CSR becoming more widespread, says new survey.

Byline: [e-mail] (Staff Writer)

Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry's Centre for Responsible Business have launched their annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report called "Winds of Change: The State of Corporate Social Responsibility in Dubai, 2008".

The study revealed that CSR continues to gain momentum amongst companies, government and civil society in terms of increased media coverage, government support, launch of CSR awards and increased research and publication on the subject. The report showed that most companies in Dubai are just beginning to learn about CSR concept as they implement CSR practices only when it helps immediate or short-term commercial, productivity or efficiency goals. The study highlights the government's role in the promotion of CSR activities in the country.

The authors of the study, Dr Belaid Rettab, Executive Director, Economic Research and Sustainable Business Development and Dr Anis Ben Brik, Senior CSR Researcher, Dubai Chamber, revealed that 59 per cent of the operating companies in Dubai have heard of the concept of CSR, but 25 per cent of them do not have a specific program for the application of the concept.

Additionally, most companies expressed their commitment to behave ethically in business operation (72 per cent), to reduce their negative impact (67 per cent), to improve staff's well-being (59 per cent) and to contribute to society (53 per cent). The survey showed that companies were generally motivated to implement CSR; 67 per cent believed that they could benefit from CSR in the long run.

For example, they held that increased staff benefits could be offset by improved efficiency (68 per cent), higher staff benefits reduced staff mobility (56 per cent) could improve the team spirit through participation in community activities (61 per cent), reputation could be enhanced by implementation of environmental protection measures (69 per cent) or contributing to community (68 per cent).

However, and despite the enthusiasm expressed by companies, the study showed that CSR in Dubai was less integrated into business strategy and less formally managed; only a small minority of the companies had CSR officer (three per cent) and CSR policy and strategy (10 per cent). No communication strategy exists for CSR; three per cent reported to the public CSR activities.

Top management was less involved in CSR; five per cent had a committee to oversee CSR, 10 per cent of companies' board of directors was involved in CSR and four per cent of owners were involved in CSR. Stakeholder dialogue was limited; only four per cent of companies came forward.

The study indicated that social contribution, either donations or volunteering, was regarded as the least important of all CSR aspects; 37 per cent of the companies made donations to charitable organisations in 2008 averaging AED 67,519 ($18382) while only 16 per cent preferred organizing corporate volunteering activities. In regards to giving incentives such as awards or recognition for volunteer work, 14 per cent of the companies came forward.

The authors noted that "As far as conservation of the ecological environment is concerned, 74 per cent of the companies had the actual policies for measures in place for water consumption, 60 per cent worked towards reducing water pollution in addition to 54 per cent of the companies taking steps to reduce emissions of harmful gases and chemicals."

Regarding the Government's role, most of the companies surveyed (79 per cent) were of the view that the Government should be leading the way in the adoption of CSR activities, while 74 per cent of the companies agreed that the authorities should recognise and reward companies that practice CSR and 71 per cent said the Government should provide incentives to CSR champions.

2009 CPI Financial. All rights reserved.

Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company