Abstract
This chapter reviews the evolution of institutional environments in the development of corporate social responsibility in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore. The current review extends the past literature which has mostly documented the evolution of CSR from its inception to 2010. From 2010 till the present, the institution environments have focused mostly on the development of sustainability reporting. The institutional environments cover public initiatives, private initiatives, industry initiatives, NGO initiatives, and other initiatives. With all the government’s initiatives to promote CSR in Malaysia, many institutions have initiated the introduction of awards, aiming to encourage a better understanding and adoption of good practices. The introduction of various CSR-related awards has acted as a catalyst for companies to take appropriate actions to further the CSR implementation in Malaysia. Government initiatives and regulations are inevitably found to be the most determinant driving factors in Indonesia for businesses to conduct CSR, followed by business organizations and local CSR networks. CSR implementation in Indonesia is still in the early phase of development and is less likely related to corporate sustainability strategies. In 2016, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) published regulations and guidelines that demand firms to make public an annual sustainability report, with the main objective of improving corporate disclosure and transparency. In Thailand, the institutional environments that promote CSR started with the Social Venture Network and the UN Global Compact with Thailand’s members to improve awareness for the need to be responsible to and accountable for all aspects of the economic, social, and environmental development. In order to be the trusted advocates of CSR, the government needs to perform meaningful actions on CSR. The actions may be in terms of regulations and without regulations.
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Joseph, C., Said, R. (2020). The Evolution of Institutional Environments in the Development of Corporate Social Responsibility in Selected ASEAN Countries. In: Seifi, S. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22438-7_29-1
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