Research Note
Hotel Employees and Corporate Social
Responsibility: The Case of Portorož, Slovenia
Tanja Planinc
University of Primorska, Faculty of Tourism Studies – Turistica, Slovenia
tanja.planinc@fts.upr.si
ZoranaMedarić
University of Primorska, Faculty of Tourism Studies – Turistica, Slovenia
zorana.medaric@fts.upr.si
Kristina Bogataj
University of Primorska, Faculty of Tourism Studies – Turistica, Slovenia
kristyna.bogataj@gmail.com
Corporate social responsibility has been widely researched in recent decades across
different industries. This paper attempts to explore the social aspects of corporate
social responsibility in the hotel industry, focusing on the awareness of csr of em-
ployees in the selected case-study of a hotel company in Portorož, Slovenia. Specif-
ically, their awareness of csr activities oriented towards the local community was
researched. A questionnaire survey was conducted among employees, investigating
their awareness of the hotel company’s attitude towards the local community. Results
show that it is crucial for employees to be employed in a company that participates
in the development of a local community. However, they often do not know how
their employer carries out activities that are related to the social aspects of corporate
social responsibility.
Keywords: corporate social responsibility, employees, hotel industry, Portorož,
Slovenia
https://doi.org/10.26493/2335-4194.13.111-116
Introduction
This research paper aims to present the results of
quantitative research regarding the social dimension
of corporate social responsibility (csr) in the hotel
industry in Portorož, Slovenia. csr can be defined
as a contribution of businesses to social, economic,
and social development (Garay & Font, 2012). Such
contributions were often on a voluntary basis, but be-
cause of recent legislative changes, csr involvement
is becoming mandatory. Companies have been engag-
ing in csr activities, because doing so brings benefits
to companies, the environment, and society at large
(Carroll, 2015). In recent decades, csr in general and
specifically in the hospitality sector has become an in-
teresting research field with several different aspects
being researched (De Bakker et al., 2005). Researchers
have attempted to determine the motives for imple-
menting csr activities and the consequences of such
actions on financial performance, organisational com-
petitiveness, brand image, employees’ and customers’
loyalty, and other factors (Garay & Font, 2012; Lee,
2016).
In the hotel industry, csr aspects concern hu-
man resources, the local community, the environment,
Academica Turistica, Year 13, No. 1, June 2020 | 111
Tanja Planinc et al. Hotel Employees and Corporate Social Responsibility
and similar (Holcomb et al., 2007; de Grosbois, 2012;
Font et al., 2012; Garay & Font, 2012; Tsai et al., 2012;
Sasidharan& Križaj, 2018). Hospitality (and especially
the hotel industry) is characterised by high employee
turnover, seasonality, and low wages, and csr pro-
vides an opportunity for companies to mitigate these
(negative) characteristics.
In the tourism industry, the hotel sector is largely
integrated into the local environment; it is inherently
connected with it, and it simultaneously depends on
the society in which it operates (Abaeian et al., 2014;
Mackenzie & Peters, 2014). It is, therefore, not surpris-
ing that hotel chains were often among the first to in-
troduce initiatives and policies of social responsibility
(Kasim, 2006). The number of surveys dealing with
the issue of corporate social responsibility in tourism
has increased significantly over the previous 15 years
(Farrington et al., 2017); however, there is relatively lit-
tle research on the issue of social aspects of csr in
hotel companies. In particular, there is little research
that deals with the relationship between hotel compa-
nies and the local community (Chen & Lin, 2015; de-
Miguel-Molina et al., 2018).
The hotel industry has acknowledged social sus-
tainability as a strategically important factor, but the
environmental aspect remains predominant, mainly
because of its most visible economic benefits. Never-
theless, in the previous decade, there has been a grow-
ing body of good practices and research, which also
focus on the social aspects of csr, such as the atti-
tudes towards employees or the local community (Bo-
hdanowicz & Zientara, 2008; Levy & Park, 2011; Sku-
diene & Auruskeviciene, 2012; Abaeian et al., 2014; Im
et al., 2017; Mohammed & Rashid, 2018). We aim to
provide an insight into the social aspect of csr from
the perspective of hotel employees since employees are
acknowledged as one of the key stakeholders in the re-
search of csr activities (Kim et al., 2017). In addition,
according to Kang et al. (2010), csr activities in the
hotel industry lead to positive changes in employees’
mindsets. Several authors (Heslin & Ochoa, 2008; Lee
et al., 2013; Youn et al., 2018) have determined that
companies’ csr activities significantly contribute to
employees‘ satisfaction and lower employee turnover
rates. In this research paper, we present a case study
of one hotel company, located in Portorož, Slovenia.
