The Influence of Corperate Social Responsibility on The Development of Social Capital: Case Study of the Royally-Initiated Khundan Prakarnchon Hydropower Plant Development Project

Abstract

The objectives of this study were 1) to investigate how social responsibility is being included into community hydropower plant construction projects, which has led to a rise in social capital.; and 2) to create a framework for the growth of social capital via CSR initiatives. The present research employed the qualitative data analysis by ATLAS ti program. The case study took place in the Baan ta dan community where the key informants involved in the construction of the Khundanprakarnchon hydropower plant were interviewed using a documentary research technique and an in-depth interview method. These key informants included representatives from corporate social responsibility organizations, community leaders and villagers, and network partners. The findings revealed that the development of hydropower plants constituted a type of altruistic corporate social responsibility giving financial support, equipment, and volunteer workers to aid in the construction of the hydropower plant, which had an impact on the development of social capital in the dimensions of networks, norms, and trust. During the process, there were norms in place throughout the process, which were developed based on network resources such as; money, labor, machinery, knowledge, and facilitation. In terms of trust can be developed and maintained by supportive factors of the following: network leader, experience, compliance with agreements, communication, and informal meetings. However, it was discovered that trust tended to grow during the process, but that it may then regress owing to disagreements among network partners. Restoring trust may be possible through the strategic coordination of a third party intermediary, chance meetings, and honest dialogue. When discussing networks, it is possible that community agreements will be affected by the agreements reached between network partners. Therefore, the implementation of CSR resulted in a dynamic process of building social capital. Most importantly, this research demonstrated that the development of novel understanding is possible using a community-based approach.