Internal corporate reputation in the ICT sector: A case study

Sánchez-Torné, I. et al. ISSN 2071-789X INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY Economics & Sociology, Vol. 14, No. 4, 2021 31 INTERNAL CORPORATE REPUTATION IN THE ICT SECTOR: A CASE STUDY Isadora Sánchez-Torné University of Seville, Seville, Spain E-mail: [email protected] ORCID 0000-0003-2749-2896 Macarena Pérez-Suárez University of Seville, Seville, Spain E-mail: [email protected] ORCID 0000-0003-4682-3873 Juan-Carlos Morán-Álvarez University of Seville, Seville, Spain E-mail: [email protected] ORCID 0000-0002-8914-9631 José-Ángel Pérez-López University of Seville, Seville, Spain E-mail: [email protected] ORCID 0000-0003-4080-1251 Received: April, 2021 1st Revision: November, 2021 Accepted: December, 2021 DOI: 10.14254/2071789X.2021/14-4/2 ABSTRACT. Economic crises compel companies to make the most of their endogenous resources, including Corporate Reputation (CR). This study investigates the Perceived Corporate Reputation (PCR) as seen by the staff of an international company that provides educational technology. A multiple linear regression analysis was performed to determine which constructs affect internal PCR by differentiating gender, age, and time at the company. The main results were that the company employees assigned high, positive values to how they felt about the Corporate Reputation, feeling proud about belonging to the company, the affective commitment and equal opportunities for promotion and the good work climate. The affective commitment and the relationships with co-workers were a common variable. The salary and the relationship between tasks and responsibilities were the elements with the highest impact on the PCR for staff who had worked at the company for less than one year. JEL Classification : L14, M14 Keywords : corporate reputation, employees, social entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility, workplace. Sánchez-Torné, I., Pérez-Suárez, M., Morán-Álvarez, J.C., & Pérez-López, J.A. (2021). Internal corporate reputation in the ICT sector: A case study. Economics and Sociology, 14(4), 31-46. doi:10.14254/2071-789X.2021/14-4/2 Sánchez-Torné, I. et al. ISSN 2071-789X INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY Economics & Sociology, Vol. 14, No. 4, 2021 32 Introduction Previous research has shown that Corporate Reputation (CR) has a positive impact on all the stakeholders in a company, causing an increase in customer loyalty and satisfaction (Kim & Kim, 2017), increasing the intention to purchase (Jung & Seock, 2016) and strengthening the relationship with suppliers (Bennett & Gabriel, 2001). CR also improves the loyalty of investors and influences the feeling of satisfaction (Helm, 2007), as well as attracts new investors (Kumar et al., 2019). CR also reduces uncertainty about brands in emerging markets (Heinberg et al., 2018). CR includes the concept of internal CR, which is understood as "the recognition that employees give to the way the company treats different groups of collaborators" (Villafañe, 2006, p.25). The workforce is in contact with customers, suppliers and competitors (Cravens & Oliver, 2006) and previous studies have identified the company’s employees as the most influential group for a high CR (Helm, 2011; Dreher, 2014). A highly valued CR influences the extent of employee commitment and thus job performance (Almeida & Coelho, 2019), mediates the communication of positive feelings by word of mouth (Esenyel & Emeagwali, 2019) and attracts higher quality workers (Turban & Cable, 2003). Moreover, the digitization of almost all activities (labour, education, leisure, etc.) means that the population must be qualified in these skills. There are opportunities for future ventures with the social mission of reducing the digital divide, teaching ICT skills, and providing quality and inclusive work. It is therefore particularly important to investigate CR as a way of guaranteeing entrepreneurial survival. The aim of this research was to measure the internal CR of an ICT social enterprise and the possible relationship of internal CR with the Corporate Social Responsibility. The hypotheses are aimed at measuring the difference between the PCR by gender, age and time in the company. To achieve the proposed aim, a case study was carried out in a highly active social enterprise with a high turnover which supplies educational technology and ICT training. The methodology consisted of a qualitative analysis (personal reports and interviews) and quantitative analysis (inferential and multiple linear regression). Among the main findings are that the employees value highly the Corporate Reputation highly, feeling proud about belonging to the company, affective commitment and equal opportunities for promotion in the company and the good work climate. The affective commitment and relationship with co-workers were also seen to be common variables with differences between groups of employees of different gender, age and time at the company. This implies that business managers should take group differences into account for good CR. This research adds value to the research on CR and social entrepreneurship due to its contribution to empirical findings on the characteristics of social enterprises and the relationships with achieving good CR. It also fills research gaps in the literature on internal CR in the technology sector and social enterprises. The theoretical framework explains the ICT sector and social entrepreneurship and social enterprises. The model used to measure the internal CR is explained and the results are then presented. Finally, the main conclusions are given. 