Dr. Anis Ben Brik

Journal of Business Ethics DOI 10.1007/s10551-008-0005-9

Ó Springer 2008

A Study of Management Perceptions of the Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Organisational Performance in Emerging Economies: The Case of Dubai

Belaid Rettab Anis Ben Brik Kamel Mellahi

ABSTRACT. Although a number of studies have shown that corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities often lead to greater organisational performance in western developed economies, researchers are yet to examine the strategic value of CSR in emerging economies. Using survey data from 280 firms operating in Dubai, this study examines the link between CSR activities and organisational performance. The results show that CSR has a positive relationship with all three measures of organisational performance: financial performance, employee commitment, and corporate reputation. These results reinforce the accumulating body of empirical support for the positive impact of CSR on performance and challenge the dominant assumption that, given the weak institutional framework in emerging economies, CSR activities drain resources and compromise firms’ competitiveness. KEY WORDS: corporate social responsibility, organisational performance, emerging economies, United Arab Emirates

Over the years, an enormous body of literature has emerged concerning the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and organisational performance (Margolis and Walsh, 2003; McWilliams et al., 2006). Although extant research has made some headway in understanding the association between CSR and organisational performance, it suffers from at least two important limitations that we seek to address in this paper. First, extant research on the impact of CSR on organisational performance has focused exclusively on

western developed economies. To date, scholars have not examined the strategic value of CSR in emerging economies. The limited body of research on CSR in emerging economies has focused almost

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Belaid Rettab and Anis Ben Brik Dubai Chamber, Centre for Responsible Business, Dubai, U.A.E. Kamel Mellahi The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, U.K. E-mail: K.Mellahi@sheffield.ac.uk