Corporate social responsibility, work engagement and hospital image: the roles of hospital reputation, organizational trust and information technology application
Abstract
This study investigates the mediating role of hospital reputation (HOR), organizational trust (ORT), and the moderating role of perceived usefulness of information technology application (ITA) in the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR), work engagement (WOE), and hospital image (HOI). Using survey data from 586 healthcare workers employed at public hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, the study employs partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the measures and hypotheses. The results reveal that effective CSR practices not only foster a positive work environment and enhance WOE but also significantly improve HOI. HOR and ORT partially mediate the impact of CSR on WOE and, alongside WOE, act as crucial mediators in the CSR-HOI relationship. These findings confirm that organizational reputation and trust are foundational to building sustainable relationships between organizations and employees while also strengthening the hospital’s image in the community. Furthermore, the study identifies perceived usefulness of ITA as a significant benefit that positively modifies the impact of CSR on HOI. From these results, practical managerial implications are proposed for hospital leaders to enhance WOE and HOI through the implementation of CSR and ITA practices.
Keyword : corporate social responsibility, work engagement, hospital image, hospital reputation, organizational trust, information technology application
How to Cite
Hoang Nguyen, D., & Hai Nguyen, Q. (2025). Corporate social responsibility, work engagement and hospital image: the roles of hospital reputation, organizational trust and information technology application. Business: Theory and Practice, 26(1), 91–103. https://doi.org/10.3846/btp.2025.22984
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
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Brieger, S. A., Anderer, S., Fröhlich, A., Bäro, A., & Meynhardt, T. (2020). Too much of a good thing? On the relationship between CSR and employee work addiction. Journal of Business Ethics, 166, 311–329. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04141-8
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Dahlsrud, A. (2008). How corporate social responsibility is defined: An analysis of 37 definition. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 15(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.132
Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319–340. https://doi.org/10.2307/249008
Du, S., Bhattacharya, C. B., & Sen, S. (2010). Corporate social responsibility and competitive advantage: Overcoming the trust barrier. Management Science, 56(1), 1–12.
Fombrun, C. J. (1996). Reputation: Realizing value from the corporate image. Harvard Business School.
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800104
Giovannini, S., Xu, Y., & Thomas, J. (2015). Luxury fashion consumption and Generation Y consumers: Self, brand consciousness, and consumption motivations. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 19(1), 22–40. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-08-2013-0096
Glavas, A. (2016). Corporate social responsibility and employee engagement: Enabling employees to employ more of their whole selves at work. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, Article 796. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00796
Glavas, A., & Piderit, S. K. (2009). How does doing good matter? Effects of corporate citizenship on employees. Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 36, 51–70. https://doi.org/10.9774/GLEAF.4700.2009.wi.00007
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Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. C., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Prentice-Hall.
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Hosseini, S. A., Moghaddam, A., Damganian, H., & Shafiei Nikabadi, M. (2022). The effect of perceived corporate social responsibility and sustainable human resources on employee engagement with the moderating role of the employer brand. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 34, 101–121. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-021-09376-0
Javalgi, R., Whipple, T., McManamon, M. K., & Edick, V. L. (1992). Hospital image: A correspondence analysis approach. Journal of Health Care Marketing, 12(4), 34–41.
Kask, S., & Titov, E. (2022). Development of organizational trust questionnaire. In M. H. Bilgin, H. Danis, E. Demir, & V. Bodolica, Eurasian business and economics perspectives. Eurasian studies in business and economics (Vol. 23). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14395-3_6
Kim, H. R., Lee, M., Lee, H. T., & Kim, N. M. (2010). Corporate social responsibility and employee–company identification. Journal of Business Ethics, 95, 557–569. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0440-2
Kim, K. H., Kim, K. S., Kim, D. Y., Kim, J. H., & Kang, S. H. (2008). Brand equity in hospital marketing. Journal of Business Research, 61(1), 75–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2006.05.010
Kim, Y., Hur, W. M., & Lee, L. (2023). Understanding customer participation in CSR activities: The impact of perceptions of CSR, affective commitment, brand equity, and corporate reputation. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 75, Article 103436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2023.103436
Kotler, P. (1994). Marketing management: Analysis planning implementation and control. Prentice-Hall.
Laudon, K. C., & Laudon, J. P. (2021). Management information systems: Managing the digital firm (16th ed.). Pearson Education.
