Abstract of Economic management Doctoral thesis: Scorporate social responsibility of small and medium - Sized enterprises in Thai Nguyen province for employees

The study object of the thesis is the implementation of CSR of SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province for employees. CSR has various contents such as environmental protection, CSR for consumers, CSR for the community, CSR for employees. In the scope of this dissertation, the author analyzes the implementation of CSR of SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province through the steps in the process such as by working out the plan, organizing the implementation, building contents of implementing and evaluating the implementation.

THÁI NGUYÊN UNIVERSITY ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION UNIVERSITY BUI THI THU HUONG CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED ENTERPRISES IN THAI NGUYEN PROVINCE FOR EMPLOYEES Specialization: Economic Management Code: 9340410 ABSTRACT OF ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT DOCTORAL THESIS THAI NGUYEN, 2018 THESIS IS COMPLETED IN ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION UNIVERSITY THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Scientific supervisors: Assoc Prof Dr Tran Quang Huy Dr Pham Quoc Chinh The peer review 1: The peer review 2: The peer review 3: The thesis is prevented to the Council held in Thai Nguyen University at the , ., 2018 Desertation can be found at: - Learning Resource Center, Thai Nguyen University - Library of Economics and Business Administration University PREFACE THE NECESSITY OF THE TOPIC The industry of Thai Nguyen is on the rise with many small and medium sized industrial enterprises (SMIEs) which focus on intensive investment, technological innovation, expansion of scale and location of activities and the business lines However, they only concern about profitability and ignores their responsibilities for the stakeholders, especially for the employees - an input factor that creates directly wealth for enterprises as well as the society, which plays an important role in the success of the business The dramatic increase but lack of consideration, lack of careful calculations in the mining and processing industries have resulted in many problems for the employees not only in ethical, philanthropic but also in legal and economic aspects Some problems exist in SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province such as assigning jobs to employees unequally between SMIEs, overworked employees, insufficient resting time, imporperly paid allowances for employees, insufficient protection equipment for employees while the SMIEs’ payment of social insurance premiums, health insurance for employees is not consistent with the law and contaminated working environment led to the high rate of occupational deseases among SMIEs These have threaten the sustainable development of SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province and the society as a whole, thus creating barriers to the building and improvement of social standards Based on these facts, the title "Corporate social responsibility of small and medium - sized enterprises in Thai Nguyen province for employees" has been selected to study to aim at improving CSR for employees of SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province in the coming time PURPOSE OF STUDY 2.1 General purpose Research on CSR of SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province for employees, thus suggesting measures to improve SMIEs' CSR implementation in Thai Nguyen province, contributing to enhancing the job satisfaction 2.2 Detailed purpose - To systemize theoretical and practical basis relating to CSR for employees - Analyze and assess the actual status of CSR implementation of SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province for employees in the past and analyze the impact of CSR on employees' job satisfaction in SMIEs Thai Nguyen province - Propose some measures to enhance the implementation of CSR of SMIEs for employees in Thai Nguyen province by 2025 OBJECT AND SCOPE OF STUDY 3.1 Study object The study object of the thesis is the implementation of CSR of SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province for employees 3.2 Scope of study 3.2.1 Content - CSR has various contents such as environmental protection, CSR for consumers, CSR for the community, CSR for employees In the scope of this dissertation, the author analyzes the implementation of CSR of SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province through the steps in the process such as by working out the plan, organizing the implementation, building contents of implementing and evaluating the implementation - The thesis investigates, evaluates and quantifies the influence of CSR for employees on job satisfaction of SMIEs in Thai Nguyen 3.2.2 Space The dissertation is conducted in the SMIEs currently operating in Thai Nguyen province 3.2.3 Time - Secondary data: The thesis collects secondary data on the implementation of CSR of SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province in the period 2014 - 2016 - Primary data: The dissertation collects the primary data on the implementation of SMIEs in Thai Nguyen by 2016 The solutions are researched and proposed by 2025 NEW CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE RESEARCH Firstly, the thesis contributes to the systematization and clarification of the theoretical and practical basis of CSR for employees, the concept of CSR for employees in SMIEs as well as building the criteria and framework CSR of SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province Secondly, the survey with the sample size of 231 managers and 394 employees in SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province showed that the proposed research model is relevant The proposed hypotheses are supported where responsibilities of SMIEs for employees in the economic, legal, ethical, philanthropic aspect have the same impact on the job satisfaction of employees Thirdly, the survey results show that the SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province have not properly performed the economic and