CSR PRACTICES IN THE MIDDLE EASTERN COUNTRIES: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

The aim of this paper is to revise the existing literature on corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices in the Middle Eastern countries due to their increasing importance in global business and growing flows of foreign investments. Despite that many Western theoreticians have attempted to provide universal moral and ethical grounding for CSR initiatives, they proved to be inconsistent with the Middle Eastern contextual domain. The analysis shows clear necessity of detailed understanding of local business practices in the context of the examined countries due to their heterogeneity and unique links with Islamic culture. The paper reveals that local businessman remain attached to ethical postulates originating from Islamic perspectives for social responsibility that contrasts with the conventional form of CSR. The reviewed literature demonstrates that the features of social responsibility and justice from an Islamic perspective are deeply rooted in the framework of Islam – the Qur’an and the Sunnah that present clear codification of ethical standards as well as a set of explicit postulates that practitioners and companies are considered to follow. Shari’ah (Islamic law), as a legal and moral framework with a high importance in the Islamic paradigm, provides a religious bond for business activities. The findings show that ethical codifications and standards originating from these sources offer foundation for further development and implementation of CSR practices in accordance with the needs of local customers and companies. From a methodological perspective, the paper systematically revises academic contributions belonging to the areas of Management, International Business and Marketing in accordance with the ABS classification. Finally, the paper identifies a need for further investigation and development of CSR practices which will be in consistency with the Middle Eastern domain