Limbu, Y. B., Pham, L., & Mann, M. (2020). Corporate social responsibility and hospital brand advocacy: Mediating role of trust and patient-hospital identification and moderating role of hospital type. International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, 14(1), 159–174. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPHM-04-2019-0029
Maignan, I. (2001). Consumers’ perceptions of corporate social responsibilities: A cross-cultural comparison. Journal of Business Ethics, 30, 57–72. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006433928640
Maignan, I., Ferrell, O. C., & Hult, G. T. (1999). Corporate citizenship: Cultural antecedents and business benefits. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 27, 455–469. https://doi.org/10.1177/0092070399274005
Mayer, R. C., Davis, J. H., & Schoorman, F. D. (1995). An integrative model of organizational trust. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 709–734. https://doi.org/10.2307/258792
Mazzoleni, M. C., Baiardi, P., Giorgi, I., Franchi, G., Marconi, R., & Cortesi, M. (1996). Assessing users’ satisfaction through perception of usefulness and ease of use in the daily interaction with a hospital information system. In Proceedings of the AMIA Annual Fall Symposium (pp. 752–756). American Medical Informatics Association.
Meyer, J. P., & Allen, N. J. (1991). A three-component conceptualization of organizational commitment. Human Resource Management Review, 1(1), 61–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/1053-4822(91)90011-Z
Meyer, J. P., & Maltin, E. R. (2010). Employee commitment and well-being: A critical review, theoretical framework and research agenda. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 77(2), 323–337. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2010.04.007
Ministry of Health & Health Partnership Group. (2015). Joint health sector overview Report 2014. Medical Publishing House.
Mishina, Y., Block, E. S., & Mannor, M. J. (2012). The path dependence of organizational reputation: How social judgment influences assessments of capability and character. Strategic Management Journal, 33(5), 459–477. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.958
Mowday, R. T., Steers, R. M., & Porter, L. W. (1979). The measurement of organizational commitment. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 14(2), 224–247. https://doi.org/10.1016/0001-8791(79)90072-1
Petrenko, O. V., Aime, F., Ridge, J., & Hill, A. (2016). Corporate social responsibility or CEO narcissism? CSR motivations and organizational performance. Strategic Management Journal, 37(2), 262–279. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2348
Ponzi, L. J., Fombrun, C. J., & Gardberg, N. A. (2011). RepTrak™ pulse: Conceptualizing and validating a short-form measure of corporate reputation. Corporate Reputation Review, 14, 15–35. https://doi.org/10.1057/crr.2011.5
Porter, M. E., & Kramer, M. R. (2006). Strategy and society: The link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility. Harvard Business Review.
Pratihari, S. K., & Uzma, S. H. (2018). CSR and corporate branding effect on brand loyalty: A study on Indian banking industry. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 27(1), 57–78. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-05-2016-1194
Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2013). Organizational behavior (17th ed.). Global Edition.
Şantaş, F., Özer, Ö., Saygili, M., & Özkan, Ş. (2020). The effect of corporate reputation on work engagement: A case study in a public hospital. International Journal of Healthcare Management, 13(1), 340–346. https://doi.org/10.1080/20479700.2018.1548154
Sarstedt, M., Ringle, C. M., Smith, D., Reams, R., & Hair, J. J. (2014). Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM): A useful tool for family business researchers. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 5(1), 105–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfbs.2014.01.002
Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2002). Job demands, job resources, and their relationship with burnout and engagement: A multi-sample study. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25(3), 293–315. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.248
Schaufeli, W. B., Bakker, A. B., & Salanova, M. (2006). The measurement of work engagement with a short questionnaire: A cross-national study. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66(4), 701–716. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164405282471
Searle, R., Den Hartog, D. N., Weibel, A., Gillespie, N., Six, F., Hatzakis, T., & Skinner, D. (2011). Trust in the employer: The role of high-involvement work practices and procedural justice in European organizations. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22(5), 1069–1092. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2011.556782
Turban, E., Pollard, C., & Wood, G. (2018). Information technology for management: On-demand strategies for performance, growth and sustainability. John Wiley & Sons.