1. Characterization of the ICT Sector The ICT sector has prospered in recent decades and has become a source of economic growth. According to the Spanish ICT and Content Sector Report (2019), the worldwide turnover of the ICT sector in 2018 was 3,411.866 million euros. Three important facts can be found in the study called "The Networked Society" (2019), which are 1) North America accounted for 35% of the market, followed by Asia/Pacific (28.6%), Europe (23.9%), Latin America (6.4%) and the Middle East/Africa (6.1%), 2) the services market was distributed as Sánchez-Torné, I. et al. ISSN 2071-789X INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY Economics & Sociology, Vol. 14, No. 4, 2021 33 follows, telecommunications (33.9%), hardware (27.1%), IT services (17.5%), Software (13.5%) and business services (8%), 3) the ICT sector in Spain (2018) contributes 3.1% of GDP, has a turnover of 47,231 million euros employing 423,541 people and has 25,065 companies that export 15,754 million euros worth of goods and services. All of the previous statistics have been increasing since 2013. The European Union has also stated that, in the next two years, 45% of jobs will be associated with digital technology (Mateos & Gómez, 2019). These jobs may result in stable job contracts, which will exceed the current 70% of indefinite contracts, according to the data supplied by the Ticjob.es employment portal which is specialized in the technology sector. Various reports have stated that citizens do not have the urgently needed ICT skills. "The NetworkEd Society" (2019) report indicates that, in 2018, 32% of the European population had no, or only a low level of, digital skills, compared to 37% of the population with advanced skills. In Spain, the percentages are slightly higher as 36.9% of the population showed no or only a low level of digital skills, compared to 39.8% of the population with advanced skills. These percentages improve for the population with higher education or who live in cities. In 2018 7.5% of the Spanish population knew how to use a programming language, 27.5% had advanced knowledge of spreadsheets and 57.8% could use a word processor. According to the Annual Network Society Report (2019), there is a slightly higher percentage of men (64.8%) than women (61.4%) with basic or advanced digital skills. The Monitoring of the Indicators of the Information Society by Autonomous Communities Report (April 2018) showed that the Spanish population is unfamiliar with online training and the statistics for 2017 are, 15% of people use the Internet to take online courses (from the population who have accessed the Internet in the last three months), 16% of people communicate with monitors or students using educational portals or websites and 28.8% use online learning material which is not a full online course (audiovisual material, online learning software). When considering gender in the workplace, 50% of SMEs and large Spanish companies have contracted at least one is women woman into the ICT staff (E-SME Report, 2018), which reduces to 45% for Spanish micro-enterprises. 2. Theoretical framework 2.1. Social entrepreneurship This section analyzes the characteristics of companies with social entrepreneurship, as they are considered ideal organizational models in which to reduce the digital gap and that have high levels of CR and active Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). First, all the definitions in the literature about social enterprises explains initiatives aimed at achieving a social mission by using market processes (Santos et al., 2015, Solórzano-García et al., 2018). Social enterprises can have different legal structures in Spain (Sánchez-Torné & PérezSuárez, 2020), from "cooperatives to other commercial companies such as public limited or limited liability companies" (Monzón-Campos & Herrero-Montagud, 2017, p.30). Three different approaches were found in studies of social enterprises (Monzón-Campos & HerreroMontagud, 2016) These are, 1) Continental European that is sponsored by the EMES International Research Network (EMES), and defines the Social Enterprise as a private nonprofit making organization managed by a collective that assumes the normal economic