeared effective in influencing students’ CSRO within a Chinese context. Since it was designed upon Western CSR literature, its applicability goes beyond the Chinese community. Copyright © 2021 NeilsonJournals Publishing.