Developing a Corporate Social Responsibility Framework for the Lebanese Community in Ghana

Abstract

The Lebanese Community in Ghana has, since 2013, been giving financial support to some selected students who are brilliant but financially handicapped every year. This assistance has seen close to 100 students complete either their first degree or second degree successfully. The Lebanese scholarship is one that can be classified in both theory and practice as a philanthropic activity hence, a Corporate Social Responsibility program. This study aimed at exploring the concept and practice of Corporate Social Responsibility by the Lebanese Community in Ghana and developing a Corporate Social Responsibility framework for the Lebanese Embassy in Ghana. The study employed the qualitative approach. With the use of in-depth interviews, data was collected from two officials at the Lebanese Embassy in Ghana. With the use of thematic analysis, findings were analyzed in themes and further discussed with reference to theories and scholarly literature. Evidence from literature and the analysis of the qualitative data collected showed that the scholarship program which is regarded as corporate social responsibility is not underpinned by any Corporate Social Responsibility Framework nor model. The results further indicated that the the embassy engage in Corporate Social Responsibility based on an existing framework. Based on the findings, the Culture of Change framework which is a four-staged framework with nine steps was developed for use by the Lebanese Embassy in Ghana for the development and implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility Strategies.