Education Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance of Telecommunication Companies in Kenya
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53819/81018102t5304Abstract
The financial performance of telecommunication companies has witnessed a decline in recent years. Safaricom for instance reported a decrease in profit from 68,676.2 million in 2021 to 67,496.1 million in 2022. Additionally, Airtel Networks Kenya Limited reported losses of 24,822,606,000 in 2020 and 30,662,525,000 in 2021. Furthermore, in 2019, Telkom's market share significantly reduced after losing 600,000 customers, and its voice market share declined by 0.9 percent to 3.1 percent. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the influence of education Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on financial performance of telecommunication companies in Kenya. The population scope encompassed a total of 6,597 employees from the three major telecommunication companies in Kenya: Safaricom with 3,859 employees, Airtel Kenya with 1,694, and Telkom Kenya with 1,044. The unit of observation was employees in top and middle-level management positions due to their pivotal roles in strategic decision-making processes within organizations. The sample size was determined using Yamane's formula, resulting in 353 employees from top and middle-level management. Data collection employed semi-structured questionnaires. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS version 29 software. The correlation analysis found a positive and significant association between education CSR programs and financial performance (r=0.772, p=0.000). The regression analysis found a positive and significant relationship between education CSR programs and financial performance (β = 0.748, t (324) = 21.794, p<.05). The study concludes that education CSR programs can include scholarship initiatives, educational infrastructure, and skills development. Scholarship initiatives can include providing financial assistance to students who are unable to afford tuition, books, or other educational expenses. The study recommends that companies operating in the telecommunications industry should allocate resources towards providing scholarships and financial assistance to students who are in financial need. It is recommended that companies in the telecommunications industry leverage their capacity to contribute to the development of educational infrastructure. This can be achieved through various means, including providing support to existing schools or initiating the construction of new educational institutions.
Keywords: Education CSR programs, Financial Performance, Telecommunication Companies, Kenya
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