NUBS Malaysia academics present at CSR symposium in China

 
The 8^th Annual Symposium of the International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility (ICCSR) was held at the University of Nottingham Ningbo Campus in China. It took place from 11^th to 12^th July 2011 at the University of Nottingham Ningbo Campus (UNNC) with keynotes and a practitioner-oriented panel discussion in addition to parallel tracks. Researchers from NUBS Malaysia presented papers which contained innovative ideas on Asian CSR beyond China and also suggested some issues to further develop the role of CSR not only in China but also internationally.

Rebecca Chung-hee Kim, Avvari V Mohan and Vanitha Ponnusamy from NUBS Malaysia presented papers at this symposium and had the opportunity to share a variety of ideas on CSR in Asia. 

Rebecca Chung-hee Kim, with co-authors (Sanjukta Choudhury Kaul, Monash University and Shariza Hamzah, University of Nottingham UK), presented the idea on the link between religion and CSR at Asian context. The paper explores religion’s role in shaping the CSR approach in South-East Asia, and offers a distinct perspective which is in stark contrast to the Eurocentric and Anglo-Saxon CSR model. They investigated the three major religions in South-East Asia in relation to their interaction with CSR: Islam, Confucianism and Hinduism, and suggest that religions play a critical role in framing CSR in South East Asia with the characteristics of human-dignity driven, harmony-focus and family and community direction.

Avvari V Mohan and Vanitha Ponnusamy presented a case study on John Hardy (JH), a jewelry producer located on the island of Bali in Indonesia. The case study illustrated how JH, a small and medium enterprise (SME), is able to develop sustainable business strategies which enable the integration of economic, social and environmental benefits almost seamlessly although Corporate Social Responsibility from the point of view of SMEs is perceived as an ‘expensive’ practice not suited for a business of that scale.

This symposium enabled participants to share ideas on Corporate Social Responsibility in Asia and also was able to provide future direction for further research in the field.