risk for its area of activity which is directly associated with its social objective. This definition contains the economic, social and management dimensions of the company, 2) British which defines social enterprises as organizations which give most importance to social and sustainable objectives through trade and must obtain a minimum of 50% of their income with Sánchez-Torné, I. et al. ISSN 2071-789X INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY Economics & Sociology, Vol. 14, No. 4, 2021 34 trade in order to not be classified as charitable organizations, 3) North American, which can be of two types, firstly the "Earned Income" type (which generates income to support its social mission) and the "Social Innovation" type (which is an entrepreneur working for social changes by using a commercial activity with a social mission). Social Entrepreneurship has two main characteristics, which are the importance given to the social objective and the presence of social innovation (Dwivedi & Weerawardena, 2018). Social entrepreneurship contrasts with conventional entrepreneurship in its mission and the way the business is started (García-Uceda et al., 2019:239). However, social innovation goes beyond production, as the philosopher Amelia Valcárcel pointed out in her speech at the I ClosinGap Economic Equality Summit, commenting that "the pursuit of equality between men and women is the greatest social innovation we have as a society". For this reason, Martínez etl al. (2019) describe participative, horizontal, inclusive and flexible models of management that provide an adequate environment to allow social innovation. 2.2. The integration of active CSR in social entrepreneurship In 2001, a European Commission green paper defined the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility as "the voluntary integration of social and environmental concerns into business operations and their relationships with their partners". Since then, the literature has identified two types of practices in CSR (Lin-Hi & Blumberg, 2018), which are "doing good" and "avoiding evil", which result in an improvement of CSR in business practices. Uliondo (2017) stated that most companies carry out philanthropic and other CSR actions which do not reach the general community (passive actions), and there are only a few CSR actions which are associated with workers health, social investment and social justice (active actions). Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are used to incorporate the CSR as an active part of a company’s organizational strategy. The SDGs are a guide to incorporating socially responsible working practices for companies that can be considered Social Enterprises or Social Entrepreneurs. Socially responsible behavior is theoretically essential for understanding how corporate social responsibility can be integrated into a company (Ramos et al., 2018, p. 142-143). Solórzano-García et al. (2018) combined the results of the research carried out by the international ICSEM project with an exhaustive review of the literature on Social Enterprises to identify four realities of Social Enterprises in Spain, which are Social Economy, Solidarity Economy, Tertiary Sector of Social Action and Social Entrepreneurship. Using the EMES definition (Defourny & Nyssens, 2012), the different dimensions of each of these realities (Solórzano-García et al., 2018) were identified for the characteristics of Social Entrepreneurship which have CSR and comply with the CSO: - Economic dimension (market mechanics): organizations have a productive activity with which they obtain income to survive and pay the workers and the entrepreneur. In addition, a significant amount of economic risk is assumed as these businesses usually work in highly competitive markets. Voluntary work is not contemplated, although they do employ different social groups. - Social dimension (social mission): the business activity is used to solve a social problem, which means that it has a social mission. These organizations are led by a single person (different to EMES) and can take any legal form. There are no regulations limiting profit-sharing or the support of social causes. Participative Management dimension: decision-making depends on the legal form of the company, but reciprocity mechanisms such as meetings, conferences or other methods are usually used. Some Social Enterprises guarantee employment to groups with a risk of exclusion. Sánchez-Torné, I. et al. ISSN 2071-789X INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY Economics & Sociology, Vol. 14, No. 4, 2021 35 2.3. The integration of active CSR in social entrepreneurship Fombrun (2005, p.54) noted that Corporate Reputation (CR) is "a collective representation of the past actions of a company and its future prospects, that describes how key stakeholders interpret the company’s initiatives and assess its ability to deliver valued outcomes". More recently, Šontaitė-Petkevičienė (2014, p. 452) stated that the CR is "subjective and collective recognition, perception, attitude and evaluation of an organization over time by all the stakeholder groups, that takes into account organizational quality, past behaviour, communication, symbolism and, the possibility and potential to satisfy future expectations compared to competitors". One of the important points seen in all the definitions of CR is the subjectivity of the evaluation given by stakeholders, and this subjectivity is the cause of the wide range of values given to the same company by different people with different interests in the company. This study investigates internal CR from the employees' point of view, following the work of Villafañe (2006). The model developed by Helm (2011) using the Theory of Social Identity and Organizations of Ashforth and Mael (1989), was used in this research, as it affirms that working people develop a sense of social identity with the organization when there is good CR. Helm (2011) used five variables in a model which consisted of one dependent variable, Perceived Corporate Reputation (PCR) and four independent variables, which were knowledge about the impact of CR, Feeling Proud to work at the company, Affective Commitment and Job Satisfaction. Knowledge about the impact of CR means how much employees know about the consequences of promoting the company CR. Affective Commitment is the emotional link which the employee has with the company. Feeling Proud means how content the employee feels about being identified as part of the company. Job Satisfaction is defined as an assessment of different factors which are, the employee’s current salary compared to others in the same sector, the relationships between co-workers, the daily tasks and responsibility and the possibilities of promotion in the company. These variables have also been studied by other researchers such as Smolarek and Sułkowski (2020). These variables have been analyzed together in previous studies, demonstrating the positive influence of the employees’ Feeling Proud (Helm, 2011), Knowledge about the Impact of Corporate Reputation (Cravens & Oliver, 2006; Helm, 2011), Job Satisfaction (Helm, 2011; Sharma, 2017; Villafañe, 2017; Babi-Hodovia & Arslanagi-Kalajdsei, 2019) and Affective Commitment (Villafañe, 2017; Almeida & Coelho, 2019). However, a research gap was identified because in these previous studies the population as a whole was investigated, without separating the CR of groups of different gender, age or time working at the company, as is done in this research. The people employed in a company are involved in shaping the PCR (Olmedo-Cifuentes & MartínezLeón, 2014) and therefore "they must know the benefits that derive from a positive and lasting corporate reputation, be aware of the dangers associated with a negative corporate reputation and understand both their own role and the importance of having and maintaining a good corporate reputation" (Cravens & Oliver, 2006, p. 301). As a result, business managers need to be aware of the benefits of integrating internal CR into business strategies. 2.4. Research hypotheses Five hypotheses were proposed using the evidence in the theoretical framework. Three of these included PCR and two were about the PCR and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the social enterprise: H1: The variables which influence PCR are different for different sexes. H2: The variables which influence PCR are different for different age groups. Sánchez-Torné, I. et al. ISSN 2071-789X INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY Economics & Sociology, Vol. 14, No. 4, 2021 36 H3: The variables which influence PCR are different depending on the time the employee has worked at the company. H4: The social entrepreneurship and social innovation means that employees give a high value to internal PCR. H5: The social entrepreneurship and social innovation has an accepted and active CSR policy. 3. Methodology This research used qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The qualitative methodology analyzed the social entrepreneurship and Corporate Social Responsibility of the company called Media Interactiva. To do this, the company’s documentation and publications were analysed, as well as the information gathered in interviews with the people responsible for the different departments in the company. The PCR and its variables were measured with a quantitative methodology using a structured survey (Helm, 2011). In collaboration with the company's Human Resources Department, some modifications were made to adapt the survey to business reality, and the survey was given to the employees at Media Interactiva between July and August 2019. The questionnaire consisted of four control questions (dichotomous) about gender, age, time at the company and type of contract. The employees then gave a value from 1 to 5 on a Likert scale (1="completely disagree" and 