Regional firms 'lagging on corporate social responsibility'

"Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is still in its infancy in the Middle East and mainly reactive to existing or potential problems. It is the responsibility of those multinationals, which have already acquired a social conscience to lead by example and set standards for local companies," said Philippe Georgiou, Regional Managing Director of Promoseven Weber Shandwick.

He said that the development of social responsibility programmes evolves through three stages: awareness but no action; awareness coupled with business-focused or forced action; and conviction allied to responsible action.

In the Middle East and North African regions, the majority of organisations were to be found stuck in the first two phases.

But, said Georgiou, the need for corporate social responsibility is greater than ever. "World public aid to development as a percentage of donors' GDP, is falling, poverty is increasing and a third of the world's population lives on less than $2 a day," he said.

'Tackling these issues should be a joint venture between governments, non-government organisations and corporations,' he added.

In the Middle East region, the challenges are daunting: 40% illiteracy, 100 million young people entering the job market by 2020 and the world's lowest rate of Internet access.

'A post 9/11 "cultural divide" made it easy for some western firms to become the targets of resentment or product boycotts,' he said.

Clear social responsibility strategies and goals can help tackle the roots of resentment towards some companies.

Echoing those thoughts, Roger Hayes, Chairman of Firm Foundation International told delegates that communications ethics was the "only firm foundation" for a modern organisation, with a CSR conscience.

He said: "The decline of trust - in organisations - is a direct result of a short-term, transaction-driven approach based on aggressive advocacy."