legal responsibility for the employees Fourthly, the quantitative research results show that the economic responsibilities for employees will have the greatest impact on job satisfaction among SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province, followed by legal, ethical responsibilities have the least effect Fifthly, the content in the thesis will provide a basis for enterprises to compare with their CSR implementation for their to employees This, in combination with groups of solutions presented in the dissertation will enhance the CSR implementation of the enterprises for employees, thereby improving the job satisfaction for employees Sixthly, the research results will a reference for the policy-making agencies involved in the development of SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province in particular as well as Vietnam in general STRUCTURE OF THE RESEARCH Chapter 1: Overview of corporate social responsibility for employees Chapter 2: Theoretical and practical basis for corporate social responsibility of small and medium - sized industrial enterprises for employees Chapter 3: Research methods Chapter 4: Results of research on corporate social responsibility of small and medium - sized enterprises in Thai Nguyen province for employees Chapter 5: Some solutions to improve the corporate social responsibility of small and medium - sized enterprises for employees in Thai Nguyen province CHAPTER OVERVIEW OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR EMPLOYEES 1.1 RESEARCH ON CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR EMPLOYEES 1.1.1 Overseas studies 1.1.1.1 Studies on corporate social responsibility for employees 1.1.1.2 Studies on the effect of corporate social responsibility for employess on job satisfaction 1.1.2 Vietnam studies 1.1.2.1 Studies on corporate social responsibility for employees 1.1.2.2 Studies on the effect of corporate social responsibility for employees on job satisfaction 1.2 GENERAL ASSESSMENT ON RESULTS OF RESEARCH AND PRINCIPLES OF RESEARCH 1.2.1 Successes 1.2.2 Limit - In the country and abroad, research on CSR for employees is relatively high but only concentrated and deepened in theory From a practical point of view, there have been a number of researches on the implementation of CSR on employees in enterprises, but there is no such research in small and medium - sized enterprises in the industrial sector in Thai Nguyen province, Vietnam - The implementation of CSR for employees is discussed in various aspects but no research has developed a scale to assess the impact of CSR for employees on job satisfaction among SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province This is also the "gap" in the study - There have been many studies using analytical and synthesis methods; Statistical methods, description and modern methods (EFA, regression) to assess the relationship between CSR and employees' satisfaction, but no study was found in Thai Nguyen - In Vietnam in general and in Thai Nguyen in particular, the industry is becoming a key industry With the rapid growth of the industry, the current status of CSR in SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province is not discussed yet 1.2.3 Research orientation In the thesis, the author will focus on the following issues: Choosing the framework; Develop criteria for CSR assessment of SMIEs for employees based on the selected framework; Evaluate the performance of CSR of SMIEs in Thai Nguyen for the employees through the selected criteria; Evaluate the impact of CSR on employees on job satisfaction of SMIEs; Propose solutions to improve CSR of SMIEs to employees in order to develop sustainable SMIEs CHAPTER THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL BASIS FOR CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF SMALL & MEDIUM SIZED INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES FOR EMPLOYEES 2.1 THEORETICAL BASIS 2.1.1 Small and medium - sized industrial enterprises 2.1.1.1 Conception a Concept of industrial enterprises Understandable, industrial enterprises are economic organizations with their own names, assets, stable transaction offices and business registration in accordance with the law for the purpose of conducting business activities In the field of industry include mining, processing and repair services b Concept of small and medium - sized enterprises Small and medium - sized -sized enterprises are independent production and business establishments and have registered their business according to the current law, with a registered capital of no more than VND 100 billion or an average annual labor force of no more than 300 c Concept of small and medium - sized industrialenterprises Small and medium - sized industrial enterprises, first of all constituting part of the system of enterprises, are independent production and business establishments, which have registered their business under the current legislation and have registered capital not exceeding VND 100 billion or an average number of employees not exceeding 300 people per year for the purpose of conducting business activities in the industrial sector including mining, processing and repair services 2.1.1.2 Characteristics of small and medium - sized industrial enterprises 2.1.1.3 The role of small and medium - sized industrial enterprises 2.1.2 Corporate social responsibility for employees 2.1.2.1 Conception Corporate social responsibility for employees is the commitment of the business organization to employees to the economy, legislation, ethics and phylanthropic through inherent responsibilities to improve the quality of employees’s life in win - win situation ( both company and employees benefit) 2.1.2.2 Roles - For the benefits of employees - For the benefits for businesses 2.1.2.3 Contents a Actions planning - Identifying the demands of CSR for employees - Developing instruments of CSR for employees - Budget planning b Implementation - Organizating apparatus - Organizing office communication - Organizing employees training c Content of implementation Based on Carroll's pyramid model (1991), the content of business organization CSR for employees includes: - Economic responsibility: Some criteria show the economic