An Analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Turkish Business Context

Depending on the increasing social and environmental problems, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been promoted by both national and international bodies to achieve the principles of sustainable development at the organizational level. Since the concept has provided a significant framework for the relations between business and society, this corporate response can be particularly crucial for the problems in the developing country context. Therefore, it is important to understand how CSR is adopted and practiced by the organizations in such countries to improve the overall quality and quantity of CSR involvement. The purpose of current study is to analyse the evolution of CSR conception in Turkey as a developing country. Considering its unique position between East and West, Turkey provides a different political, economic, social, and cultural context for CSR conception than other European counties. The concept has built on the philanthropic heritage of Ottoman period and then evolved in line with the dependency relationship between business and state during the Republican period. Despite the increasing attention of organizations towards CSR during the last decade, it seems that the institutional environment continues to affect the nature and structure of CSR involvement in Turkey.