Abstract
The study explores the way Corporate Philanthropy (CP) is implemented by a full-fledged Islamic bank in Saudi Arabia with the aim of determining whether the bank’s CP engagement is instrumental or non-instrumental. The author sets out to determine whether in the context of Islamic banking, where banks are required to abide by the principles of the Sharia, CP is pure philanthropy or the pursuit self-interest. This study is premised on the contention that understanding CP requires the interpretation of meanings or the analysis of human perspectives and interpretations. The human perspectives and interpretations captured and analysed are those of managers of the full-fledged Islamic bank and managers of charities that have received donations from the bank. These perspectives and interpretations are captured using the semi-structured interview. The main findings demonstrate that CP is a multifaceted issue in Islamic banking, and the stakeholder theory and institutional theory are mutually supportive. Although the finding shows that CP’s practices can be both instrumental and non-instrumental in Islamic banks, the analysis of primary qualitative data in this study reveals that it is mostly instrumental. Managers of both the Islamic bank and Charities emphasize the strategic value of each stakeholder’s interests. They only consider intrinsic value at the individual level. Bank’s mangers believe that the bank is primarily accountable to the shareholders, and CP is designed to fulfill this obligation in the long run.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
BANKING, CORPORATE PHILANTHROPY, CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, ISLAMIC FINANCE
