The Significance of CSR in the Pursuit of Business Excellence and Competitiveness: Evidence from the Greek Supermarket Industry

Zafeiria Masouti (), George Tsiotras and Katerina Gotzamani
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Zafeiria Masouti: Business Excellence Lab, Department of Business Administration, University of Macedonia, 546 36 Thessaloniki, Greece
George Tsiotras: Business Excellence Lab, Department of Business Administration, University of Macedonia, 546 36 Thessaloniki, Greece
Katerina Gotzamani: Business Excellence Lab, Department of Business Administration, University of Macedonia, 546 36 Thessaloniki, Greece

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 10, 1-25

Abstract: A primary management concern when CSR is used as a tool to build business excellence is whether it will result in a discernible influence on the competitiveness of firms. This concern is more pronounced in the hypercompetitive, customer-centric grocery industry. Despite the existing body of research, no study has combined CSR’s effects on competitiveness and business excellence into a model. The current study proposes and validates a data-driven conceptual model that aims to assess whether the integration of CSR into supermarkets’ (S/Ms’) business excellence practices can enhance their competitiveness. Relationships among the validated constructs were examined using structural equation modeling. Findings indicated that the competitiveness of supermarkets can be enhanced by incorporating CSR into the process of pursuing business excellence, but CSR may be deprioritized in favor of more pressing performance-related issues. Large S/M firms could mentor and advocate for smaller stores and encourage CSR integration through government initiatives.

Keywords: CSR; business excellence; competitiveness; SEM (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:10:p:4002-:d:1392005

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