Research
What are the Motivations for undertaking Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Practices in the Middle-East? A Critical Literature Review
Corporate social responsibility (henceforth, CSR) as a practice that involves doing well and doing good to the society, cuts across countries, cultures and corporations. The CSR activities embarked upon by were mainly of philanthropic nature, that is, social actions not aimed at profitability or improved financial performance. Literature established that, the motivations for undertaking CSR differs across continents and corporations because of the influence history, cultural norms and philosophies. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss different motivations for undertaking CSR practices in the Middle- East with a view enriching the literature with emerging facts and richer understanding of social actions from non-Western hemisphere. The authors adopt a qualitative research method by extracting new understanding on the meanings, cultural context of CSR and motivations for CSR in the Middle-East using a critical literature review (CLR). The chapter found five (5) key motivations for CSR in the Middle-East, namely: religious, economic, social, environmental and globalisation factors.
Transitioning to Decent Work and Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for the Attainment of Sustainable Development Goal 8
The phenomenon of indecent workplaces poses serious existential threats to profits, plants, and people including the attainment of sustainable development goal (SDG) in Sub-Saharan Africa. This chapter discusses the imperative of transition to decent work and economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa – a move that is expected to lead to the attainment of SDG 8. Using a mixed research method with preference for secondary data, the paper provides richer findings on the subject of inquiry. It was found that the per capita GDPs of Sub-Saharan Africa a period of 10 years (2000-2019) are very low when compared with the minimum per capita GDP of $3996 for the Upper-Middle Income countries. Also, the continent manifested a low tendency towards decent work because of worsening unemployment rates and higher vulnerable employment in the labour force. With regards to practical and managerial implications, the study validates the United Nations’ targets on economic growth and decent work, which explicates that to sustain per capita economic growth, the least developed countries must have at least 7 percent gross domestic product growth per annum including providing decent work for all women and men.
