Title: The role of public policies in promoting corporate social responsibility

Authors: Saeed Saif Almatrooshi; Matloub Hussain; Mian M. Ajmal

Addresses: College of Business Administration, Abu Dhabi University, P.O. Box 59911, Abu Dhabi, UAE ' College of Business Administration, Abu Dhabi University, P.O. Box 59911, Abu Dhabi, UAE ' College of Business Administration, Abu Dhabi University, P.O. Box 59911, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Abstract: This paper analyses public policy practices and roles in promoting corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Decision making related to public policies is increasingly complex, and therefore analytical hierarchal process (AHP) was used in this study to rank public policy practices of CSR in UAE. The study delivers insights to governments, which shape CSR agendas. A public policy framework consisting of 29 practices that fall under five public policy categories - mandating, facilitating, partnering, endorsing, and empowering roles - are introduced in this paper. UAE policy makers are assigning more importance to mandating and empowering policies when promoting CSR. Findings from this study will help the UAE Government enhance its role as mediator between all stakeholders. It will also help the government identify initiatives to adopt and procedures to improve to encourage corporations to be more socially responsible regarding stakeholders. Future research should investigate perceptions of other parties, such as civil society and companies, to discover gaps in public policy design, implementation, and monitoring.

Keywords: public policy; corporate social responsibility; CSR; analytic hierarchy process; AHP; United Arab Emirates; UAE.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPSPM.2017.087672

International Journal of Public Sector Performance Management, 2017 Vol.3 No.4, pp.398 - 415

Received: 27 Dec 2016
Accepted: 26 May 2017
Published online: 30 Oct 2017 *

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