An external corporate social responsibility audit framework for large Maltese companies

Abstract

The objectives of this research are threefold: 1) To obtain a general overview of CSR and CSR business practices within Maltese companies; 2) To determine those companies that carry out an internal CSR audit, to examine the familiarity and eagerness to adopt an external CSR audit and to highlight the pros and cons of such an audit; and 3) To assess the awareness Maltese companies have on international standards that relate to an external CSR audit. The above objectives were achieved by means of an empirical study undertaken through face-to-face semi-structured interviews with twelve large Maltese companies. Where 'large' is defined as companies employing over 100 employees. The results show that, while the majority of Maltese companies carry out strong CSR business practices, the familiarity and eagerness to adopt an external CSR audit framework is still in its premature stage. Although one out of the twelve companies interviewed has just carried out its first external CSR audit on its CSR report in 2010, an external CSR audit framework is still relatively unknown by Maltese companies. This study provides companies with the option of obtaining a competitive advantage through the implementation of an external CSR audit in order to provide stakeholders with enhanced credibility and transparency through third party verification. Amongst its recommendations, this study proposes the implementation of official external CSR audit standards by government authorities as well as official recognition to those companies that carry out such an audit. This will help increase the value and facilitate the adoption of an external CSR audit amongst Maltese companies.