Purpose This paper aims to examine the concept and practice of Islamic banking in the context of a non-Islamic country such as Uganda. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were used to elicit the strategies banks may use to ensure that the Islamic banking system is successful and to ascertain those factors that may hinder its success. Chief executive officers of business associations, heads of committees on Islamic banking and religious leaders were interviewed. Findings The strategies used by financial institutions in ensuring the adoption of Islamic banking are now known such as “creating awareness of Islamic banking’s mode of operation among existing and potential clients.” The findings also show that factors such as “lack of trust among clients” may hinder the success of Islamic banking. Research limitations/implications The research findings are useful for informing the deliberations of regulators, the business community and financial institutions. The results are applicable only to those countries in the preparation stages of adopting Islamic banking services for the first time, but they could be generalized to any new product launch in any country. Originality/value This paper may help Ugandan financial institutions to design strategies that will accelerate the adoption and, ultimately, the diffusion of Islamic banking in Uganda.

Purpose This paper aims to avail a soft approach to embracing the process of creating a business code of conduct and ethics and make it work for a pharmaceutical company [player] which wants to remain relevant before stakeholders and society, amidst escalating inducements to go against the acceptable pharmaceutical behaviour. Design/methodology/approach Data collection was guided by qualitative methodologies. A four stepwise process was followed: data collection at the case company – Kampala Pharmaceutical Industries (KPI), Uganda; validation of data collected at KPI; data collection from external stakeholders of KPI; and re-validation of KPI data based on data collected from external stakeholders. In all this, combination of semi-structured and informal interviews with CEOs, senior staff managers, non-participant observation of ethical related activities plus organizing a stakeholder engagement workshop on business code of conduct and ethics was achieved. This workshop helped document what ought to be an ideal design process to secure stakeholder buy-in of the code of business ethics. A local pharmaceutical company in Uganda, KPI was used, which, for continuous five years since its adoption of the business code of conduct and ethics, registered commercial viability without any record of unethical practices. Triangulation was used to ensure credibility and validity of the results. For data analysis, a three-stepwise process was followed, which helped develop a framework within which the collected data revealed themes which were later analyzed. For generalization of the findings, the “adaptive theory approach” was used. Findings When poorly introduced in an organization, the business code of conduct and ethics can work against the company simply because it will be received with “intentional rebellion” from stakeholders, notably staff. However, when a soft stakeholder engagement and consultative approach is used and followed during the business code of ethics and conduct’s design process, multiple stakeholders feel proud and are much willing to live by the promise spelt out in it. Cited notable benefits of living by the code include reputational enhancement, strategic competitiveness and increased possibilities of wining cross-border cooperation among like-minded pharmaceutical players. In the efforts to reap from the code of ethics, communication was observed as an indispensable activity. Refresher trainings to remind the stakeholders about the promises in the code are also needed as time passes by, otherwise they forget. Needless to say, rewarding those who live an exemplary life in embracing and living by the code was cited as key in sustaining the ethical agenda. Lastly, managing multiple stakeholders influences is a curvilinear fashion and involves back and forth consultations. Practical implications The lessons learnt from KPI can be borrowed and used by both global pharmaceutical players and national/local players, especially those that face challenges living by the promise of their existing codes or those without business code of conduct and ethics. That is, both players can use the suggested process to help participants in their medicine supply chain to come up with working business codes of conduct, as well as guide the stakeholder consultative process which results in stakeholder buy-in. Originality/value For many years, issues surrounding bioethics have dominated priorities of World Health Organization (WHO), UNESCO and many international and national development allies. However, there is an escalating violation of medical codes of conduct and ethics. Hence, this publication is a step toward the implementation of the principles and objectives of the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights which is currently challenged with a difficult question posed by life sciences – How far can we go given the dented medical relationship between ethics, medical science and freedom?

Purpose -The purpose of this study is to investigate how business enterprises in Uganda manage their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and projects. Design/methodology/approach -The investigations focused on a limited number of management facets. Using a cross-sectional survey design, the researchers collected data through both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. These included semi-structured interviews with managers of selected enterprises, as well as non-participant observation of CSR activities and projects. Findings -The findings show unbalanced engagement in CSR for business managers in Uganda. Managers are largely motivated towards CSR by external factors such as attracting and retaining customers, enhancing reputation and operational efficiencies to achieve competitive advantage, rather than internal factors such as CSR policies, employee welfare and CSR reporting. Another significant finding is that the responsibility to initiate, administer, and monitor CSR activities is largely vested in middle-level managers. These factors pose many challenges to CSR implementation amongst managers in Uganda. Originality/value -This study was a follow-up of a baseline survey, "CSR in Uganda: perceptions, approaches, and needs of companies", which was conducted earlier by the lead researcher. The value of this paper is that it provides an in-depth insight into the status of CSR management in Uganda, which in turn will help both the public and private sectors to identify potential gaps, weaknesses and/or needs for improvement. In the long run, this will improve the image, development impact and performance of CSR undertakings for the benefit of all stakeholders in Uganda.

No abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present corporate social responsibility (CSR) as an alternative roadmap to accelerating realization of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Uganda, even after 2015. Design/methodology/approach – Using a mixed research methodology, this research documented CSR activities of 16 companies operating in Uganda. Data collection was guided by quantitative and qualitative methodologies (semi-structured interviews with CSR managers, plus non-participant observation of CSR activities and projects linked with MDGs). Triangulation was used to ensure credibility and validity of the results. For data analysis, the authors followed a three-stepwise process, which helped to develop a framework within which the collected data could be analyzed. For generalization of the findings, the authors were guided by the “adaptive theory approach”. Findings – Uganda will not realize any MDGs by 2015. However, CSR activities have the potential to contribute to a cross-section of various MDGs that are more important and relevant to Uganda when supported by the government. If this happens, realization of the MDGs is likely to be stepped up. CSR's potential contributions to the MDGs were found to be hindered by corruption and cost of doing business. Lastly, MDG 8 and MDG 3 were perceived to be too ambiguous to be integrated into company CSR interventions, and to a certain extent were perceived to be carrying political intentions which conflict with the primary business intentions of profit maximization. Practical implications – Governments in developing countries that are still grappling with the MDGs can use this research when devising collaborations with private-sector companies. These documented CSR activities that contribute directly to specific MDGs can be factored into the priority public-private partnership arrangements. Private companies can also use these findings to frame their stakeholder engagement, especially with the government and also when setting CSR priorities that significantly contribute to sustainable development. Originality value – This research advances the “Post-2015 MDG Development Agenda” suggested during the United Nations MDG Summit in 2010, which called for academic and innovative contributions on how MDGs can be realized even after 2015.