Perceptions of a Triple Bottom Line Approach to Doing Business among Canadian Youth

Abstract

The millennial generation, those born after 1980, already comprises nearly one-quarter of the Canadian workforce and, over the next few decades, will become a significant proportion of both managers and employees. The attitudes of the millennial generation towards social responsibility, environmental responsibility, and profit maximization will have a profound impact on corporate behaviour in Canada over the coming decades. Among millennials, we find that females are, in general, more socially and environmentally responsible than males, while males exhibit more positive views towards profit maximization. Higher levels of educational attainment among millennials positively impacts their attitudes towards social responsibility, but does not affect their views towards environmental responsibility. Age and full-time work experience interact to affect millennials’ views with younger millennials with low work experience exhibiting higher preferences for environmental responsibility compared to younger millennials with much work experience, but older millennials with much work experience exhibiting higher preferences for environmental responsibility than older millennials with little work experience; furthermore, millennials who acquire a large amount of full-time work experience at a younger age exhibit a stronger preference for socially responsible behaviour compared to millennials who do not acquire full-time work experience at a younger age.

Keywords: Canadian Youth, CSR, Environment, Millennials, Profit, Social Responsibility