5="completely agree") to 29 statements in order to measure the internal CR of the company. The questions were grouped into 5 blocks: Perceived Corporate Reputation (PCR), Job Satisfaction, Feeling Proud to work at the company, Affective Commitment and Knowledge about the impact of Corporate Reputation. The measurement scale has been validated by previous studies (Helm, 2011, Schaarschmidt & Walsh, 2018; Babi-Hodovia & Arslanagi-Kalajd-i, 2019) and has been shown to be consistent. The values of Cronbach Alpha's for the blocks of questions (Table 1) were above 0.7 which is considered an acceptable value (George & Mallery, 2003, p. 231). It should be noted that the questions that were included in the Job Satisfaction group were analysed independently and not as a construct, since the questions make sense on their own and not as a group. Table 1. Cronbach's Alpha test for reliability Question blocks (Constructs) Cronbach’s Alpha Perceived Corporate Reputation 0.819 Feeling Proud to work at the company 0.877 Affective Commitment 0.858 Knowledge about the impact of Corporate Reputation 0.844 Source: own compilation. We provided an online survey between July and August 2019, answered by 88.33% of the company's workers (a total of 54). This meant reaching 95% confidence with 5% error. The sample consisted of the employees at Media Interactiva, where 65.38% are male and 34.62% female. Most are over 30 years old (66.67%). Any person who has worked at the company for over a year (61.54%) has a fixed contract (69.23%), while some people who have not yet worked there that long (38.46%) also have this type of contract. The statistical methodology used to test the hypotheses was a multiple linear regression analysis. Previously, an inferential study was made using a Mann-Whitney U-test Sánchez-Torné, I. et al. ISSN 2071-789X INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY Economics & Sociology, Vol. 14, No. 4, 2021 37 to find population averages and find if there were any significant differences between groups of sex, age, and time at the company. Three types of multiple linear regression models with PCR dependent variables were constructed for the groups mentioned above. Each one had 8 common, independent variables, which were, type of contract (X1), current salary (X2), daily tasks and responsibilities (X3), opportunity of promotion at the company (X4), relationships with co-workers (X5), knowledge about the impact of CR (X6), feeling proud to work at the company (X7) and affective commitment (X8). Sex (X9), age (X10) and time at the company (X11) were grouping variables to establish the three types of model. The model had the following theoretical form (Lind, Marchal & Wathen, 2005): Y= a0 + β1X1+ β2X2+ β3X3+ …+ βnXn + e Y= dependent variable, which, in this study, is the PCR of company staff. β1, β2, β3 … βn = The model will calculate the weights of each independent variable. X1, X2, X3…. Xn = previously mentioned independent variables. e= residual. 4. Results 4.1. Social corporate responsibility and social entrepreneurship This section presents the results of the qualitative analysis of the documentation. Media Interactiva is the leading company in the very competitive new technologies and elearning market. It creates educational technology and training content for the ICT sector. The company emerged as a startup in 2011 and has continued growing and evolving. It has always been present in the international market and today has business relationships in 124 countries including the United States and the European Union. The volume of business is increasing, and the company is currently well placed and innovating in the sector. All this makes Media Interactiva an interesting company in both the public and private sectors. The main characteristics of Social Entrepreneurship can be identified in the company, and taking these factors into account, the CSR, Social Entrepreneurship and Social innovation of Media Interactiva are shown appendix. 4.2. Result of the study Table 2 shows the average values and the corresponding inferential analysis. Of note are the high values given to the variables by all the staff, with four being especially prominent. These are the Relationships between co-workers (4.48), Opportunities for promotion in the company (4.44), Feeling Proud to work at the company (4.38) and Affective Commitment (4.30). The average of the values given to the variables were significantly different for different age groups. Female employees believe they have better Knowledge of the Impact of Corporate Reputation than male employees. There were also large differences between age groups in the results for Knowledge of the Impact of Corporate Reputation, which had a higher average value for employees over 30. This effect can also been seen for Affective Commitment and Current Salary. Finally, people who have been employed for more than a year at the company gave a higher value to the level of