Perception of corporate social responsibility: the case of Chinese international contractors

•We discovered CSR perception of international contractors by benchmarking analysis.•CICs perceive CSR in an incomplete and distorted way.•CICs focus on explicit contracting relationships and tend to ignore implicit ones.•CICs should improve safety, compliance and ethics in overseas operations.•CSR attitudes of CICs should be more proactive and strategic to reap shared values.

The poor performance of Chinese international contractors in terms of corporate social responsibility can impair their growth and internationalization in overseas markets. This study aims to probe into these contractors' perception of corporate social responsibility, diagnose perception distortions (if any), and identify approaches to improving this perception. A benchmarking analysis based on the stakeholder theory is conducted against the perception of international prominent contractors (assumed to represent international best practices). A questionnaire survey is administered to evaluate corporate social responsibility perceptions of both Chinese international contractors and international prominent contractors. The results of the gap analysis validate that Chinese international contractors' perception of corporate social responsibility is distorted and incomplete. Significant perception gaps between the two categories of contractors are found, mainly due to poor health and safety management, low compliance and ethical standards, and insufficient consideration of corporate social responsibility-related aspects in business decision making and implementation on the part of the Chinese international contractors. The findings indicate that Chinese international contractors ought to pay more attention to labor protection, environmental protection and anti-corruption issues; they should improve their compliance and ethics levels in their overseas operations to effectively identify and create shared values between the corporation and the society. The findings of this study could also lead other contractors and organizations in the international construction industry to a better understanding of the Chinese construction industry and the associated sociocultural environment, which could reduce business conflicts and disputes, and lead to more effective business activities. By utilizing the stakeholder perspective of corporate social responsibility, this paper can lead practitioners and the academia to a balanced and unbiased view on corporate social responsibility efforts.