Based on the literature review, two research questions
were formulated:
rq1 What is the employee’s awareness of the com-
pany’s csr activities oriented towards the local
community in the chosen hotel company at the
destination Portorož?
rq2 How important is it for employees to work in a
company that is actively involved in such activ-
ities?
Methodology
To obtain answers to our research questions, a quanti-
tative method was employed, the results of which will
be presented. Based on the literature review, the ques-
tionnaire was developed and distributed among the
employees in a chosen hotel company.
The questionnaire for employees was developed
based on the literature review (Carroll, 1979; Lux et
al., 1996; Back et al., 2011; Lee et al., 2013); it consisted
of 11 questions, of which eight were closed, and three
were open. Employees’ awareness was measured on
a Likert-type ordinal scale with a neutral value (with
values: 1 ‘not true at all,’ 2 ‘not true,’ 3 ‘neither,’ 4 ‘true,’
and 5 ‘absolutely true’). The statements related to the
company’s attitude towards the local community also
had an option ‘I do not know/cannot answer.’ The
questionnaire was tested on a small group of hotel em-
ployees and adjusted slightly, according to their com-
ments. The survey was conducted in May 2018. The
hotel company employed 452 employees in 2018; all
employees were invited to participate in our research,
and random sampling was consequently employed. A
total of 105 employees (23.23  of all employees) com-
pleted the anonymous questionnaire. For the analy-
sis of the data gathered, spss statistical software was
used. Descriptive statistics employed for the sample
description and the correlation analysis were used to
determine the possible relationship between (1) the
employee’s awareness of the hotel company’s attitude
towards the local community and the importance of
being employed in a company that participates in the
development of a local community, and (2) the em-
ployee’s awareness of the company’s attitude towards
112 | Academica Turistica, Year 13, No. 1, June 2020
Tanja Planinc et al. Hotel Employees and Corporate Social Responsibility
Table 1 Employee Awareness of Hotel Companies’ csr Activities towards the Local Community and Level of Information
about These Activities
Statements () () () () () () () ()
Our company helps solve various social problems (financial assistance to
employees in distress, employment of disabled people).
      . .
Our company devotes funds for philanthropic (humanitarian) purposes.       . .
Our company encourages the participation of employees in volunteer activi-
ties (voluntary participation at local events).
      . .
Our company supports sport, cultural, and other projects/activities in the
local community.
      . .
Our company cooperates with local organisations (local community, local
tourist association, local tourist organisation).
      . .
I am regularly informed about the developments in the company (in meet-
ings, through newsletters etc.).
     – . .
Notes Column headings are as follows: (1) not true at all, (2) not true, (3) neither, (4) true, (5) absolutely true, (6) do not
know/cannot answer, (7) arithmetic mean, (8) standard deviation.
the local community and how informed they are re-
garding company’s csr activities.
Results and Discussion
To analyse the respondent’s demographic characteris-
tics, descriptive statistical analysis was used. Most re-
spondents were female (almost 64 ), they fell in the
age group between 26 and 36 years (32 ) and had a
secondary school education (almost 45 ). Nearly half
(48 ) of respondents work in the food and beverage
sector (cooks, waiter, etc.), followed by receptionist (30
). The rest work in wellness, animation, housekeep-
ing, etc. Almost 47  of respondents have an employ-
ment contract of indefinite duration. The remaining
have a fixed-term employment contract or work as a
student. A little over 70  of respondents have up to
10 years of working experience in the company.
While all employees were invited to participate
in the research, not everyone took part in it. How-
ever, random sampling does not necessarily imply a
match in the characteristics of the sample and popu-
lation. According to the publicly available data, more
than half of all employees had secondary school ed-
ucation (three or four years), which is in line with
the education level of employees in our sample. The
same is true also for the gender of the employees (see
https://www.ajpes.si/jolp).
The results presented in Table 1 show that the
highest-rated statement refers to the fact that the com-
pany cooperates with local organisations (mean 3.96),
closely followed by the statement that refers to sup-
porting sport, cultural, and other activities in the local
community (mean 3.91). According to the standard
deviation value, respondents have relatively unani-
mous opinions regarding both statements (s = 0.823
and 0.836, respectively). The statement with the low-
est average value is the one referring to solving the
social distress of employees (mean 3.18) and, accord-
ing to the value of standard deviation (s = 1.185), the
respondents’ opinions are not so unanimous.
One interesting result is also the fact that many re-
spondents do not know in what way their employer
cooperates with the local community. This is particu-
larly true for the first three statements, which deal with
solving social problems, allocating funds for humani-
tarian purposes, and encouraging employees to partic-
ipate in volunteer activities.
