The Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility on Corporate Reputation in Industry Parks Development Corporation of Ethiopia: the Case Study of Kilinto and Bole Lemi Special Economic Zone
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Date
2026-01-02
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Adiss Ababa University
Abstract
The concept of CSR has become a major issue in the modern world. The Industry ParksDevelopment Corporation (IPDC) try to balance profit-making with meaningful contributions tosociety and the environment by focusing on environmental sustainability, community development, ethical practices, and public engagement. Several surveys report that customers are influenced by the CSR activities of the organization, ethical and philanthropic CSR practices may create and foster customer beliefs that organization adheres to high ethical standards and caresabout society’s wellbeing, which, in turn, positively impacts consumer assessment of corporatereputation. Due to these facts, this study examined the current practices of corporate socialresponsibility effect on corporate reputation in IPDC’s Kilinto and Bole Lemi SEZs. In order toachieve these objectives, the study used a concurrent mixed research approach with descriptiveand explanatory research designs. Data were collected from 110 sample respondents who wereselected through stratified random sampling method from three departments (Human Resource,Investor care and Operational team) operating in the selected SEZs. Both descriptive andinferential statistics with linear regression modeling were used to analyze the data. The findingsof the study confirmed that the customer, community and employee oriented CSR practices havea positive impact or significant on corporate reputation in the parks. However, the owner/shareholder, environmental and government oriented CSR have a negative impact on corporatereputation in the parks. The other finding was that employees oriented CSR is less practiced inthe SEZs. Based on the findings, the study recommends that the selected IPDC’s SEZs shouldfocus on employee oriented CSR within SEZs. Since employees are essential contributors toproductivity and service quality strengthening employee-focused CSR practices such as training,welfare programs, health and safety measures is essential. The findings provide practicalimplications for policymakers, IPDC management, and industrial park administrators indesigning effective CSR strategies that enhance corporate reputation and promote sustainable development in the remaining industry parks development corporation
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Words: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Corporate Reputation, Industry Parks Development Corporation (IPDC), Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Employee-Oriented CSR