Businesswomen and Corporate Social Responsibility

OCT 2012

The Third Qatar International Businesswomen ForumUnder the patronage of H.E. Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al-Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in Qatar.

األكاديمية – لألبحاث كالس رويالالكويت

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AGENDA

Meaning and growing importance of corporate social responsibility.

Practice and limitations of corporate social responsibility in the Arab world.

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3 Can businesswomen making a difference?

األكاديمية - لألبحاث كالس رويالالكويت

MEANING OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

There is no common definition. Each company responds in its own unique way, depending upon its core competencies and stakeholders’ interests. Country and cultural traditions also influence how companies respond.

Corporate social responsibility is the commitment of business to contribute to sustainable economic development, working with employees, their families, the local community and society at large to improve their quality of life (Williams, 2010).

Social responsibility is fundamentally a philosophy or a vision about the relationship of business and society, one requiring leadership to implement and sustain it over time. It is most effectively treated as an investment, not a cost, much like quality management.

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األكاديمية - لألبحاث كالس رويالالكويت

TYPICAL DIAGRAM OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

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IMPORTANCE OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (con.)

Globalization of markets, consumer preferences, supply chains and financial flows. Some business leaders consider globalization to be a revolution, not simply a trend, since it is having momentous effects on the economies of all countries and on corporations in most sectors.

Increasing intensity of competition. Peter Veill used the expression ‘managing in white water’ to express the challenge of meeting the turbulence and instability which global competition has created. It is unlikely we will ever return to the comfortable 1989’s.

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األكاديمية - لألبحاث كالس رويالالكويت

IMPORTANCE OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (con.)

Rapid technological changes are transforming markets, alleviating burdensome tasks, enabling greater customization of production, and contributing to high labor displacement. Modern information technology makes it possible to decentralize decision-making without losing «control» and to introduce more flexible and less hierarchical structures.

Demographic changes not only threaten the sustainability of our planet but create a mismatch between jobs and suitably trained workers, and between present educational systems and the needs of a knowledge and information-based economy.

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PRACTICES OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE ARAB WORLD

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CSR presents significant risks and opportunities for many organizations in the Arab world.

Stakeholders expect boards and management to accept responsibility and implement strategies and controls to manage their impact on society and the environment, to engage stakeholders in their endeavors, and to inform the public about their results.

The proliferation of regulation and voluntary standards has made CSR management a complex endeavor.

األكاديمية - لألبحاث كالس رويالالكويت

PRACTICES OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE ARAB WORLD (con.)

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The approaches to evaluating CSR activities, including auditing, facilitating, and consulting.

Audit considerations such as use of the audit opinion, independence and objectivity, and types of resources.

Considerations in developing the internal audit program, including whether CSR information is consistent with standards and how management communicates and sets priorities for CSR strategies.

األكاديمية - لألبحاث كالس رويالالكويت

LIMITATIONS OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE ARAB WORLD

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Some companies may take CSR as a merely a corporate jargon for their good image and not showing some concrete commitment towards the society. Some companies do charities only for the sake of making profits and saving taxes not with the intention of responsibilities towards the society.

The risks (operational, reputational, etc.) associated with CSR activities and how to use such knowledge in audit planning.

األكاديمية - لألبحاث كالس رويالالكويت

LIMITATIONS OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE ARAB WORLD (con.)

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The emerging markets of the Arab world offer markedly different contexts, constraints and possibilities for CSR activity and research, and many Arab companies stand out in their creative efforts to do good for the communities in which they operate.

Yet the operation of managing a fair CSR needs to be more organized and audited in a proper method so that to achieve its real goals, and that is due to the similar conception between CSR and Zakat, which is considered of Islam religion ritualism.

More effort should be made for accomplish a good categorizing for CSR in the firms of the Arab world.

األكاديمية - لألبحاث كالس رويالالكويت

CAN BUSINESSWOMEN MAKING A DIFFERENCE?

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CSR towards women empowerment can become ray of hope in many ways right from changing attitude towards women in the society to making women independent financially, physically and socially and enabling them to stand on their feet.

Business women in the Arab world can definitely able to achieve more sensible and organized CSR operations, as their feminine nature, they can feel with other women needs in society, and of course most of those business women are social activists in the first place.

األكاديمية - لألبحاث كالس رويالالكويت

REFERENCES

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Williams, Geoffrey and John Zinkin (2010), ‘Islam and CSR: a study of the compatibility between the tenets of Islam and the UN Global Compact’, Journal of Business Ethics, 91, 519–33.

Corporate social responsibility picks up in Kuwait. (n.d.) retrieved on January 23, 2010 from http://www.ameinfo.com/145699.html

CSR-Weltweit official website. (n.d.)retrieved on January 23, 2010 from http://www.csrweltweit.de/uploads/tx_jpdownloads/FinalBackgroundPaper_CSRConference_Cairo.pdf

Stakeholder Analysis. (n.d.). retrieved on January 23, 2010 from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newPPM_07.htm

األكاديمية - لألبحاث كالس رويالالكويت

THANK YOU

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األكاديمية - لألبحاث كالس رويالالكويت