An exploratory study of the relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate ethics in the lebanese business context

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate ethics as perceived by the Lebanese business leaders. Qualitative in nature, it uses thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews to describe the perception of fourteen Lebanese business leaders in an exploratory manner. The findings provide evidence that corporate social responsibility is apparently motivated by ethical and social considerations and the perception of a consequent positive financial outcome either on the short or the long run. Moreover, the relationship between CSR and corporate ethics is ambiguous and split between a perception that CSR and business ethics are the same concept or different from each other, and whether CSR is an underscore of ethics or the other way around. These findings highlight the importance of such debate and can serve as the basis for future prescriptive studies in the field.