A Systematic Review on Corporate Social Responsibility Literature in the Middle East: Conceptual Gaps and Challenges

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a research area of burgeoning focus for international business and yet it is mostly dominated by its Western perspectives. However, the CSR movement can have global ramifications and thus it is important to examine its potential variations in different socio-cultural contexts. This paper chooses to examine the status of CSR in the Middle East by utilising extant secondary sources in the field. The results highlight two interconnected yet contradictory issues: (a) CSR as a concept does not appear to be well-researched or well-developed in the Middle Eastern context however it is highly possible that (b) the CSR movement as understood in the Western context may not be particularly relevant in this socio-cultural context and maybe alternative interpretations of CSR are needed. The review identifies gaps in the literature, discusses possible research directions that can enrich our knowledge of CSR by developing unique nuances that will augment the knowledge domain with new theoretical insights for the phenomenon.