The last statement shows how employees are in-
formed about the csr activities of their company. Al-
most 56  of respondents agree with the statement
that they are informed, while the rest believe that they
are not regularly informed. The standard deviation
is 1.114, and this suggests that the respondents’ opin-
ions are not so unanimous. Five respondents did not
Academica Turistica, Year 13, No. 1, June 2020 | 113
Tanja Planinc et al. Hotel Employees and Corporate Social Responsibility
Table 2 The Importance of Being Employed in a Company that Participates in the Development of a Local Community
Statements () () () () () () ()
It is important for me to work in a company that participates in the development
of a local community.
     . .
Notes Column headings are as follows: (1) not true at all, (2) not true, (3) neither, (4) true, (5) absolutely true, (6) arithmetic
mean, (7) standard deviation.
provide opinions for this statement. One of the pos-
sible conclusions is that the hotel company does not
pay sufficient attention to informing their employees
about how they work with the local community. Busi-
nesses need to be aware of the importance of inform-
ing employees about socially responsible activities, as
also noted by Bhattacharya et al. (2008).
Table 2 shows whether it is important for respon-
dents to be employed in a company that participates in
the development of a local community.More than half
of the respondents (51.4 ) agree with this statement.
In this case, too, we can say that respondents are not
so unanimous (s = 1.054). Four respondents did not
provide an opinion for this statement.
These findings are in line with previous research
in which the authors confirmed the connection be-
tween the implementation of social aspects of social
responsibility and lower fluctuation rates of employ-
ees and the more significant affiliation of employees to
the company (Heslin & Ochoa, 2008; Lee et al., 2013;
Youn et al., 2018).
We have also checked for correlations between the
employee’s awareness of the hotel companies’ attitude
towards the local community and how informed they
are regarding the company’s csr activities. For the
analysis, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was
used and, as expected, the analysis resulted in weak
positive but statistically significant correlations be-
tween variables. The highest correlationswerewith the
csr practice regarding solving various social prob-
lems and supporting sport, cultural, and other projects/
activities in the local community (ρ = 0.358, sig. =
0.000, and ρ = 0.302, sig. = 0.003, respectively). This
is an important aspect for the hotel companies to con-
sider.
We have also analysed the correlations between the
importance of being employed in a company that par-
ticipates in the development of a local community and
employee’s awareness of the hotel company’s attitude
towards the local community. Contrary to our expec-
tations, there were weak positive correlations only be-
tween two csr practices and the importance of being
employed in a company that participates in the devel-
opment of a local community. The two practices refer
to solving various social problems and devoting funds
for philanthropic (humanitarian) purposes (ρ = 0.288,
sig. = 0.005, and ρ = 0.271, sig. = 0.009, respectively).
We assume that the weak correlation between the im-
portance of being employed in a company that is com-
mitted to csr practices and the awareness of practices
can be attributed to the fact that only the part of csr
oriented towards the local community was explored
and not, for example, csr activities oriented towards
the employees themselves.
Conclusion
To answer our research questions, we can say that em-
ployees of the chosen hotel company are not aware
how the activities related to the social aspects of cor-
porate social responsibility are implemented; in con-
trast, it is important for them to be employed in a com-
pany that participates in the development of a local
community, which is in line with findings of previ-
ous research, for example, the research done by Tsai et
al. (2012) that showed that hotel employees are often
not familiar about hotels’ csr activities, whilst Sinha
(2017) concluded that whether their employer is active
in the field of corporate social responsibility is impor-
tant for the employee. The results confirm previous
theoretical findings and also contribute to the body of
knowledge regarding the social aspects of csr.
Based on research results, several suggestions for
the hotel company arise. The hotel company should
explain the importance of crs to employees and, in
114 | Academica Turistica, Year 13, No. 1, June 2020
Tanja Planinc et al. Hotel Employees and Corporate Social Responsibility
the next phase, the employees should be more ac-
tively involved in csr activities. Informing employ-
ees about csr activities through internal newsletters
is perhaps not sufficient, so the hotel company should
consider other communication channels. According
to Schein (2004), individuals, such as department and
business managers, play an essential role in influenc-
ing employees‘ mindsets and behaviour, so informing
as well as motivating employees within their work-
groups may be of crucial importance in the successful
implementation of csr activities.
This research has some limitations that must be
considered. Themost obvious one is the fact that it ex-
amined only one side (that of the employees) and that
it is concerned with only one hotel company. There-
fore, the findings cannot be generalised. In the future,
it would be interesting to examine the opinion of the
employer and then to compare the gathered data. In
addition, it would be an added value to broaden the
research tomore hotel companies within Slovenia and
perhaps also nearby across the border.
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