their current salary. Sánchez-Torné, I. et al. ISSN 2071-789X INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY Economics & Sociology, Vol. 14, No. 4, 2021 38 Table 2. Average values given by employees to the variables in the PCR model Variables Total Gender Age Time at the company Man Women 30 years or less Over 30 years 1 year or less More than 1 year Perceived Corporate Reputation (PCR) 4.00 3.92 4.14 3.88 4.06 4.10 3.93 Knowledge about the Impact of Corporate Reputation 4.12 3.91** 4.53** 3.61*** 4.39*** 4.14 4.11 Feeling Proud to work at the company 4.38 4.30 4.54 4.29 4.41 4.55 4.28 Affective Commitment 4.30 4.22 4.46 4.04* 4.42* 4.33 4.29 Current Salary 3.15 3.21 3.06 2.71* 3.35* 2.85* 3.34* Relationship between tasks and responsibilities 4.10 4.06 4.17 4.00 4.15 4.15 4.06 Opportunities of promotion in the company 4.44 4.41 4.50 4.41 4.44 4.40 4.47 Relationship between coworkers 4.48 4.44 4.56 4.59 4.44 4.70 4.34 * p < 0,05; **p< 0,01; ***p< 0,001. Source: own compilation The results of the inferential analysis show the influence of the different variables on internal PCR for employees in different demographical groups. A regressive analysis was made in order to deepen the understanding of the results, after verifying that the variables in the model have adequate correlations (Table 3). Table 3. Correlation analysis 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1. Perceived Corporate Reputation (PCR) - - - - - - - - 2. Knowledge about the Impact of Corporate Reputation 0.507*** - - - - - - - 3. Feeling Proud to work at the company 0.592*** 0.451** - - - - - - 4. Affective Commitment 0.679*** 0.675*** 0.695*** - - - - - 5. Current Salary 0.365** 0.224 0.253 0.350* - - - - 6. Relationship between tasks and responsibilities 0.357** 0.260 0.317* 0.295* 0.041 - - - 7. Opportunities of promotion in the company 0.522*** 0.279* 0.329* 0.433** 0.327* 0.406** - - 8. Relationship between co-workers 0.338* 0.260 0.376** 0.139 -0.182 0.258 -0.046 - *p < 0.05; **p< 0.01; ***p< 0.001. Source: own compilation Sánchez-Torné, I. et al. ISSN 2071-789X INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY Economics & Sociology, Vol. 14, No. 4, 2021 39 Four demographical models were proposed, which were General, Gender, Age and Time at the company. The 4 models all have acceptable values of R2 and the ANOVA test was significant, which means that the results of this model are valid and reliable (Table 4). The employees gave high values to all the variables in the Social Enterprise mode (Table 4), especially to five of them, which were PCR, Opportunities of promotion in the company, Relationship between co-workers, Feeling Proud to work at the company and Affective Commitment. Table 4 Coefficients of the proposed models General model Gender model Age model Time at the company Men Women 30 years or less More than 30 years Less than a year More than a year Constant 0,683 0,973 -4,013* -3,520 0,736 1,424 -0,877 Gender 0,104 - - -0,566 -0,766 0,210 0,681 Age -0,026 -0,086 0,150 - - -0,411* 0,475 Time at the company -0,285 -0,224 0,177 0,628 -0,306 - - Type of contract -0,187 -0,280 1,077** 0,963 -0,198 - - Knowledge about the Impact of Corporate Reputation -0,055 -0,002 -0,882** 0,179 -0,011 -0,058 -0,222 Feeling Proud to work at the company 0,007 -0,055 0,068 0,259 -0,161 0,054 -0,172 Affective Commitment 0,436* 0,429* 0,815** 0,508 0,530* 0,696*** 0,046* Current Salary 0,123 0,106 0,228** -0,068 0,229** 0,213* 0,148 Relationship between tasks and responsibilities 0,006 -0,046 0,570** 0,460 -0,051 -0,353* 0,130 Opportunities of promotion in the company 0,203* 0,225* 0,142 0,236 0,092 0,213 0,236* Relationship between coworkers 0,208* 0,253* 0,565** -0,150 0,287** 0,096 0,384* Estadísticas de ajuste del modelo R 0,819 0,856 0,978 0,948 0,874 0,978 0,830 R2 0,671 0,732 0,956 0,899 0,763 0,957 0,689 R squared fitted 0,578 0,610 0,894 0,732 0,660 0,909 0,555 Standard error of the estimate 0,333 0,293 0,186 0,297 0,278 0,152 0,345 Sig. test ANOVA 0,003 0,005 0,001 0,026 0,003 0,004 0,001 * p < 0,05; **p< 0,01; ***p< 0,001. Source: own compilation It can be seen that value given to PCR by female employees is influenced by more variables than for male employees. Both sexes consider Affective Commitment and the Relationship between co-workers important, while male employees also include Opportunities of promotion at the company. Women consider that three other variables also have a positive impact on PCR, these are Current Salary, the relationship between tasks and responsibilities and the Type of Contract. On the other hand, Knowledge about the Impact of Corporate Reputation negatively affects PCR. The 30-year-old and younger age group does not consider that any variables influence internal PCR. However, employees over the age of 30 identified three variables that do have a positive impact on PCR. These are Affective Commitment, Current Salary and Relationship between Co-workers. Time at the company