**Universities as Corporate Entities: The Role of Social Responsibility in Their Strategic Management Responsibility in Their Strategic Management**

**Universities as Corporate Entities: The Role of Social** 

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.69931

Elva L. Ramos‐Monge, Xavier Llinàs Audet and Jesús Barrena‐Martínez and Jesús Barrena‐Martínez Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Elva L. Ramos‐Monge, Xavier Llinàs Audet

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.69931

#### **Abstract**

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rate Governance: An International Review. 2016:n/a-n/a

198 Corporate Governance and Strategic Decision Making

Universities, as educational institutions, play a vital role in the development and improve‐ ment of the society, contributing to the welfare of citizens. Considering the social responsibil‐ ity of universities with a large number of stakeholders (students, institutions, government, employees, companies, local community, etc.), this chapter aims to examine how these institutions establish the mission, objectives and strategic actions oriented at meeting these expectations. In this line, university in its daily management is also considered a corporate entity, which set up strategic plans and practices, an essential process to achieve its success in the long term. The chapter explores the necessary steps for adjusting these strategic plans to the new challeng e of introducing a socially responsible orientation in their management.

**Keywords:** corporate social responsibility, higher education institutions, strategic plans, university social responsibility, strategy, university strategic management, university stakeholders

### **1. Introduction**

Nowadays, the lack of social responsible actions of the institutions and companies provokes that researchers explore the value of ethical behavior for society. In its role, university plays an essential role in the development of educational strategies, having a greater respon‐ sibility as a consequence. The term university social responsibility (USR) is explained as the capacity of higher education institutions (HEIs) to disseminate and implement a set of principles, general and specific values aimed at enhancing the educational and social challenges of the society through four key processes: management, teaching, research and extension [1].

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2017 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Moreover, the role of universities is essential in the social development for the knowledge‐based economy [2], assuming a strategic role in the welfare of the nations. The HEIs are considered relevant for their capacity to affect a great kind of interest groups (students, communities and society in general). Hence, USR represents an opportunity to promote the social development from the heart of the university.

However, in order to take advantages from this opportunity, it is important that academic authorities and public institutions use strategic plans which include and allow to manage and meet all of the stakeholders' requirements in the university work.

Considering this background, the chapter proposes a conceptual model which analyzes the inclusion of USR in the university management. For this study, the business scope has been taken, considering different contributions in the field of corporate social respon‐ sibility (CSR) and the way in which it has been extrapolated to the education sector. The stakeholder theory is considered as an important theory in the chapter. The stakeholders can be defined as all groups that influence or are influenced by the objectives, actions, political decisions and goals of a given organization with legitimate interests entitled to intervene [3–7].

Thus, it is assumed that decision‐making affects in general a whole social system composed by different parties [8], lying in this the importance of the USR, for its high degree of impact on society. Other efforts to integrate CSR into decision‐making were made by Porter and Kramer in their study "Creating Sharing Value." They stated that organizations should seek to coordinate their business with social needs and challenges, creating value not only in the company, but also in its environment [9], which demonstrates once again the effort to meet social requirements.

From a strategic point of view, USR represents an opportunity for social development, and in general in all their roles of action and in their multiple scope of impact such as organizational, educational, knowledge and social fields [10, 11]. Thus, due to the wide area of influence, in the development of USR, it is critical to formulate strategies designed to meet the needs of its various stakeholders, orienting the mission, objectives and specific actions to USR. In this chapter, it is suggested that USR actions are strategic whether they meet five specific condi‐ tions: (1) they are coordinated with the institution's mission and objectives; (2) they produce a differentiating position for the university; (3) they anticipate the needs of the stakeholders; (4) they are not been imposed by external norms and (5) when those actions are easily visible by stakeholders [12].

Moreover, a content analysis between two Spanish universities is made in order to provide evidence of the strategic inclusion of USR in university strategic plans. The content analysis reports as a main conclusion the existence of specific USR lines as well as a wide number of stakeholders identified in the development of these actions. The result is emphasized in the relevance of stakeholder theory for USR. Specifically, the model highlights the introduc‐ tion of USR into strategic plan as a management tool, creating a dynamic that benefits all stakeholders.

Finally, the development of the chapter is distributed as follows. Firstly, an analysis of the transi‐ tion from the CSR concept to the USR is made. In Section 3, we examine the USR inclusion in the university strategic management. In Section 4, the USR is explained based on the foundations of stakeholder theory. Section 5 presents the methods used in the content analysis. Section 6 reports the conceptual proposal. Finally, the conclusions and future research lines are discussed at the end of the chapter.

Moreover, the role of universities is essential in the social development for the knowledge‐based economy [2], assuming a strategic role in the welfare of the nations. The HEIs are considered relevant for their capacity to affect a great kind of interest groups (students, communities and society in general). Hence, USR represents an opportunity to promote the social development

However, in order to take advantages from this opportunity, it is important that academic authorities and public institutions use strategic plans which include and allow to manage and

Considering this background, the chapter proposes a conceptual model which analyzes the inclusion of USR in the university management. For this study, the business scope has been taken, considering different contributions in the field of corporate social respon‐ sibility (CSR) and the way in which it has been extrapolated to the education sector. The stakeholder theory is considered as an important theory in the chapter. The stakeholders can be defined as all groups that influence or are influenced by the objectives, actions, political decisions and goals of a given organization with legitimate interests entitled to

Thus, it is assumed that decision‐making affects in general a whole social system composed by different parties [8], lying in this the importance of the USR, for its high degree of impact on society. Other efforts to integrate CSR into decision‐making were made by Porter and Kramer in their study "Creating Sharing Value." They stated that organizations should seek to coordinate their business with social needs and challenges, creating value not only in the company, but also in its environment [9], which demonstrates once again the effort to meet

From a strategic point of view, USR represents an opportunity for social development, and in general in all their roles of action and in their multiple scope of impact such as organizational, educational, knowledge and social fields [10, 11]. Thus, due to the wide area of influence, in the development of USR, it is critical to formulate strategies designed to meet the needs of its various stakeholders, orienting the mission, objectives and specific actions to USR. In this chapter, it is suggested that USR actions are strategic whether they meet five specific condi‐ tions: (1) they are coordinated with the institution's mission and objectives; (2) they produce a differentiating position for the university; (3) they anticipate the needs of the stakeholders; (4) they are not been imposed by external norms and (5) when those actions are easily visible

Moreover, a content analysis between two Spanish universities is made in order to provide evidence of the strategic inclusion of USR in university strategic plans. The content analysis reports as a main conclusion the existence of specific USR lines as well as a wide number of stakeholders identified in the development of these actions. The result is emphasized in the relevance of stakeholder theory for USR. Specifically, the model highlights the introduc‐ tion of USR into strategic plan as a management tool, creating a dynamic that benefits all

meet all of the stakeholders' requirements in the university work.

from the heart of the university.

200 Corporate Governance and Strategic Decision Making

intervene [3–7].

social requirements.

by stakeholders [12].

stakeholders.