responsibility of SMIEs for employees include: + Creating jobs + Retention and development of company + Making profits for funds extraction + Wage fund, welfare and reward funds are suitable paid for employees - Liability for employees contains: + Signing labor contract + Ensuring legal working time, resting time + Ensuring protective equipment + Ensuring periodic medical examination + Legal Social insurance, health insurance payment + Child labor, compulsory labor and discrimination + The right of labour to join trade unions - Ethical responsibilities: some indications contain: + Training, developing and improving labour’s ability + Creating a healthy labor relations + Respecting employee’s privacy + Protecting the Accusers in workplace - Phylanthrophic responsibilities: Here some indications: + Providing financial services, social services to employees + Developing employee’s personality and ethics + Encourage employees taking part in charitable reserves d Evaluating Implementation Measurement criteria contain financia criteria and non-financial criteria Financial criteria are measured by CSR’ effects and cost - savings Non-financial are measured such as the level of CSR implementation, employee satisfaction, employee commitment Measuring the results of CSR helps to simplify the decision - making process and reduce risks in the implementation process 2.1.2.4 Affected factors a Elements of the external environment - The economic - political environment - Legislation environment - The management of the authorities - Civil society organizations - Public opinion and the Press b Elements of the internal environment - Operational strategies and targets - Company financial position - Board of management - Each individual employees - Trade unions 2.2 THE PRACTICAL BASIC OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF SMALL AND MEDIUM - SIZED ENTERPRISES FOR EMPLOYEES 2.2.1 International experience 2.2.1.1 Corporate social responsibility of small and medium - sized industrial enterprises for employees in Guangdong province, China 2.2.1.2 Corporate social responsibility of small and medium - sized industrial enterprises for employees in Tokyo, Japan 2.2.2 Experiences in Vietnam 2.2.2.1 Corporate social responsibility of small and medium - sized industrial enterprises for employees in Bac Ninh province 2.2.2.2 Corporate social responsibility of small and medium - sized industrial enterprises for employees in Vinh Phuc province 2.2.3 Learning from experience - Proving initial support to motivate SMIEs to implement CSR for employees - Investing time and budget for SMIEs - The SMIEs have to fulfill all four responsibilites: economic, legal, ethical and charitable responsibilities for employees: + Having flexible compensation, looking after social security issues such as social insurance, health insurance, labor satisfaction and other welfare to employees + Designing the legal and suitable working time, rest time for employees + Prohibitting discrimitation to appoint employees; índiscriminating training types, personal background, religion, gender, nationality in recruiment in order to creates a healthy, equitable and equal working environment + Employee training programs, plans, contents and methods should implement to suit the enterprises situations In addition, the enterprise creates opportunities for career advancement + Create a healthy and useful environment for employees to improve the their quality of mental health CHAPTER RESEARCH METHODS 3.1 RESEARCH QUESTION - What is the role of CSR for employees in SMIEs? - What are the criteria for assessing whether SMIEs conduct CSR for employees? - What are the current situation of CSR of SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province for employees? - What is the impact of CSR for employees to job satisfaction of SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province? - What are the constraints that exist in the implementation of CSR in SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province and what are the causes of these constraints? - What solutions to improve CSR of SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province for employees? 3.2 APPROACH AND ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK 3.2.1 Approach 3.2.1.1 Approach to the system 3.2.1.2 Approach by type of business 3.2.1.3 Participatory approach 3.2.2 Analytical framework 3.3 RESEARCH METHODS 3.3.1 Method of collecting information 3.3.1.1 Secondary data CHAPTER RESEARCH RESULTS CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED ENTERPRISES IN THAI NGUYEN PROVINCE FOR EMPLOYEES 4.1 OVERVIEW OF SMALL AND MEDIUM - SIZED ENTERPRISES IN THAI NGUYEN PROVINCE 4.1.1 General characteristics of the Study Area 4.1.1.1 Natural Features a Geographical Location b Topography and Climate c Natural Resources 4.1.2.1 Process of Formation and Development 4.1.2.2 Number of Small and Medium - Sized Industrial Enterprises in Thai Nguyen Province a Number of Enterprises by Enterprise Type b Number of Enterprises by Location 4.1.2.3 Labor Force in Small and Medium - Sized Industrial Enterprises a Labor Scale b Types of Business b Operational Area c Qualification of Labor 4.1.2.4 Results of Production and Business Activities of Small and Medium Sized Industrial Enterprises 4.2 IMPLEMENTATION OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF SMALL AND MEDIUM - SIZED INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES IN THAI NGUYEN PROVINCE FOR EMPLOYEES 4.2.1 Implementation of Enterprise 4.2.1.1 Actions planning The SMIEs in Thai Nguyen Province put common world standards into application limited, but there are some SMIEs have built and announced CSR standards of internal employees which are appropriate for the needs of their enterprises This proves that SMIEs are also interested in implementing CSR towards employees 4.2.1.2 Implementation In order to effectively implement CSR for employees, the SMIEs also organized some forms of propaganda, dissemination of knowledge and guidance on the implementation of CSR law to employees through the conferences, the workshops This is a popular method, conducted with many participants In addition, methods of propaganda by newspapers, radio and television are