Awareness of corporate social responsibility among selected companies in Malaysia: an exploratory note / Nik Nazli Nik Ahmad and Norliana Akida Abdul Rahim

The purpose of this paper is three-fold. First, to explore whether companies in Malaysia are aware of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Second, to explore managers’ awareness of CSR, and third, to explore the managers’ perceptions of the extent to which CSR initiatives are being implemented by companies in Malaysia. The study was carried out with managers from a
sample of public-listed companies in Malaysia. The primary insight is that the
companies and managers generally have some understanding of the concept
of CSR. However, though some companies have implemented certain CSR
initiatives, the number is still low. A substantial percentage of the respondents
feel that while these initiatives are considered to be important by their
respective companies, no implementation is being planned. One major area
for future research is to investigate the reasons why very few companies in
Malaysia are implementing CSR initiatives despite the survey suggesting
that companies have some awareness of the concept of CSR.