Corporate social responsibility in multinational enterprises: A developing country study

Abstract

This paper presents data on corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices of multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in Bangladesh. Based on interviews with senior managers responsible for CSR, the paper demonstrates that CSR engagement is predominantly guided by the discretionary notion of CSR, rooted in 'giving back to society' principle. Despite the global importance of climate change issue, a crucial issue for Bangladesh too, being environmentally responsible didn't seem as important as one might assume. The paper suggests that proactive consideration of climate change issues; capacity building of stakeholders and their effective participation in CSR and integration of CSR in business process may only make a fundamental and sustainable impact, which is hard to achieve following the current approach.