also utilized, despite limited number 4.2.1.3 Content of implementation The first responsibility which SMIEs have to accomplish, resolving the problems of employment According to the statistics of The Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the SMIEs created jobs for nearly 2,100 labors in Thai Nguyen City; about 1,000 employments in Pho Yen Town; and also 1,000 works in Dong Hy District To achieve the results, the Thai Nguyen SMIEs have repeatedly recruited workers in various channels In addition to job creation for employees, in 2014, SMIEs in Thai Nguyen created stable jobs for 6,740 employees; by 2015, the number of regular employees increased 7,792 people (up 115.6%); and by 2016, the number of the employees got 8,959 employees (up 115%) Besides, the average income of labor in Thai Nguyen SMIEs also improved significantly, from 3.7 million VND per month in 2014 to 4.1 million VND per month in 2015 (up 110.8%), and to 4.5 million VND per month in 2016 (up 109.7%) During 2014 – 2016, SMIEs are profitable The after-tax profits were deducted by the SMIEs to improve employees’ living standards through the welfare and reward funds Thai Nguyen SMIEs actions were considered as high value in implementing their economic responsibilities towards workers Despite the reduction in the number of accidents, this figure is still quite high In 2016, there were 87 occupational accidents, most of which were concentrated in limited liability companies (35 accidents) and joint-stock companies (20 accidents) The least is the private sector (7 accidents) The number of people injured by occupational accidents in the period 2014 - 2016 also tends to decrease gradually, only 69 people in 2016 But the number of deaths caused by work accidents is on the rise, with 11 deaths in 2016 This showed that SMIEs are really irresponsible to employees in providing the labors with the protective equipment 4.2.1.4 Evaluating Implementation In principle, the implementation of CSR standards towards employees in Thai Nguyen SMIEs must be strictly executed, because each stage has the supervisors of the Mechanic Register; Thai Nguyen Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs; The Management Offices of the districts/towns/communes However, the management of SMIEs is perfunctory, not continuous, so that the implementation of CSR towards employees has not been thoroughly 4.2.2 The Implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility of Small and Medium - Sized Industrial Enterprises for Employees through Assessment of Respondents in Thai Nguyen Province 4.2.2.1 Description of Survey Samples: Managers and Employees 4.2.2.2 Summary Results of the Questionnaire a Actions planning a1 Identifying the demands of CSR for employees The survey results of the managers in Thai Nguyen SMIEs showed that only 30.7% of the respondents said that their enterprises had the demand CSR towards the employees, especially foreign-invested enterprises (100%) and joint-stock companies (61,8%) This suggests that the needs to apply and implement CSR towards employees in each type of enterprise is not the same a2 Developing instruments of CSR for employees There are 56.2% of managers claiming that their SMIEs apply the SA 8000 Standard; 25.7% said they apply the Internal Self-Regulatory Code; only 8,6% of respondents believe that their business applies WRAP Standards; and 8,6% apply the OHSAS 18001 Standard Thus, SMIEs in the research area utilize the most popularly SA 8000 standards a3 Budgeting Plan Currently, the majority of managers (56.3% of respondents) imply that Thai Nguyen SMIEs not have much budget to spend on CSR implementation This expenditure depends largely on the business efficiency of the enterprises As the business grows steadily, the companies will have better conditions in CSR implementation Moreover, the state of many budget but not use for implementing CSR towards employees also occur in many enterprises, typically limited-liability companies (53.1%) b Implementation b1 Organizating apparatus Most managers of Thai Nguyen SMIEs have not really attended to establish a specialized unit of CSR implementation towards employees As many as 82.7% of managers in the surveyed enterprises said that their unit does not have a specialized department being responsible for implementing CSR towards employees The Private firms (91.9%), the joint-stock companies (82.4%), and the limited-liability companies (79.6%) occupy a high proportion with the main reasons are that they did not want a cumbersome management, overlapping tasks Their small and medium - sized enterprises is no need to set up, pay much money for this activity b2 Organizing office communication Internal communication has great significance, which determines the success of CSR implementation towards employees However, this work has not been really paid attention to SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province b3 Organizing employees training According to the survey, the majority of managers (98.3%) of Thai Nguyen SMIEs stated that their enterprises did not organize training staff for implementing CSR towards workers This has a huge impact on implementing CSR on the employees The stakeholders of CSR towards employees are very difficult to imagine what they will do, how to it and where to start c Contents of implementation c1 Economic Responsibility - Creating jobs For the private and limited-liability companies, the employment situation of the employees is not regular and stable, but the scale is small (less than 10% of the opinions) - Making profits for funds extraction Although Thai Nguyen SMIEs are profitable, they have not yet made satisfactory allocations to the fund improving workers’ living conditions - Wage fun,welfare and rewards funds are suitable paid for employees Foreign-invested enterprises are paying better salaries than other enterprises Through surveys, among the SMIEs in Thai Nguyen Province, only three main employees’ allowances are allowance for food, position allowances and harmful allowances However, these levels in each type of SMIEs are different c2 Legal Responsibility - Signing labor contract 5.6% of employees imply that they not have the labor contracts during their works in