The Social Responsibility of Educational Institutions and its Effects on Sustainable Organizational Behavior

ABSTRACT: This paper investigates the intricate association of social responsibility (SR) in higher education institutions (HEIs) to sustainable organizational behavior (SOB) among its employees. As expectations around corporate and institutional citizenship have rise within society, universities are no longer just institutions of learning; they are increasingly viewed as an agent in addressing societal, economic and environmental challenges. This study is descriptive in quantitative nature, aimed to provide understanding of how faculty and staff at two different universities in Iraq; the established Babylon linear university, and a newly created one Al-mustaqbal University perceive that their working condition satisfactory. A self-administered close ended questionnaire was distributed to 300 collaborators and a total of 280 respondents were eligible for analysis by use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The corporate social responsibility was assessed through a questionnaire comprised of seven items; Economic, Legal, Ethical and Philanthropic Responsibility as well as Environmental, Social and Financial Responsibility. Findings suggest that organization members’ assessments of the level of institutional social responsibility is positively associated with their adoption of sustainable organization behaviors. More specifically the ethical and philanthropic components of SR were most predictive of SOB. The Babylon University certainly had a richer heritage and more connections with the community but this resulted only in marginally higher scores for corporate charitable responsibility; whereas for Al-mustaqbal University, the adopted environmental policies were more dominant due to its studied trace approach and observable immediate impacts. This study suggests that the proactive pursuit of social responsibility on the part of universities or colleges can begin an attitudinal shift in employees toward embracing an institutional culture and a behavior with considerations for sustainability, leading to positive peer pressure-or "inside-out" process-that will subsequently impact reputation, trust from stakeholders, and survival value over time. University leadership implications are also considered in the way that SR principles should become part of strategic planning governance and daily operations, so that sustainable organizational behavior can be achieved.