is also important for them when giving a value to PCR. Staff who have been with the company for less than a year are positively affected by Affective Commitment and the Current Salary while being negatively affected by the Time at the company and the relationship between tasks and responsibilities. The employees that have been at the company for more than a year only considered a few variables to have a positive Sánchez-Torné, I. et al. ISSN 2071-789X INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY Economics & Sociology, Vol. 14, No. 4, 2021 46 Frame 3. Social dimension of media interactiva Social Dimension (social mission social) The business activity is the design and provision of IT applications and content for training and certification in the education sector. The aim of this is to reduce the exisitng digital divide and increase the level of digital education using official certification of skills, which contributes to personal and professional development. The social mission prevails above the commercial activity of the company as shown during the COVID-19 crisis in Spain when the company provided free access to the Pedagoo platform for schools. The company also participates in other activities, such as organizing the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship in Spain, E-Learning White Paper 2020, Association of e-Learning Providers. Media Interactiva includes social missions for the internal business management of its activities with equal opportunities and treatment, protection of the environment and offering sustainable growth of the business. These missions can be seen as an integral part of the company in the following examples: - Itaca project: to promote the employees’ ability to incorporate change, resilience, responsibility, assertiveness and interdependence in a healthy environment of well-being. This project started in 2017 and the company invested 35% of its profits to the project for all the company employees in 2018. The project is still on-going and is an important part of the organization’s management strategy. - Occupational well-being: the company organised colaborative activities during the state of alarm so that employees could share family experiences, host videos and weekly online yoga sessions, along with allowing 100% remote working (with computer equipment provided by the company). - Work and family reconciliation: remote working, flexibile working hours and justified absences. - The criterion for internal promotion are based on the individual goals agreed with the employee, team leader and Human Resources Department. These goals include learning new skills, which are acquired with training, and having new responsibilites. - Certification Week: employees are offered the chance to pass the Microsoft Office Specialist and Microsoft Technology Associate certificates for free. - Staff spends 15%-30% of their weekly work time in meetings (with their teams and departments) so that transversal decisions are taken after considering all points of view. - Zero usage of single-use plastic in the office. - Commitment to the business sector: in response to the social and economic crises caused by the state of alarm. Sam Brocal collaborates with SOS4 SMEs to help self-employed people and SMEs affected by the COVID-19 crises free of charge. He is also a member of the Association of Entrepreneurs in Tomares (Seville). - A part of the company profits are used for training employees, improving the workplace, improving services, environmental protection, all of which accounted for 23% of costs in 2018 and 31% in 2019. The company has received the Healthy Work Award from the Human Resources Observatory (2019) and the Workplace to Work Award July 2020-July 2021. Source: own compilation Frame 4. Social innovation at media interactiva Social Innovation The company states that social innovation is present in its three product lines: - MeasureUp: practical tests and evaluation for official ICT certificates. It is the official provider of large companies like Microsoft or VMWare and is authorized by CompTIA, AWS, PMI and others. - Pedagoo: computer paltform used to train and evaluate knowledge and skills. It is optimized to improve the users abilities and performance. - Certinet: Media Interactiva project with the colaboration of the Bilbao Chamber of Commerce, to help digital transformation in schools and other institutions. The company has been awarded the VI APel Award for Excellence in E-Learning in the Best Social Solution category for the Certinet project (2020). Sponsor and speaker at the Ibero-American Congress on Social Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Value Creation in Emerging Areas, V Centenary of Magellan-Elcano (2020). Social Innovation is included in the company internal management as described in its social character and provides decent, quality work conditions with equal treatment and opportunities Source: own compilation