the enterprises, mainly private enterprises The people who not have the labor contracts, and the understanding of labor law, will be at high risk of loss of benefits This sign show that the private companies have not really well done their legal responsibilities to the employees - Ensuring legal working time, resting time The average working time of the employees in Thai Nguyen SMIEs is 9.2 hours/day, which is a long time, longer than the provisions of the Labor Code of Vietnam But 73.1% of employees in these businesses said that their working time is reasonable - Ensuring protective equipment Only foreign-invested enterprises and joint-stock companies well implement the responsibility of labor protection equipment in enterprises Other types of businesses need to have solutions to enhance their accountability - Ensuring periodic medical examination In the enterprises conducting to periodical examine employees’ health, most of all have checked their health once a year (32.5%) The foreign-invested enterprise is the only one making 100% health checks every months for employees With such a situation, the problem of health check and protection for employees are becoming urgent and alarming, SMIEs in Thai Nguyen Province need to come up with practical solutions - Child labor, compulsory labor and discrimination According to the survey, 15% of Thai Nguyen SMIEs have employed the child labors, but 100% of the respondents said that their businesses registered to employ child laborers with the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs and 100% of the research participants also imply that their businesses strictly comply with regulations on recruitment of child laborers Currently, forced labor is still occurring in SMIEs but not many, accounting for 14.5% of the opinions, the remains confirmed that this situation has never occurred This will be a warning signal about the lack of CSR towards employees, especially in private enterprises The situation of gender equality in Thai Nguyen SMIEs still has many inadequacies Most of the main female employments is workers, craftsmen, simpleskill employees (40.1%) Female workers hold high positions in the business such as leaders of The Party, government, mass organizations, business owners occupy only a small proportion (8.7%) - Legal Social insurance, health insurance payment Adapted to the survey, many enterprises still violate regulations of social insurance, health insurance (66% of respondents) There is popular when the registration of social insurance and health insurance of employees is still lower than the minimum wage with the purpose of reducing business cost (46.7%) Some participants of enterprise that participate in social insurance, health insurance with high premiums, are the most important people (24.6%) Many firms also not inform their employees about the level of social insurance, health insurance (15.8%) - The right of labour to join trade unions Only 68.5% of the enterprises have a trade union organization, and 31.5% of the enterprises not have a trade union organization This is highest in the private sector (73.6%), other types of businesses have low rates c3 Ethical responsibilities - Training, developing and improving labour’s ability The SMIEs have just stopped training employees in production techniques, labor safety, but there are not many companies paying attention to training employees for labor law - Creating a healthy labor relations Thai Nguyen SMIEs have well partly done creation of a healthy relationship between the managers and the employees Two objects cooperated positively in terms of attitude, spirit and action 59.7% of the respondents believe that the cooperation between the employees and the leaders in the SMIEs is good - Respecting employee’s privacy The SMIEs in Thai Nguyen Province are well doing the job of respecting their employees' moral rights - Protecting the Accusers in workplace 100% of respondents stated that there was no retaliation to the people reporting wrong actions in the workplace This is a very encouraging, so it should be promoted so that the enterprise can perform its moral responsibility to the employees c4 Phylanthrophic responsibilities - Providing financial services, social services to employees According to the survey, 76% of respondents believe that SMIEs provide financial services and social services to their employees Services provided to employees in enterprises are also numerous and diversified, mainly sport training programs (67.6%), entertainment and corporate support programs (65.6%) - Developing employee’s personality and ethics Through surveys, SMIEs in Thai Nguyen Province have not really well done to develop the personality and morality of the employees Therefore, the solutions to overcome this situation are very necessary - Encourage employees taking part in charitable reserves The survey results show that 87.5% of respondents believe that the enterprises encourage them to participate in community activities The scale is high in the joint-stock and limited-liability companies Most of philanthropic activities in SMIEs now focus on charitable activities (73%), disaster relief (51%), hunger eradication and poverty reduction (47%) The forms of support are relatively diversified by cash, things in nature, volunteer time Of them, donations by cast occupied 79.5% d Evaluating Implementation - Evaluating the effectiveness of standard application The managers in Thai Nguyen SMIEs found that the application of the International Standard was initially not effective, most of applications of OHSAS 18001 and WRAP were poorly evaluated (over 60%) For standards set by the enterprises themselves, the manager evaluates the application more efficient than the international standards (32.2%) This shows that the development of CSR standards for employees are suitable for enterprises, the application will be better - Evaluating through performance level According to Table 4.40, 51.1% of managers said that their business was partially responsible, 20.8% said that they had planned to However, the number of respondents who show that their businesses have been fully implemented got a small proportion (2.6%) and still 18.6% others think that enterprises have