Corporate social responsibility in Vietnam state-owned enterprises: a comparative analysis of PVEP and VTC

In line with the calls from United Nations for sustainable development, the regulations from governments, the development of global economic as well as to respond to growing demands from stakeholders, Corporate Social Responsibility is getting more attention throughout the world. This term going along with the investment of multinational corporations (MNCs) was just newly introduced in Vietnam and it instantly attracted concern from enterprises, government and scholars. Due to the limited research on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in State-owned enterprises (SOEs), this paper investigates and makes a comparative analysis of CSR practices of two large Vietnamese SOEs: PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation (PVEP) and Vietnam Multimedia Corporation (or Vietnam Television Corporation – VTC). The input data is based on descriptive information collected from existing literature, corporations’ official websites, published reports, and primary data from interviews with managers of the two companies. The analysis indicates that PVEP and VTC share similar views on the concept of CSR and in line with the definition of standard ISO 26000. It identifies the focal points of these corporations on CSR themes which are Environment, Labor and Community Involvement for PVEP and Labor, Fair Operating Practices, Consumer Issues and Community Involvement for VTC. Institutional Theory has been adopted to examine the main drivers of CSR. This study has determined that the external and internal institutional drivers effect on responsible behaviors of the two corporations at different extent. This study contributes to CSR literature with a focus on State-owned Enterprises. It would be helpful when using to predict the trend as well as suggest recommendation to push CSR activities in SOEs in a better way in future research.