Corporate Social Responsibility in Emerging Markets: Case study of the Philippines

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is known as the business-society interface (Gond and Matten, 2007). Different definitions of CSR can be found but it is acknowledged that the concept of CSR is strongly influenced by the internal as well as the external environment of each firm. The national business system of the country in which each firm operates is shaping the way CSR is understood, implemented and encouraged (Chapple and Moon, 2005). Those differences involve that each country has its own specificities regarding CSR. This dissertation will focus on the particular case of CSR within emerging nations and will use the Philippines as a case study. Institutional theory will be the basis for this dissertation that aims to investigate the state of CSR in the Philippines. Web content analysis will be performed on the top 100 companies listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange based on their operating revenues for the year 2011. The dissertation shows that companies in the Philippines understand CSR as their way of contributing to the economic development of their community and that they use a variety of means of reporting to disclose their CSR activities. Moreover, the disclosure of CSR is often aiming at investors rather than the broader scope of stakeholders. The dissertation also discusses the role of corruption within the public and private sector as well as the implication of the government in shaping the national business system