not yet conceived CSR towards employees - Evaluating through employee satisfaction + Cronbach's Alpha Reliability Factor + Linear regression analysis We have the regression equation as follows: Y = 0.224 + 0.366X1 + 0.270X2 + 0.253X3 + 0.171X4 (*) The linear regression equation suggest the conclusions from the sample, the job satisfaction of employees depends on the four elements of CSR towards employees: economic responsibility, legal responsibility, ethical responsibility, and philanthropic responsibility Since all independent variables are measured by the Likert scale (the same unit), thus from the regression equation, it can be seen that the level of each factors’ influence on job satisfaction In particular, the most influence is economic responsibility, followed by legal responsibility, ethical responsibility and charitable responsibility which have the lowest impact + Test the hypothesis of the model: Hypothesis H1: The economic responsibility of SMIEs is positively correlated with job satisfaction of employees Hypothesis H2: The legal responsibility of SMIEs is positively correlated with job satisfaction of employees Hypothesis H3: The ethical responsibility of SMIEs is positively correlated with job satisfaction of employees Hypothesis 4: The philanthropic responsibility of SMIEs is positively correlated with job satisfaction of employees 4.3 FACTORS AFFECTING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF SMALL AND MEDIUM - SIZED ENTERPRISES INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES IN THAI NGUYEN FOR EMPLOYEES 4.3.1 Elements of the External Environment 4.3.1.1 Economic - political Environment 4.3.1.2 Legislation Environment 4.3.1.3 The Management of the Authorities 4.3.1.4 Civil Society Organizations 4.3.1.5 Public Opinion and the Press 4.3.2 Elements of the Internal Environment 4.3.2.1 Operational strategy and targets 4.3.2.2 Company financial position 4.3.2.3 Board of management 4.3.2.4 Each individual employees 4.3.2.5 Trade Unions 4.5 GENERAL ASSESSMENT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF SMALL AND MEDIUM - SIZED ENTERPRISES OF INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES IN THAI NGUYEN PROVINCE FOR EMPLOYEES 4.5.1 The results have been achieved - The planning: the managers in all SMIEs know CSR and are aware of the importance of implementing CSR for employees, from the implementation plan, implementation, the contents of development, applying to the assessment, inspection of the implementation of CSR for employees Most SMIEs have leaders' commitment to implement CSR for their employees In addition, these companies are endeavoring to obtain certificates of CSR Management Standards for international employees that are primarily SA 8000 standards - The organization: Some SMIEs have recognized the importance of internal communication in CSR for employees The most popular forms of communication are conferences, training, press, and radio on such topics as working time, working environment, occupational safety, training, volunteer programs, and relief - The implementation: Among the responsibilities that Thai Nguyen SMIEs need to implement for employees, ethical responsibility and philanthropic responsibility are best implemented by enterprises This shows that SMIEs in Thai Nguyen have always paid attention to building and setting standards, moral values and cultural standards so that everyone complies when working as a guideline for all activities in the business - The implementation evaluation: The research results show that the application of the standards set by the enterprises themselves is more effective than the application of international standards Research results also show that the implementation CSR of Thai Nguyen SMIEs for employees has the same impact on the job satisfaction of the employees While the economic responsibility is most influential, then to legal responsibility, ethical responsibility and finally philanthropic responsibility 4.5.2 Existing Limitations - The planning: The development of the CSR plan for the employees has been concerned by manager, the implementation plan has been proposed but not detailed, not based on specific needs of the project each business to build In addition, many enterprises did not develop the implementation framework and action plan as well as CSR implementation process for employees In addition, SMIEs not have much budget to spend on CSR for employees - Implementation organization: Many enterprises not have a specialized unit which has responsibilities for management and implementation of CSR for employees Even enterprises not organize human training to implement CSR for employees - In terms of content: In the implementation of CSR for employees, only foreign-invested enterprises and joint-stock companies are performing well CSR for employees, while limited companies and private companies have not really invested and focused on CSR implementation for employees - On performance appraisal: Effective application of CSR standards to employees has been relatively low The majority of managers claim that their businesses carry out CSR inspections for employees every months or once a year However, in practice, this activity has not been clearly implemented, is still perfunctory, not regular and periodic so there are still many constraints needing to solve in order to improve the CSR implementation of the enterprises with the employees Research results show that many SMIEs in Thai Nguyen Province have not been responsible for economic and legal responsibilities of the employees At the same time, the level of economic responsibility and legal responsibility on job satisfaction of employees is greatest 4.5.3 Cause of Limitations - Because the size of the research enterprise is small and medium - sized Therefore, these enterprises with limited financial resources, most of them are lack of funds to implement CSR for employees, they cannot immediately install modern and safety equipment, industrial waste treatment line, also protect the labors - Employees in research enterprises have low educational attainment, occupying the majority of secondary and vocational college This has a great impact on the awareness and assessment of CSR implementation