The mediating effect of corporate social responsibility and spirituality on balanced scorecard in Yemen’s private universities

Abstract

The dearth of adequate information for planning and monitoring of financial performance at private universities of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), as well as an over-emphasis on financial indicators at the expense of non-financial indicators are caused by the absence of a suitable model that encompasses all important aspects of performance. Previous researchers have examined the determinants of financial performance through the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), which aligns organisational initiatives with their strategic planning. However, the influence of the non-financial perspective on private universities financial performance remains unsolved. Moreover, the question of how the BSC can be enhanced by incorporating more nonfinancial perspective to increase efficiency is still being raised, coupled with their mediating effects. This study aims at developing an integrated organisational performance model for private universities in Yemen with the incorporation of new variables (corporate social responsibility (CSR) and spirituality). The mediating effects of the BSC non-financial perspectives on the financial performance for the private universities were investigated. The model depicts the mediating influences of non-financial perspective on financial performance. To achieve the study objectives, eleven major hypotheses were formulated, with analyses of six mediating influences and two additional analyses. Data were collected through a survey on 137 respondents from private universities in Yemen. Various interrelationships of the research model were investigated using partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). The results of the study indicate that there are connections between organisational financial perspectives with the non-financial perspective. On the one hand, there are significant direct relationships between non-financial perspectives of the BSC with its financial perspective. In addition, this study reveals that there is a significant direct relationship between spirituality and financial perspective. On the other hand, the analysis on the financial and non-financial perspectives of the BSC indicates that there is a significant direct relationship between CSR and non-financial perspectives of the BSC. Also, the partial mediation effects of the non-financial perspectives were highlighted for the six interrelationships considered. Furthermore, the findings of this study strongly support most of the hypothesised relationships proposed by the research model. This study has extended the present theory, methodology and practice, by incorporating CSR and spirituality as non-financial contributors to financial performance of private universities in Yemen.