Corporate Social Responsibility (csr) in the Middle East

During our trip to the Middle East, a common theme stuck with me during our company visits. The subject is one that I have worked with in my current career, although not directly. In the United States, the subject is one that is almost a rule instead of a guideline for companies. The subject is Corporate Social Responsibility. I was surprised by immaturity of CSR in the Middle East compared to the States, as well as how it was seen or portrayed. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is frequently described by its promoters as aligning a company's activities with the social, economic and environmental expectations of its stakeholders.

Although there are multiple definitions of CSR, both scholarly and personal, many feel that CSR is nothing more than a public relations ploy. Early opinions seemed to cast a negative view on companies by the perception of donating money to local centers to cover up harmful pollutions. In the States, CSR so far advanced pass this perception. There are companies and specific departments within organizations that deal with CSR today. The definition is changing and developing as the concept of CSR develops and expands:

The World Bank defined CSR to be the commitment of owners of commercial activities to contribute in sustainable development through working with their employees and their families, local community and the society as a whole to upgrade the people's living standards in a certain way that serves commerce and development in the same time. As for the international chamber of commerce, it has defined social responsibility to be all the attempts that contribute to the volunteering of co-operations to achieve development for ethical and social reasons. Hence, social responsibility depends on good initiatives of businessmen without any legal obligations. And therefore social responsibility is achieved through convincing and educating. (Shyne)

Since commerce began CSR as been an issue. Concerns