March 28-30, 2011
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact of CSR Practices in the United Arab Emirates
Zainab Qasim Pushkala Muralidharan zainab.qasim@gmail.com pushkala@bitsdubai.com BITS Pilani, Dubai Campus, Dubai Ganesan Ramaswamy gramaswamy@ksu.edu.sa King Saud University, Riyadh 1. Introduction
In the last twenty years, a vast number of changes have taken place in relationships maintained by a company with the state and society. No longer does a company continue to act as independent entity regardless of the public interest and welfare of the society and its effect on the environment. The growth of the relationship between a company and the society has been a slow transformation from just a humanitarian coexistence to a point where the interest of stakeholders and society is increasingly becoming of prime importance. Organizations are beginning to realize the fact that in order to stay ahead in the business and gain strategic benefits, it is important to practice responsible business etiquettes. The kind of competition companies’ face today and the wave of globalization have drastically changed the business environment in the past few years. Globalization has compelled organizations to expand their boundaries from their country of origin to other rapidly developing markets in other parts of the world. In order to be successful in their attempt towards globalization companies have realized that they need to implement clearly defined business practices with a well-defined focus on public interests and the environment. Also, in some of the markets across the world, since the government still holds the key due to the rules and regulations set by it, the government would be naturally inclined to prefer companies which take care of the interest of all the stakeholders. Lastly, organizations across the world have begun to realize the importance of intangible assets, i.e. be it brand name or
References: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Alberto Aragon-Correa J. and Sharma S., "A Contingent Resource-Based View of Proactive Corporate Environmental Strategy," Academy of Management Review, January 2003, pp. 71-88. Aston A. and Helm B., "Green Culture, Clean Strategies," BusinessWeek, December 12, 2005, p. 64. Christmann P. and Taylor G., "Globalization and the Environment: Strategies for International Voluntary Environmental Initiatives," Academy of Management Executive, August 2002, pp. 121-135. ‘CSR Al Youm’, Newsletter of Dubai Chamber of Commerce, Edition 1, 2 & 3, October 2007. Christine A. Mallin Corporate Social Responsibility: a case study approach, Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. 2009, page 260. William B. Werther and David Chandler, Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility, Sage Publications 2006. CSR in the UAE http://www.creatingsharedvalue.org/post/2010/02/24/CSR-in-the-United-ArabEmirates.aspx 119 International Conference on Technology and Business Management March 28-30, 2011 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. CSR : An Exploratory Study in the UAE, SAM Advanced Management Journal:2007 Britannica Online Encyclopedia - http://www.britannica.com/bps/additionalcontent/18/28084711/CorporateSocial-Responsibility-An-Exploratory-Study-in-the-United-Arab-Emirates Masdar City - http://www.masdarcity.ae/en/index.aspx CSR Project Executive Summary http://www.emiratesfoundation.ae/Documents/Publications/CSRProjectEXSummary.pdf Dubai Municipality Portal - http://login.dm.gov.ae/wps/portal/MyHomeEN Dulsco - http://www.dulsco.com/Default/PageIn.aspx?pref=WMS_Waste Clean Middle East Magazine - http://www.cleanmiddleeast.ae/articles/1/mobile-recycling-initiativelaunched-in-dubai.html Emaar Properties - www.ameinfo.com/162565.html HP - http://www.csrmiddleeast.org/haber.php?haber_id=107 Jotun Norge http://www.jotun.com/www/20020059.nsf/viewUNID/6652D4D1F29D620D4425752E0032D627?Ope nDocument&r=2 eHosting Datafort - http://www.ehdf.com/ehosting-datafort-launches-two-csr-initiatives.html Al Ghandi Electronics News - http://www.alghandielectronics.com/NewsReader.asp?NewsID=39 ACSRN - http://www.arabiacsrnetwork.com/acsrn.html Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Governance in the United Arab Emirates – an executive summary by Dr. Belaid Rattab, Dr. Anis Ben Brik, Prof. Kamal Mellahi http://www.emiratesfoundation.ae http://gulfnews.com/business/economy/new-organisation-to-promote-corporate-social-responsibility, dated July 3, 2006 DAFZA - http://www.dubaided.gov.ae/ShareBestPractice2010/dafz_profile.html ENOC - www.enoc.com/ENOCWebsite/resources/home/section.xml http://gulftoday.ae/portal/ dated Nov 4, 2010 ENOC - http://www.arabianoilandgas.com/article-7766-enoc-highlights-importance-of-csr ENOC - http://uae.superbrandsmena.com/images/Spreads/ENOC%2024-04-10.pdf CSR Definitions - http://www.mallenbaker.net/csr/definition.php Dubai Chamber Of Commerce - http://www.csr360gpn.org/partners/profile/centre-for-responsiblebusiness-dubai-chamber-of-commerce-and-industry 120