Reflections on CSR: the case of Egypt

In: Society and business review, Band 12, Heft 1, S. 94-116

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review the corporate social responsibility (CSR) concept in Egypt via six sub-purposes which are the operational definition, activities, corporations' strategic direction, budgeting and drivers for and obstacles against CSR alongside the implications of the January 25th 2011's revolution on the concept.Design/methodology/approachThis research is a perception study adopting a mixed methodology. A sample of 20 corporate managers undertaking CSR activities had been interviewed. Results are analyzed using content analysis and non-parametricz-tests.FindingsThe research identified the prevalent hands-on definitions of CSR which highlight an identification problem, as well as the leading two activities undertaken that are highly linked to the lack of a corporate strategic direction. Also, it showed that budgeting was a vague undisclosed aspect and further highlighted the drivers for and obstacles against CSR before and in transition post January 25th 2011, revolution.Practical implicationsThis overview serves as a building block for practitioners to identify the CSR build-up in Egypt, to guide further current or future endeavors undertaken.Originality/valueThis paper provides a genuine contextualized review of CSR in Egypt that had been a reported gap in literature by identifying its operational definition, activities, budgeting, corporations' strategic direction and drivers for and obstacles against the concept in light of the timeline pre and in-transition post the January 25th 2011 revolution.