Islamic principles serve to imbue individuals and organizations with a responsibility to care for society. As such, it is widely recognised that companies operating according to Islamic principles tend to embrace an organizational culture that is premised on notions of trust, morality, and accountability. This serves to ground Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a moral initiative, based on the understanding that organizations aspire to ‘be good’. It is these cultural nuances that influence an organization’s conduct, that directly and indirectly inform the shape of a CSR strategy.
The picture of CSR in Islamic countries and organizations is one of embedded philanthropy. Such generosity is facilitating communities on a global scale and addressing a spectrum of needs. Using the terms CSR and philanthropy interchangeably does not always do justice to the strength offered by understanding them as separate and complementary concepts.
As such, by aligning philanthropy with an integrated and holistic CSR strategy, philanthropy becomes strategic and empowered to self-generate ongoing change. Understood in this context, CSR and philanthropy have the capacity to not only provide the community with immediate support but long-term security. The IRI aspires for organizations to not only spend profits responsibly, but to also create profits responsibly. As such, the IRI recognizes this intrinsic relationship between philanthropy and CSR and understands philanthropy to be a key pillar of CSR.
Around the world, organizations are recognizing the importance of CSR. Moreover, an increasing number of forward thinking organizations are demonstrating that incorporating CSR measures into practice does not limit business growth but, rather, presents a strong business opportunity for innovation and sustainable value creation.
The IRI provides a framework for reporting effectively on long-term indicators, benefiting the organizations’ triple bottom line; people, planet and profit.
Article : Islamic organizational culture
