Corporate social responsibility performance and its effects on climate for innovation and opportunism: evidence from Vietnamese architectural design firms

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to expand a better understanding of how corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives affect climate for innovation and opportunism within architectural design firms (ADFs).Design/methodology/approachThe literature review and discussions with industry practitioners identified an initial list of variables. A questionnaire survey was developed, validated and delivered to employees working in ADFs. 226 valid responses were collected. Then, the structural equation modeling (SEM) method was employed to empirically investigate the relationships between CSR performance, climate for innovation and opportunism in a single integrative model.FindingsThe results empirically support that CSR performance has a positive effect on climate for innovation and a negative effect on opportunism. In addition, climate for innovation shows a negative effect on opportunism.Research limitations/implicationsThis research highlights that CSR performance is essential for ADFs to better achieve sustainable development. By doing CSR activities, climate for innovation in ADFs is expected to be improved, and a sense of opportunism is mitigated. The findings of this paper are explicitly delivered in the context of Vietnamese ADFs and could not be straightforwardly generalized or translated to the construction industry or other sectors in different research contexts.Practical implicationsThe findings show that a climate for innovation is crucial in ADFs. Business managers are encouraged to employ CSR initiatives to foster an innovation climate and reduce a sense of opportunism within ADFs.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first attempts to investigate the relationships between CSR performance, climate for innovation, and opportunism within ADFs. While the findings highlight the critical role of CSR performance, the study argues that CSR should be carefully implemented because there are no “one-size-fits-all” CSR strategies for different business contexts.