Corporate Social Responsibility: Reflections on Universities in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a concept is applicable in public service institutions, where responsibility means that the organization is capable of partaking and carving a solution toward urgent social needs. Universities are institutions in which social responsibility emerges not only because of their fundamental mission in the dissemination of knowledge, training, and creation, but also of the enormous challenges they face being a part of a greater society. A university is created to serve its society by graduating people who can contribute to its social and economic development. In recent years, there has been a rapid increase in the number of private universities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The academic and professional programs offered by local universities have been developed to follow the revenue-generating practices that are widely used in other different regions of the world. The country has also seen a growing interest in CSR. The chapter investigates the CSR-related evidence as envisaged in UAE and further emphasizes the four levels of responsibilities, namely, academic responsibility, social responsibility, responsibility toward disadvantaged groups, and environmental responsibility, that we can see essential.

Citation

Ankit, A. and EL-Sakran, T. (2020), "Corporate Social Responsibility: Reflections on Universities in the United Arab Emirates", Sengupta, E., Blessinger, P. and Mahoney, C. (Ed.) Leadership Strategies for Promoting Social Responsibility in Higher Education (Innovations in Higher Education Teaching and Learning, Vol. 24), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 15-31. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2055-364120200000024004