of SMIEs in Thai Nguyen towards employees - The implementation of CSR of Thai Nguyen SMIEs for employees is not consistently and consistently implemented - The effect of the law is low, the responsibility of the state agencies in law enforcement is very faint - SMIEs in Thai Nguyen Province have difficulty in accessing information on laws, Code of Conduct - The viewpoints, policies and mechanisms of the State and the Sector on CSR implementation of enterprises towards employees have not been specified CHAPTER MEASURES TO ENHANCE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF SMALL AND MEDIUM - SIZED ENTERPRISES IN THAI NGUYEN PROVINCE FOR EMPLOYEES 5.1 BACKGROUND IN AND OUTSIDE COUNTRIES AFFECTING CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED ENTERPRISES IN THAI NGUYEN INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES FOR EMPLOYEES 5.2 THE CONCEPT OF ENHANCING CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF SMALL AND MEDIUM - SIZED ENTERPRISES IN THAI NGUYEN INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES FOR EMPLOYEES Viewpoint 1: The State guarantees to create a legal environment for SMIEs to implement CSR for employees Viewpoint 2: There should be a coordinated mix of management levels, sectors and within each enterprise to enhance CSR of SMIEs for employees Viewpoint 3: Thai SMIEs themselves need to be aware of the role and importance of enhancing CSR for employees in operation and management of enterprises Viewpoint 4: Employees themselves must have knowledge and positive attitude towards enterprises in enhancing CSR for employees Viewpoint 5: Thai Nguyen province needs supportive policies to improve the CSR of SMIEs for employees 5.3 MEASURES TO ENHANCE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF SMALL AND MEDIUM - SIZED ENTERPRISES IN THAI NGUYEN PROVINCE FOR EMPLOYEES 5.3.1 Encourage enterprises to apply the Code of corporate social responsibility for employees First of all, enterprises need to collect enough information to choose which standards is best suited to their business They can choose from one of three series of standards SA 8000, WRAP, OHSAS 18001 After that, the enterprises to set up the roadmap to apply the standards in detail and concurrently with the commitments of business leaders on the application of CSR standards to the employees 5.3.2 Set up a specialized unit to carry out corporate social responsibility for employees For companies applying CSR standards for employees, this section will develop the roadmap for application of standards For companies that not apply CSR standards for employees, the specialized unit will develop CSR framework for employees Together with the director of the enterprise, the specialized unit is responsible for setting up the CSR framework for employees in line with their production and business activities 5.3.3 Strengthening the training and retraining of human resources for the implementation of corporate social responsibility of employees To invest in the training of leaders of enterprises in a holistic and strategic way on CSR for employees, such as identification of general directors, directors and deputy directors in charge; Course duration may be from to days, once a year should be opened once; Trainers who have many years experience in CSR, training budget, training format, etc to help managers understand employees engagement with CSR as well as how to engage employees in CSR 5.3.4 Measures to enhance corporate social responsibility of small and medium - sized enterprises in Thai Nguyen province for employees 5.3.4.1 Enhance economic responsibility for employees *) Improve the payment mechanism for employees The salary paid to the employee should be based on the equality agreement between the employee and the business owner, which must not be contrary to the current provisions of law and clearly stated in the labor contract Particularly, there should be commitments on the time of payment, how to pay to the employee should be clear Construction and registration of salary scale and payroll must be completed in the provincial Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs When building payroll scales, the business owner should consult with the trade union organization and publish it at the workplace before proceeding *) Reward fund, welfare fund for employees In order to achieve stable and sustainable development and well perform the responsibility for employees in economic aspect, Thai Nguyen SMIEs should deduct part of their profit after tax as bonus fund, welfare fund with The maximum deduction rate of 5% (this rate is determined based on actual business situation each year) 5.3.4.2 Enhance liability responsibility for employees *) Health Care for Employees Fully and seriously examine periodical health for employees Once every six months, the employee should have their health fully examined, if any signs of occupational disease are detected, the employee must be properly treated and transferred to other suitable job This is a mandatory provision of the Enterprise Law, especially for industrial enterprises *) Strengthening labor protection Enterprises should issue documents stipulating administrative sanctions and violations of labor protection law, such as the purchase of non-quality equipment, Occupational safety training To invest in the purchase of labor protection equipment for employees, suitable for each job or profession 5.3.4.3 Enhance ethical responsibility for employees Developing and promulgating criteria for assessing the soundness of industrial relations in these enterprises is essential The system of labor relation assessment standards may be piloted in a group of enterprises, which will then be modified to suit the specific characteristics of the SMIEs and across the province 5.3.4.4 Enhance phylanthrophic responsibility for employees *) Improve and develop the personality and ethics of the employee In addition to promoting the traditional values, it is necessary to overcome the existing negative stereotypes in every SMIEs employee as constrained by old habits and new problems, insufficient production habits calculating economic efficiency, working style slowly *) Establish good relationship with the family Businesses