This Is How You Do It : A look into Kuwait’s Approach to CSR

Zalfa Farah

wikipedia.org

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the accountability of corporations/organizations around the world to give back to society. It is highly imperative that corporations take CSR work seriously as not doing so will not only damage the environment, but also their image. CSR is particularly relevant to the Public Relations industry (PR) given that the image of a company and how they interact with their environment(s) is critical to their success. 

The objective of this blog is to get across the message that culture is vital regarding the relationship of CSR and PR.

https://www.arabtimesonline.com/

 I aim to stress on the importance of the cooperation between the government, its people and their companies working together and the positive rewards of doing so.

Small but powerful

Kuwait, is known to be one of the leading countries in oil & gas. Although small, their government is arguably one of the strongest in the world, providing its citizens with numerous social and economic benefits. Little research has been conducted on CSR in middle eastern countries such as Kuwait. However, researchers are now investigating the impact of culture on CSR in Kuwait (White & Al Kandri, 2019). The findings were positive suggesting that the Kuwaiti culture and their strong sense of identity could be used as a good example for other countries to take note and incorporate into their own social relationships.

The Case

Khaled Al Kandari, a Kuwaiti national and his fellow researcher Candace White, aimed to understand how Kuwaiti companies view and practice CSR from an economic, cultural and political sense and how these companies interact with the government and the public. Furthermore, they aimed to understand how Kuwaiti nationals identify with their country when engaging in CSR with other countries (click here for article).

The researchers interviewed numerous Kuwaiti company representatives from a range of organizations varying from oil & gas to finance, both in and outside of Kuwait.  The participants were asked about their perspectives on CSR work and their collaborations with other public/private companies. Simply put, three major key themes were derived from the interviews including, social structure, coordinating efforts and proud mediator.

Here’s what they found

Social Context. Interviewees expressed the importance of social context and environment when explaining CSR practices in Kuwait. As one participant mentioned “The services the country provides - free education, free health service, care of the environment, etc. - limits the CSR activities we could do because citizens already have these needs provided by the government.  

Zakat. Philanthropic obligations arose as an important factor within social and cultural structure concerning CSR practices. “Zakat” or in Arabic written “زكاة” is the religious and ethical perspective, meaning an individual gives back to his/her society including to those in need. I found this piece of information rather humbling, as it is rare to find a country who still upholds this much value for its citizens.

Coordination. It was also found that coordinating between company and its stakeholders is important. The authors state that companies tend to urge corporations to conduct CSR work as it improves social relations between the private and public sectors, whilst improving the company’s credibility.

Proud & Pride. Being a “proud mediator” played as an important aspect of CSR practice. In other words, Kuwaiti nationals believe that being proud a citizen facilitates the relationship between the Kuwaiti government and other countries. When a Kuwaiti national is working abroad, he/she is representing their country as much as they are representing their company.

What does this mean for CSR?

Well, firstly, the article has uncovered some very important insights about how a country should engage in CSR both internally and externally. These findings are important to the science community as this qualitative research will aid in building theory for corporate responsibility in a global context.  There are no reasons why other countries should not adopt the approach by Kuwait, as it clearly strengths the outcome of private and public organizations. By strengthening the people’s morale, whether it be via social services or cultural values, it is inevitable that they will give back in return to their country. PR companies now have the challenge of changing their ways in being more transparent and encouraging their clients to engage more with the public, the private and governments. It would be wise for global PR companies to sit-up and take notice of these impactful findings.

About the author

Zalfa Farah is currently a Masters student in Communication Science. She was born in Lebanon and raised in both Dubai and Beirut. After graduating with a BA in Sociology, she completed graduate work at both CNN London and UNDP-Beirut. Zalfa then changed her career path to music and management, during which she opened up a Music academy with her mother which caters to students of all ages & backgrounds and students with special needs, whilst promoting Lebanese musicians to the international markets.