Alizadeh, A. The Drivers and Barriers of Corporate Social Responsibility: A Comparison of the MENA Region and Western Countries. Sustainability 2022, 14, 909. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14020909
Alizadeh, A. The Drivers and Barriers of Corporate Social Responsibility: A Comparison of the MENA Region and Western Countries. Sustainability 2022, 14, 909. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14020909
Alizadeh, A. The Drivers and Barriers of Corporate Social Responsibility: A Comparison of the MENA Region and Western Countries. Sustainability 2022, 14, 909. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14020909
Alizadeh, A. The Drivers and Barriers of Corporate Social Responsibility: A Comparison of the MENA Region and Western Countries. Sustainability 2022, 14, 909. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14020909
Abstract
Although numerous articles have been published to address drivers or barriers of corporate social responsibility (CSR), some parts of the world have received less attention. In this study, I reviewed the literature, from 2010 to 2021, to identify drivers and barriers of CSR in the the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and compare them with the findings in western countries. (2) Methods: For this study, I used a structured literature review method. By setting the inclusion and exclusion criteria, only 28 articles remained from selected database; (3) Results: The findings revealed some CSR drivers, such as leadership styles, profitability, reputation, moral commitment, and environmental conservation are common in both regions. There are also some differences between CSR drivers, for example religious beliefs, low concentration of ownership, and company characteristics are some of the drivers in the MENA region. Maintaining social license to operate, avoiding the risks of community opposition, pressure from the government, and consumer demand tend to be more important in western countries. Common barriers in both regions are lack of financial resources, cost, lack of CSR knowledge and awareness, and ownership concentration. This review also highlighted that lack of law enforcement, lack of stakeholder communication, lack of management commitment, lack of interests, corruption, and financial debts are some of the addressed barriers of CSR in the MENA region, while cost/benefit ratio, lack of customer interest, and lack of scientific frameworks are the special barriers in western countries. (4) Conclusions: While researchers in western countries have more focus on energy sector, there is a lack of research about drivers and barriers of CSR in the MENA region in several industries, including oil and gas.
Keywords
CSR drivers and barriers; corporate social responsibility; MENA; middle east; north Africa; north America; Australia; Europe; western countries
Subject
Business, Economics and Management, Business and Management
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
