ABSTRACT

This study investigated the corporate social responsibility of tertiary institution and development of their host communities in South East, Nigeria. The study was guided by six research objectives, six research questions and five null hypotheses which were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted both the Descriptive and Correlation Research Design. The population of the study was 2,285 Presidents General of all the Town Unions in the five (5) South Eastern States namely Abia, Anambra Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States. The sample of the study was 165 Presidents General of Town Unions from each selected State which was derived using the Taro Yarmane Sampling Formula. Two instruments which were the “Corporate Social Responsibility Scale” (CSRS) and “Community Development Scale” (CDS) were developed by the researcher for data collection. The two instruments were validated by three experts which comprised two from the Department of Adult and Continuing Education and one from Measurement and Evaluation in Department of Science Education all in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike. The stability index of the instrument was 0.82 and 0.78 for the “Corporate Social Responsibility Scale” (CSRS) and “Community Development Scale” (CDS) respectively. Also, the internal consistencies of the “Corporate Social Responsibility Scale” (CSRS) and “Community Development Scale” (CDS) was 0.89 and 0.79 respectively.  The data for the study was collected through the administration of 165 Copies of the “Corporate Social Responsibility Scale” (CSRS) and “Community Development Scale” (CDS). The research questions were answered using frequency, percentages, mean, standard deviation and Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC) and Multiple Linear Regression. The P-value of Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC) and ANOVA of the Multiple Linear Regression was used to test the 5 null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings of the study revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between economic responsibility and community development in South East, Nigeria, also there is a significant positive relationship between legal responsibility and community development in South East, Nigeria. Findings also revealed there is a significant high positive relationship between ethical responsibility and community development in South East, Nigeria, as there is a significant moderate positive relationship between philanthropic and community development in South East, Nigeria. Based on the findings of the study, the study recommended that the Government and community leaders   should ensure that corporate social responsibility such as Economic, Legal, Ethical and Philanthropic were carried out. The Government and community leaders should ensure high level of economic responsibility is carried out by Tertiary Institutions, since it has significant positive correlation with the development of its host communities. The Government and Traditional leaders should ensure legal responsibilities of the tertiary institution is highly encouraged as this has significant positive correlation with community development. The Government and community leaders should ensure that policies are formulated to ensure that tertiary institutions exhibit high level of ethical responsibility as it influences the development of its host communities.