Turker, D. (2009). Measuring corporate social responsibility: A scale development study. Journal of Business Ethics, 85, 411–427. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9780-6
Van Riel, C., & Fombrun, C. (1997). The reputational landscape. Corporate Reputation Review, 1(1–2), 5–13. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.crr.1540024
Walker, K. (2010). A systematic review of the corporate reputation literature: Definition, measurement, and theory. Corporate reputation review, 12, 357–387. https://doi.org/10.1057/crr.2009.26
Yan, X., Espinosa-Cristia, J. F., Kumari, K., & Cioca, L. I. (2022). Relationship between corporate social responsibility, organizational trust, and corporate reputation for sustainable performance. Sustainability, 14(14), Article 8737. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14148737
Amoako, G. K., Dartey-Baah, K., Naatu, F., Acquah, I. S., & Gabrah, A. Y. (2024). Corporate social responsibility and brand performance: Evidence from Ghana. Journal of International Management, 30(4) Article 101161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intman.2024.101161
Brammer, S., & Millington, A. (2005). Corporate reputation and philanthropy: An empirical analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 61, 29–44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-005-7443-4
Brieger, S. A., Anderer, S., Fröhlich, A., Bäro, A., & Meynhardt, T. (2020). Too much of a good thing? On the relationship between CSR and employee work addiction. Journal of Business Ethics, 166, 311–329. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04141-8
Carroll, A. B. (1991). The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: Toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders. Business Horizons, 34(4), 39–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/0007-6813(91)90005-G
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Routledge Academic.
Dahlsrud, A. (2008). How corporate social responsibility is defined: An analysis of 37 definition. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 15(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.132
Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319–340. https://doi.org/10.2307/249008
Du, S., Bhattacharya, C. B., & Sen, S. (2010). Corporate social responsibility and competitive advantage: Overcoming the trust barrier. Management Science, 56(1), 1–12.
Fombrun, C. J. (1996). Reputation: Realizing value from the corporate image. Harvard Business School.
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800104
Giovannini, S., Xu, Y., & Thomas, J. (2015). Luxury fashion consumption and Generation Y consumers: Self, brand consciousness, and consumption motivations. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 19(1), 22–40. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-08-2013-0096
Glavas, A. (2016). Corporate social responsibility and employee engagement: Enabling employees to employ more of their whole selves at work. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, Article 796. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00796
Glavas, A., & Piderit, S. K. (2009). How does doing good matter? Effects of corporate citizenship on employees. Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 36, 51–70. https://doi.org/10.9774/GLEAF.4700.2009.wi.00007
Gould-Williams, J. (2003). The importance of HR practices and workplace trust in achieving superior performance: A study of public-sector organizations. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 14(1), 28–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585190210158501
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. C., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Prentice-Hall.
Hair, J. F., Risher, J. J., Sarstedt, M., & Ringle, C. M. (2019). When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM. European Business Review, 31(1), 2–24. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-11-2018-0203
Hosseini, S. A., Moghaddam, A., Damganian, H., & Shafiei Nikabadi, M. (2022). The effect of perceived corporate social responsibility and sustainable human resources on employee engagement with the moderating role of the employer brand. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 34, 101–121. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-021-09376-0
Javalgi, R., Whipple, T., McManamon, M. K., & Edick, V. L. (1992). Hospital image: A correspondence analysis approach. Journal of Health Care Marketing, 12(4), 34–41.
Kask, S., & Titov, E. (2022). Development of organizational trust questionnaire. In M. H. Bilgin, H. Danis, E. Demir, & V. Bodolica, Eurasian business and economics perspectives. Eurasian studies in business and economics (Vol. 23). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14395-3_6
Kim, H. R., Lee, M., Lee, H. T., & Kim, N. M. (2010). Corporate social responsibility and employee–company identification. Journal of Business Ethics, 95, 557–569. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0440-2
Kim, K. H., Kim, K. S., Kim, D. Y., Kim, J. H., & Kang, S. H. (2008). Brand equity in hospital marketing. Journal of Business Research, 61(1), 75–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2006.05.010
Kim, Y., Hur, W. M., & Lee, L. (2023). Understanding customer participation in CSR activities: The impact of perceptions of CSR, affective commitment, brand equity, and corporate reputation. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 75, Article 103436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2023.103436
Kotler, P. (1994). Marketing management: Analysis planning implementation and control. Prentice-Hall.
Laudon, K. C., & Laudon, J. P. (2021). Management information systems: Managing the digital firm (16th ed.). Pearson Education.
