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Regional Culture, Heritage and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) - Dubai and The Middle East
High on the list of buzz words in the Dubai corporate world is CSR, Corporate Social Responsibility. If a business meeting goes by and you don't hear the three letter acronym, "CSR" something is wrong! and with all the hype, I have yet to hear a description of CSR activities in Dubai that extend beyond marketing or corporate philanthropy. Furthermore, for most, it is a concept introduced by the western corporate world, promoted by every european and american consultancy firm in the
region. In my opinion, to know CSR, you must speak to an elder businessman or woman from the region and you will realize, it is part of our heritage, our culture, our way of life.
Wikipedia defines CSR as "a concept whereby organizations consider the interests of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, communities and other stakeholders, as well as the environment." The term was coined in the 1950s in the US, and while it has existed for over 58 years, it is only recently that it became a buzzword. Depending on what you read or watch in Dubai, you'll find some attribute the rise
of the fad to increasing corporate misbehavior and negative impact on their stakeholder communities, as documented by the film, The Corporation. Other accounts attribute the rise to a trend in the PR and marketing industries to lure in more customers. A few feel it is a genuine human act of collective consciousness in the corporate world.
Regardless of how it started, companies across the world are flocking to implement CSR initiatives. The UAE is no different. To date, most efforts I encounter in Dubai fall either in the marketing and PR domain or corporate philanthropy. Few are well planned or take into account more than one member of the stakeholder community. Most, understand it as charity contributions to worthy social causes.
Unfortunately, multinationals that have well developed CSR programs in their home countries and other developed markets, fail to implement even their base-line CSR practices in Dubai. This is evident across industry; hotel groups that pride themselves internationally on their environmentally friendly practices, fail to have a simple recycling program locally; FMCG companies sell products and services in this market that are deemed socially and environmentally irresponsible in other markets, and other examples are plenty.
To know CSR, read about commerce in the region in the past 50, 100 years, even thousand years, dating back to the prophet's time. Speak to our parent's generation of tradesman. They treated employees as family members, mentoring the young, taking wisdom from the old, visiting the ill and celebrating momentous family occasions with all. They cared for the
environment and understood the balance with nature. They blessed their crops and gave portions of their inventory to the needy to keep the baraka (blessing). They understood that for their business to flourish in a community, they must keep their neighbors happy, respecting their privacy, the cleanliness of their streets and gave them right of way through their land for safe passage. Often tradesmen collaborated to fund community initiatives, from building schools and mosques to paying for the surgery of a less fortunate member of the community. Tradesmen served as advisors to their local government and hosted government official gatherings in their homes. Ask any Dubai elder about social responsibility and they may say "its not like it used to be".
The Qu'ran has several references to private property and the social and environmental responsibility of private property owners. "It should neither be used wastefully nor in a way that will deprive others of their justly acquired property (2:188). When one holds the property of others in trust, for example for orphans, one should not divert it to one's personal benefit (2:2;4:10), but one should not turn over one's own property to those incapable of managing it (2:5). When orphans mature they should be given control of their own property (2:6). Property rights of women are as sacred as those of men in other cases as well (4:24, 4:32)"1 To understand corporate social responsibility, look within, look to our culture, our heritage, our
faith.
by Rama Chakaki
 Rama Chakaki is a founder and CEO of the The Baraka Group, a company investing in sustainable businesses spanning the social, environmental, media and technology entrepreneurship sectors. Prior to The Baraka Group, Rama was a strategy and operations advisor to businesses across the Middle East. Rama had previously spent 14 years gaining US-based professional experience in outsourcing, telecom, information technology, education, consulting, and media.
Rama's experience in corporations and educational institutes coupled with her cultural background and a sense of social responsibility enabled her to address cross-sector collaboration. Her current focus is on nurturing a sustainable culture in the business community and implement corporate social responsibility programs in Dubai and the UAE. Rama holds a Master's degree in Engineering management and development of multimedia systems from George Washington University and an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. For more information visit www.baraka.us and ask to attend a CSR workshop in Dubai. You can also contact Rama to understand more about Corporate Social Responsibility in Dubai and the UAE by email -
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Held at the Emarat Atrium Auditorium on 24th June, EEG’s 5th
Community Lecture invited Matthias Stausberg, Media Relations and Public Affairs Officer of the
United Nations Global Compact Office back for the second time.