CSR is a new concept in the UAE. The first corporate social responsibility conference in the UAE was in Dubai in 2003.There are CSR initiatives in the UAE in the absence of dedicated programs. CSR initiatives are PR driven and short lived, mainly led by multinational companies operating in the UAE; programs are dedicated and committed plans embodied in the company’s strategic outlook.
All social responsibility so far has been driven by virtue of existing local culture, tradition, and Zakat or almsgiving, the fourth element in Islamic jurisprudence. The fusion of these elements results in providing welfare and security for the individual, environment and businesses in general.
Corporations in the UAE are showing interest in pursuing further CSR programs. However, applying the same global CSR trends such as those in the USA or Europe has to be reconsidered in the light of these cultural and social orientations. Managing the relationship between the company and the society is one of the backbones of CSR.
CSR policy makers are to watch out for the changes in the economic trend, mainly the privatization of family businesses, globalization and the effect of foreign direct investments. These are the forces that will create changes in the stakeholder’s composition. Such a change will be the catalyst for pressure groups and lobbies for better socially responsible behavior.
The system in the UAE bestows too many virtues that no conventional CSR agenda can compete with. Still, corporations have to fulfill their social obligations. In order to gain acceptance and recognition, CSR policy makers should be culturally intelligent and should possess an understanding on the uniqueness of the UAE system, in addition to tailor-make CSR programs especially for the UAE, just like the finance sector did when Islamic finance was introduced in the mid 1970’s. The latter became a major success with global appreciation and acceptance.
In the UAE corporate life is blended with local habits, tradition, culture and Islam. Such predicament poses a challenge for ‘imported’ concepts such as CSR. The UAE is not resistant to change. On the contrary, it has strived to modernize itself and to follow pursuit of the leading cities and economies. It is more a matter of cultural sensitivity and benchmarking. While the former is self explanatory, the latter is about understanding of the unique virtues of the system when introducing these programs relative to Europe or USA.
It is too early to pass judgment on CSR due to the novelty of the field. Yet, it will be over-optimistic to predict that the future of CSR is an imperative. The future of having CSR dedicated programs in the UAE will depend on the level of understanding and acceptance of CSR policy makers of the UAE system as far as culture and tradition are concerned. Moreover, and due to the uniqueness of the system, some of the ‘taken for granted’ corporate mantras are not applicable. The agency theory and the conflict between managing and owning are not applicable. Also, the role of the individual and the role of NGO’s, traditionally a forceful tool in society, is not available. The individuals in the UAE have a wide comfort zone that makes the demands for change timid and shy, and the NGO’s are virtually the off springs of the government.
In the midst of this unique landscape, CSR programs need to be unique. They do not have to be an extension of their mother companies in the USA or Europe in the case of multinational companies. On the contrary, cultural sensitivity is a recurring theme in the UAE and involves incorporating the elements of cultural and tradition in all aspects of corporate life. In the finance sector for example, factoring in cultural sensitivity has given birth to a whole field now estimated at billions of US$ : Islamic finance.
There is an opportunity for CSR policy makers .The issue should not be about competing with the existing system to offer ‘more’; that might be far fetched for corporations. The emphasis should be on competing differently in a complementary manner to the existing system.
By Hani Soubra
Regional Director, MENA for the BBC Worldwide, writes this as Tempo’s guest columnist. He has worked in the field of media for 21 years. He can be reached on hani@hanisoubra.com
