Investigating the role of the state in regulating corporate social responsibility: Evidence from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries

• Published date: 01 September 2023
• Author: Osman Ahmed El‐Said,Heba Aziz,Maryam Mirzaei,Michael Smith
• Date: 01 September 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/basr.12322

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Investigating the role of the state in regulating

corporate social responsibility: Evidence from

the Gulf Cooperation Council countries

Osman Ahmed El-Said

1,2

| Heba Aziz

1,3

| Maryam Mirzaei

1

|

Michael Smith

1

1

Department of Logistics, Tourism, and

Service Management, Faculty of Business

and Economics, German University of

Technology in Oman (GUtech), Muscat,

Oman

2

Department of Hotel Management,

Faculty of Tourism and Hotels,

Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt

3

Department of Tourism Studies, Faculty

of Tourism and Hotels, Alexandria

University, Alexandria, Egypt

Correspondence

Osman Ahmed El-Said, Department of

Logistics, Tourism, and Service

Management, Faculty of Business and

Economics, German University of

Technology in Oman (GUtech), Muscat,

Oman.

Email: osman.barghouth@gutech.edu.om

Funding information

This research was funded by the Ministry

of Higher Education, Research and

Innovation/the Research Council (TRC)

of the Sultanate of Oman (grant number

BFP/RGP/HSS/18/154).

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to provide an overview of

state governance for corporate social responsibility (CSR)

in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

A systemic literature review method is employed to col-

lect 88 relevant publications, and a qualitative coding

method is used to identify 98 governance instruments

from those publications. These are grouped into

13 themes and then examined within three conceptual

models. The findings reveal that most of the instruments

are geared towards ethical expectations, internal and

external social responsibility, raising awareness, and

socio-economic development. The findings are then

explored within four theories. The results suggest that

CSR governance in the GCC is at a moderate to high level

of bureaucratization; reflects Islamic identity, national

development targets, and business accountability; is

between the stages of habitualization and objectification;

and relies mostly on normative pressures. Recommenda-

tions for policymakers and company managers are then

presented based on these findings.

KEYWORDS

CSR governance framework, GCC, government policy,

institutional theory, institutionalization process, isomorphic

Received: 11 December 2022 Accepted: 10 August 2023

DOI: 10.1111/basr.12322

© 2023 Albert P. Viragh Institute for Ethics in Business at Duquesne University.

Bus Soc Rev. 2023;128:459–487. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/basr 459

mechanisms, socio-economic development, sustainability,

sustainable development, theory of bureaucratic management

1|INTRODUCTION

Due to the successful exploitation of their vast oil and gas reserves, the Gulf Cooperation

Council (GCC) countries, composed of the Kingdom of Bahrain (Bahrain), the Kingdom of

Saudi Arabia (Saudi Arabia), the State of Kuwait (Kuwait), the State of Qatar (Qatar), the

Sultanate of Oman (Oman), and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), have transformed

themselves from relatively undeveloped nations in the 1970s to highly modernized ones in the

present (Howarth et al., 2017). While this sudden shift has had a remarkable impact on the

quality of life of citizens, GCC governments are becoming more and more aware of the need to

adopt a different development model in the face of new, and increasingly concerning, national

and regional challenges (Mishrif, 2018). Since the new millennium, the countries in this

economic union have recognized the danger of their overdependence on oil rents and

foreign labor, their increasing resource insecurity and ecological degradation, and the rising

pressure on their public infrastructure and services caused by their rapid population growth

(Zaidan et al., 2019).

In response to these challenges, the GCC has recently shown a keen interest in the concept

of sustainable development (Zaidan et al., 2019), that is to say, development that considers the

equitable and durable growth of social, economic, and environmental systems (Mensah, 2019).

It is becoming increasingly clear, however, that governments cannot foster sustainable develop-

ment without the participation of other actors (Glass & Newig, 2019). In this regard, the private

sector has been identified as a strong driver of sustainable development (Van Zanten & Van

Tulder, 2018), and the CSR practices of businesses have been hailed for their potentially positive

outcomes (Schönherr et al., 2017). For this reason, governments the world over are beginning

to implement policies that harness the power of private business for the benefit and needs of

their constituents (Glass & Newig, 2019).

As a result, there has been a somewhat recent but fast-growing body of literature on the

instruments that governments use to promote and coordinate CSR practices. Although much of

this previous research has focused on European countries and the European Union

(e.g., Midttun et al., 2015; Steurer et al., 2012), the heightened importance of the subject has

prompted investigations in regions as different as Africa and Asia (e.g., Samy et al., 2015; Tang

et al., 2018). So far, only a limited number of studies have examined the CSR policies of GCC

countries (e.g., Almatrooshi et al., 2018), and of these, none have explored the instruments

employed across the whole economic union. To this end, the purpose of this study is to present

a snapshot of CSR governance in the GCC by answering the following research question:

Q1: What is the nature of the instruments that GCC governments use to govern and

regulate CSR?

By answering this research question, a novel window into CSR governance in the GCC will

be presented. The importance of this study is emphasized by the region's unique set of factors.

As fast-growing economies, GCC countries are quickly becoming important actors in the inter-

national community (Legrenzi & Lawson, 2017), attracting many foreign workers and

460 EL-SAID ET AL.