Stakeholder Understanding of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Emerging Markets with a Focus on Middle East, Africa (MEA) and Asia

Abstract

Overall, findings suggest a broader and more contemporary definition be utilised and communicated back to stakeholders to increase understanding of company specific CSR strategy. Significant differences were found across nationality groups in the MEA region, suggesting a need to incorporate cultural differences and the perceptions of different nationality groups in CSR planning. Recommendations for CSR strategy in emerging markets such as MEA are made, and are discussed in light of religious beliefs, culture and country of origin.

A Cross-Country Comparison of the Corporate Social Responsibility Orientation in Germany and Qatar

“…Germans are found to rate ethical dimensions much more important than Qataris. This supports the result of Munro (2013) who states that CSR in the Middle East and North Africa region is less associated with ethical components compared to the customer understanding of CSR in Western developed countries. Moral, avoiding discrimination against women and minorities, and sustainable production and consumption are topics that Germans perceive as more important than Qataris.…”

“…Country differences are also found to play a role for the perception of ethical problems and the acceptance of CSR laws among senior executives in the US, the UK, Germany, and Austria, although this effect is smaller than the effect of industry (Schlegelmilch and Robertson, 1995). A range of other studies reveals differences in ethical behavior, decision-making, and CSR perception across countries (e.g., Becker-Olsen et al, 2011;Chomvilailuk and Butcher, 2013;Munro, 2013;Welford, 2005).…”

“…Moreover, Jamali and Mirshak (2007) as well as Munro (2013) point to the fact that not many researchers examined CSR in developing countries. Nevertheless, some differences are found in ethical behavior and firm's CSR activities according to the stage of economic development.…”

“…But while it can be stated that CSR gained popularity across the globe, there are still regional differences in commitment and there is a focus on the evaluation of CSR from an American and European perspective. To date, CSR research has been conducted in developed countries and more recently in Asia and South America for emerging countries, but still misses a detailed analysis in Middle East and Africa (Munro, 2013) as well as in developing countries (Jamali and Mirshak, 2007). Due to specific values, beliefs, or customs, CSR approaches differ across countries (Robertson, 2009).…”

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Assessing the Participant Perception Towards the Implementation of Sciencexplorer Programme

“…Over the decades, the concept and implementation of CSR has continuously grow in terms of its benefits and importance. Many companies define CSR by their activities where a single company may have different activities in different geographic regions (2). CSR also defines the ability of a company to be socially responsible to the growth and development of the environment in which it operates.…”