Limbu, Y. B., Pham, L., & Mann, M. (2020). Corporate social responsibility and hospital brand advocacy: Mediating role of trust and patient-hospital identification and moderating role of hospital type. International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, 14(1), 159–174. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPHM-04-2019-0029
Maignan, I. (2001). Consumers’ perceptions of corporate social responsibilities: A cross-cultural comparison. Journal of Business Ethics, 30, 57–72. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006433928640
Maignan, I., Ferrell, O. C., & Hult, G. T. (1999). Corporate citizenship: Cultural antecedents and business benefits. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 27, 455–469. https://doi.org/10.1177/0092070399274005
Mayer, R. C., Davis, J. H., & Schoorman, F. D. (1995). An integrative model of organizational trust. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 709–734. https://doi.org/10.2307/258792
Mazzoleni, M. C., Baiardi, P., Giorgi, I., Franchi, G., Marconi, R., & Cortesi, M. (1996). Assessing users’ satisfaction through perception of usefulness and ease of use in the daily interaction with a hospital information system. In Proceedings of the AMIA Annual Fall Symposium (pp. 752–756). American Medical Informatics Association.
Meyer, J. P., & Allen, N. J. (1991). A three-component conceptualization of organizational commitment. Human Resource Management Review, 1(1), 61–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/1053-4822(91)90011-Z
Meyer, J. P., & Maltin, E. R. (2010). Employee commitment and well-being: A critical review, theoretical framework and research agenda. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 77(2), 323–337. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2010.04.007
Ministry of Health & Health Partnership Group. (2015). Joint health sector overview Report 2014. Medical Publishing House.
Mishina, Y., Block, E. S., & Mannor, M. J. (2012). The path dependence of organizational reputation: How social judgment influences assessments of capability and character. Strategic Management Journal, 33(5), 459–477. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.958
Mowday, R. T., Steers, R. M., & Porter, L. W. (1979). The measurement of organizational commitment. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 14(2), 224–247. https://doi.org/10.1016/0001-8791(79)90072-1
Petrenko, O. V., Aime, F., Ridge, J., & Hill, A. (2016). Corporate social responsibility or CEO narcissism? CSR motivations and organizational performance. Strategic Management Journal, 37(2), 262–279. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2348
Ponzi, L. J., Fombrun, C. J., & Gardberg, N. A. (2011). RepTrak™ pulse: Conceptualizing and validating a short-form measure of corporate reputation. Corporate Reputation Review, 14, 15–35. https://doi.org/10.1057/crr.2011.5
Porter, M. E., & Kramer, M. R. (2006). Strategy and society: The link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility. Harvard Business Review.
Pratihari, S. K., & Uzma, S. H. (2018). CSR and corporate branding effect on brand loyalty: A study on Indian banking industry. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 27(1), 57–78. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-05-2016-1194
Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2013). Organizational behavior (17th ed.). Global Edition.
Şantaş, F., Özer, Ö., Saygili, M., & Özkan, Ş. (2020). The effect of corporate reputation on work engagement: A case study in a public hospital. International Journal of Healthcare Management, 13(1), 340–346. https://doi.org/10.1080/20479700.2018.1548154
Sarstedt, M., Ringle, C. M., Smith, D., Reams, R., & Hair, J. J. (2014). Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM): A useful tool for family business researchers. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 5(1), 105–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfbs.2014.01.002
Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2002). Job demands, job resources, and their relationship with burnout and engagement: A multi-sample study. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25(3), 293–315. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.248
Schaufeli, W. B., Bakker, A. B., & Salanova, M. (2006). The measurement of work engagement with a short questionnaire: A cross-national study. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 66(4), 701–716. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164405282471
Searle, R., Den Hartog, D. N., Weibel, A., Gillespie, N., Six, F., Hatzakis, T., & Skinner, D. (2011). Trust in the employer: The role of high-involvement work practices and procedural justice in European organizations. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22(5), 1069–1092. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2011.556782
Turban, E., Pollard, C., & Wood, G. (2018). Information technology for management: On-demand strategies for performance, growth and sustainability. John Wiley & Sons.
Turker, D. (2009). Measuring corporate social responsibility: A scale development study. Journal of Business Ethics, 85, 411–427. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9780-6
Van Riel, C., & Fombrun, C. (1997). The reputational landscape. Corporate Reputation Review, 1(1–2), 5–13. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.crr.1540024
Walker, K. (2010). A systematic review of the corporate reputation literature: Definition, measurement, and theory. Corporate reputation review, 12, 357–387. https://doi.org/10.1057/crr.2009.26
Yan, X., Espinosa-Cristia, J. F., Kumari, K., & Cioca, L. I. (2022). Relationship between corporate social responsibility, organizational trust, and corporate reputation for sustainable performance. Sustainability, 14(14), Article 8737. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14148737