The Role of The Government in Relation to Corporate Social Responsibility in Jordan

Abstract

This dissertation addresses the role of the Jordanian government in relation to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). It applied a qualitative approach, interviewing candidates within the public, private, and civil society sectors. According to the literature, this study is the first to explore CSR in this context. The methodology addressed the different drivers and approaches to CSR, mapping existing practices within them and later identified various collaborations between them, and identified the specific government roles.

This thesis employed the Relational CSR model to identify and map collaborations across complex and overlapping sectors, highlighting the different interpretations of the government as to how it exercises its influence, and through which body this influence is manifested: public-sector entities; RONGOs; special NGOs established via a private sector company as a philanthropic ‘arm’. While Jordan shows that there is an economic motivation for doing CSR, political alliance with royalty was also relevant.

While the literature assumes that the religious and altruistic approach to CSR is prominent, the findings proved otherwise. The government role in CSR in Jordan is explored through a blended framework, combining various collaborations between the three sectors in Jordan via the relational CSR model. Existing approaches to CSR practises and internal drivers are also considered.

Relational CSR exists in Jordan, and the role of the Jordanian government, while minimal, is still apparent in terms of the provision of minimum standards, participating minimally in Public Private Partnership initiatives, and providing tax exemptions on CSR-related matters. More context-related conclusions emerged: mapping the sectors in Jordan was more complex than anticipated, due to the overlap of the sectors. Establishing political alliances with royal family members was a driver for CSR. Finally, participants perceived a failure of governance and poor state capacity as obstacles to developing CSR in Jordan, contradictory to what the literature assumes.

Date of Award	23 Jun 2020
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Alex D Marsh (Supervisor) & David W J Sweeting (Supervisor)