Sociology and Anthropology Vol. 5(9), pp. 751 - 761
DOI: 10.13189/sa.2017.050907
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The Act of Giving: Understanding Corporate Social Responsibility in the Buddhism Context of Myanmar

Nicole Häusler ^1,2,*, Kathrin Dischereit ^3
1 Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, Germany
² Myanmar Responsible Tourism Institute, Myanmar
³ NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences and Wageningen University, The Netherlands

ABSTRACT

Introduction: In 2012, after decades of political isolation, Myanmar began a political transformation. Having been subjected to more than 15 years of boycotts, the country is now a 'must-see' destination. International tourists have begun to discover Myanmar as a pristine tourism site, which has been made possible by an increase in political stability, extraordinary hospitality and the impression that it is still an 'unspoilt', 'exotic' country. Consequently tourism has the potential to contribute significantly to the future of Myanmar by creating jobs and growing the economy. Although increased tourism can also have negative consequences, significant multi-stakeholder discussions concerning the development of responsible tourism have led to two encouraging policy statements: the "Policy on Responsible Tourism" and the "Policy of Community Involvement in Tourism." [1]. In order to implement the aims outlined in these statements, especially in the private sector, enhanced due diligence is needed to determine the possible impact of businesses' activities on this country's society and environment. Such attention includes making 'corporate social responsibility' (CSR) practices a part of core businesses in the tourism sector. Even though the Myanmar Ministry of Hotels and Tourism tries to promote the topic of 'responsible tourism,' one author (N.H.), who worked for 3 years in Myanmar as an advisor for responsible tourism, found that the tourism sector in general exhibited little interest in incorporating CSR into its daily business activities. Nevertheless, in 2015, Myanmar was considered the highest-ranking country in terms of its generosity, and it also secured first place in terms of its volunteer efforts. At the same time, the author (N.H.) observed that many Myanmar companies interpreted the concept of CSR as giving donations to the poor, an act that is deeply linked to Buddhist belief. This observation was confirmed by Than Hlaing Oo [2], who conducted a comparative study of CSR practices in Myanmar involving ten managers of foreign-owned and locally owned hotels and tour operators. Therefore, we raised the question: Is a deeper understanding of Buddhism needed in order to implement CSR successfully in Buddhist countries such as Myanmar? Research Aim, Literature Review and Research Findings: This study was undertaken in the first quarter of 2016 to answer this question and to determine whether to incorporate Buddhist philosophy into training and awareness campaigns related to CSR and tourism as a way of ensuring sustainable development of the core business operations in Myanmar's tourism sector, and, if so, how. We applied the definition of CSR used by the Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative at Harvard [3], which goes beyond philanthropy to address the social, economic and environmental impacts of CSR in both the workplace and the marketplace, and we combined it with the CSR principles defined by Balàš and Strasdas [4 pp. 235-236] on voluntariness; the orientations of management, of stakeholders, of the process and of the value chain; the triple bottom line; and transparency. A review of the literature on CSR in the Myanmar context demonstrates that after decades of military rule and a tightly controlled economy, corruption continues to be one of the most significant challenges facing this struggling country. Major legislative constraints include the lack of standard procedures for monitoring investment and business establishments and the ineffective implementation of existing laws, particularly with regard to environmental and social impact regulations [5]. Research data on CSR activities, if any, are limited. As regards tourism, the research carried out by Than Hlaing Oo provides some insights. Based on his interviews with ten tour operators and hoteliers, he stressed that "many people from Myanmar have been practising philanthropic acts for a long time even before the term CSR became common […] which indicated that philanthropy is locally and culturally rooted and CSR or responsible tourism would be understood as an international concept due to globalization" [2 pp. 35-36]. Most of his interviewees linked their CSR involvement to voluntary activities, such as giving aid and support to flood victims, explaining that they were motivated by "the sense of Buddhist religion and the Myanmar traditions to help others" [2 p. 42]. The qualitative part of our research was conducted in the first quarter of 2016, during which we interviewed 17 representatives of the tourism industry from various different regions in Myanmar. Interestingly, the interviewees had different ways of explaining CSR, with regard to the concept itself and what it actually entailed. In many cases, those who had a more profound understanding of CSR had worked closely with an international tour operator, which confirms the findings of Than Hlaing Oo [2]. However, the majority of respondents were still aware of the need for some socially or environmentally compatible activities. In addition, these interviews supported the conclusions of Than Hlaing Oo [2] and Welford and Ziegler [6] that the understanding of CSR among Burmese tour operators is in fact equivalent to making donations, especially to Buddhist monasteries, or taking care of the elderly. Conclusions and Recommendations: Considering that the negative social impacts of tourism are already evident [5], the strategic alignment of business objectives with responsibility and inclusivity will be crucial if Myanmar intends to achieve sustainable tourism development. Those involved in this process will also have to go beyond the philanthropic concept of CSR as it is currently understood. Taking into account Myanmar's history, ethnic diversity and regional differences, as well as the issues of bribery and corruption, legitimate and representative stakeholders and vulnerable groups must engage in continuous dialogues to understand and implement CSR activities based on the definition and principles presented in the section of the paper entitled Our Understanding of CSR, albeit 'in the Myanmar manner'. Religious leaders, mainly Buddhist monks and nuns, should also be invited to attend tourism stakeholder meetings so they can provide important perspectives in relation to the understanding of CSR in Myanmar in terms of Buddhist philosophy. Over the past four years, the author (N.H.) has attended most of these meetings, but religious leaders were in most cases not invited, because the organizers (mainly international donor organizations or non-governmental organizations) did not consider them to be important stakeholders. Linking Buddhist philosophy to (Western) concepts of CSR might be a new and innovative approach to the successful implementation of CSR in a country such as Myanmar. International and national consultants working in the field of CSR and responsible business in Myanmar should keep abreast of the results of such stakeholder processes and integrate aspects of the Myanmar understanding of CSR into their projects, training and certificate programmes.

KEYWORDS
Buddhism, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Tourism, Myanmar

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Nicole Häusler , Kathrin Dischereit , "The Act of Giving: Understanding Corporate Social Responsibility in the Buddhism Context of Myanmar," Sociology and Anthropology, Vol. 5, No. 9, pp. 751 - 761, 2017. DOI: 10.13189/sa.2017.050907.

(b). APA Format:
Nicole Häusler , Kathrin Dischereit (2017). The Act of Giving: Understanding Corporate Social Responsibility in the Buddhism Context of Myanmar. Sociology and Anthropology, 5(9), 751 - 761. DOI: 10.13189/sa.2017.050907.