should pay close attention to the events of the family of employees, such as birthday, funeral, summing up the school year by visiting, sending gifts or sending representatives to visit the family of employees In addition, inviting families to participate in exchanges organized by enterprises such as arts, festivals and tourism is an effective way to help members of the family understand and stick with the company 5.3.5 It is important to examine and evaluate the implementation of corporate social responsibility of employees Check the implementation of CSR for employees In order to this activity, the enterprise needs to set up a supervision board, composed of CSR staff members, employees, supervisors and NQL staff Monitoring activities must be carried out regularly 5.4 SOME RECOMMENDATIONS 5.4.1 Continuing to amend and improve the legal system in the implementation of enterprises' responsibilities towards laborers - The State have to take strict remedial measures, strictly punish and prevent SMIEs from evading CSR for employees - The State should add to the Labor Code the year-end bonuses which are compulsory for enterprises and set the minimum reward level 5.4.2 The state needs to support policies for enterprises to implement CSR for employees - Financial support for enterprises - Training policies to improve the level and management skills for the staff of state management - Tax exemption for enterprises CONCLUDE The thesis "Corporate social responsibility of small and medium - sized enterprises in Thai Nguyen province for employees" is an independent, comprehensive and meaningful research project in both scientific and practical aspects Basically, the thesis has achieved the objectives of the research and obtained the main results as follows: - The dissertation has reviewed nearly 20 research projects in the world and in Vietnam related to CSR of SMIEs for employees and the impact of CSR implementation of enterprises on employees to satisfaction of work of employees Thus, the dissertation shows that the implementation of CSR for employees is discussed in different angles but no research has been conducted in Thai Nguyen province and no research work approaching the economic aspect - The dissertation has systematized and clarified the concept of CSR for employees with aspects: economic responsibilities, liability responsibilities, ethical responsibilities, phylanthrophic responsibilities Accordingly, the CSR framework for employees was identified to assess the implementation of CSR in Thai Nguyen SMIEs for employees In addition, the thesis also investigated the practical basis of CSR implementation in SMIEs for employees in some countries with political and economic similarities with Vietnam and Thai Nguyen, from which lessons learned for Thai Nguyen province - The thesis uses different approaches in combination with quantitative and qualitative methods, including Carroll's (1991) diamond model to make theoretical modeling of the thesis - The results of the research on the actual situation of the thesis show that SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province are always interested in building and setting standards, ethical values and cultural standards so that all laborers comply with their working conditions First, as a guide for all activities in the business As for the economic responsibilities and liabilities of the employees, these enterprises are showing irresponsibility In addition, the implementation of CSR for employees in the SMIEs in Thai Nguyen has not really been effective Only JSCs and CSEs are implementing CSR for employees, while limited companies and private companies not pay much attention to and invest much in this activity - The results of quantitative research show that the contents of CSR implementation in Thai Nguyen SMIEs for employees have the same impact on the job satisfaction of the employees Where the economic responsibility is most influential, then to legal responsibility, moral responsibility and finally charitable responsibility - The thesis has identified the remaining constraints and find out the reasons for the limitations in Thai SMIEs' implementation of CSR for employees due to cognitive, legal personality - Proposing groups of solutions, including solutions for implementing CSR for employees and solutions for implementing CSR for employees These groups of solutions, if implemented, will improve the CSR of SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province, thereby contributing to improving the job satisfaction of the employees, building the brand and reputation for the enterprise Sustainable development for businesses and contribute to the socio-economic development in Thai Nguyen province in particular and the country in general - However, due to time and budget constraints, the thesis has some limitations, namely: Firstly, the secondary data used in the thesis is not much and plentiful, mostly using primary data In addition, the size of the sample survey is limited compared to the total labor size, so it is not enough to cover all SMIEs Therefore, other studies may be repeated in the future with more probabilistic sampling and sample sizes to increase the generalizability of the results Secondly, the thesis only investigated the effect of CSR content on employees on job satisfaction of employees In fact, implementing CSR on employees also affects many other issues such as labor attraction, productivity; prestige, brand of the enterprise, loyalty of employees, efficiency of business activities of enterprises Therefore, the following research can explore more deeply about these impacts ... medium - sized industrial enterprises for employees in Bac Ninh province 2.2.2.2 Corporate social responsibility of small and medium - sized industrial enterprises for employees in Vinh Phuc province. .. activities In the field of industry include mining, processing and repair services b Concept of small and medium - sized enterprises Small and medium - sized -sized enterprises are independent... social responsibility of small and medium - sized enterprises in Thai Nguyen province for employees" has been selected to study to aim at improving CSR for employees of SMIEs in Thai Nguyen province