The impact of corporate social responsibility strategy on firm performance: The mediating role of employee motivation and creativity

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Abstract

This study aims to explore the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) implementation on corporate performance and the mediating role of employee motivation and creativity in this relationship. A mixed methods approach was used, combining qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys for 207 enterprises in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. To analyze the data and test the hypotheses derived from stakeholder theory, resource-based view (RBV) theory, and social identity theory (SIT), structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for analysis. According to the results of this study, CSR implementation has a positive impact on employee motivation, creativity, and corporate performance, which once again confirms that CSR implementation plays an important role in firm performance, unlike the study of Buallay et al. (2020). Work motivation plays a mediating role in the relationship between CSR and firm performance. Enterprises should actively implement CSR to promote employee motivation and creativity, improve firm performance, and enhance brand value.

Keywords: Social Responsibility, Work Motivation, Employee Creativity, Firm Performance

Authors’ individual contribution: Conceptualization — D.N.T. and D.H.D.; Methodology — D.N.T. and D.H.D.; Software — D.N.T. and D.H.D.; Validation — D.H.D. and D.N.T.; Formal Analysis — D.H.D.; Investigation — D.N.T. and D.H.D.; Resources — D.N.T and D.H.D.; Data Curation — D.N.T. and D.H.D.; Writing — Original Draft — D.N.T. and D.H.D.; Writing — Review & Editing — D.N.T. and D.H.D.; Visualization — D.N.T. and D.H.D.; Supervision — D.H.D. and D.N.T.; Project Administration — D.N.T. and D.H.D.; Funding Acquisition — D.N.T. and D.H.D.

Declaration of conflicting interests: The Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

JEL Classification: C3, L25, M1

Received: 05.01.2025
Revised: 08.04.2025; 12.05.2025; 04.06.2025
Accepted: 15.07.2025
Published online: 18.07.2025

How to cite this paper: Nguyen Thi, D., & Ho Dai, D. (2025). The impact of corporate social responsibility strategy on firm performance: The mediating role of employee motivation and creativity. Business Performance Review, 3(1), 59–69. https://doi.org/10.22495/bprv3i1p6