Measuring what matters: A sector‐specific corporate social responsibility framework for quality practice

Abstract

AbstractThis article explains the development and partial validation of a sector‐specific Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) framework to help resolve a policy/practice gap in Saudi Arabia. Designed using feedback from health‐care professionals, who represent the primary stakeholders of the sector, and a quantitative method called analytical hierarchy process, the framework is intended to help Saudi CSR practitioners shift from rhetoric and undifferentiated activity to a focus on prioritized needs. The utility of the framework is tested using a simplified rubric with four levels of performance measured across two formative criteria, relevance and credibility of information. The overall result is a composite index that provides a substantive basis to implement CSR in the private health sector. The framework is potentially also suitable for stakeholders in other emerging economies seeking to integrate CSR into corporate planning and to reporting performance for strategic and ethical reasons beyond compliance.