The Influence of Multinational Corporations’ Corporate Social Responsibility Programs on Poverty Alleviation

Abstract

Multinational Corporations are undeniably responsible for returning to society for social welfare and development. Therefore, companies design CSR activities that help improve the stakeholders' living conditions and poverty alleviation. In this regard, the MNCs in Pakistan have made substantial efforts to alleviate poverty and improve the lifestyle of the people. However, such efforts were not properly researched. This study aimed to assess the influence of MNCs' CSR programs on poverty alleviation in Pakistan. The objectives encapsulated the identification of CSR programs in poverty alleviation, CSR activities, and stakeholder engagement and effectiveness of these programs. The study provided extensive discussion from the previous literature on the role of MNCs in poverty alleviation along with the Stakeholders and Institutional theories. The literature review also discussed the CSR programs' environmental, social, and economic impacts and their role in poverty alleviation. The study followed the qualitative methodology which helped to identify rich patterns and themes from the content analysis. The study utilized secondary data from the most authentic sources including the companies’ websites and published reports regarding CSR programs and poverty alleviation. The purposive sampling technique was applied and four MNCs were selected for data collection based on the availability and the depth of the data published on their websites. All four MNCs disclosed several CSR practices and strategies to alleviate poverty in the local communities of Pakistan. The results showed that the most commonly adopted programs are related to employment opportunities, educational support, women empowerment, water and sanitation, agricultural support, and food programs. The detailed discussion on each program shows that these measures effectively alleviated poverty. The companies are doing a tremendous job in youth programs and women entrepreneurship development. However, these companies are working on a small scale inside their working communities, which has limited benefits only to those communities and does not expand to other communities hence poverty alleviation is quite isolated and restricted only to those communities. The study provides useful insights that contribute to theoretical development and help in understanding different aspects of stakeholders’ theory such as community engagement, trust, and transparency of the CSR programs. The study also presents recommendations for managers to improve the creative aspects of the CSR programs that involve all the community members. The study has outlined a few limitations, including the dependence on the secondary data and the cross-sectional study. Future studies can include more companies and comparisons of the local and international companies on poverty alleviation programs. This study can also benefit policymakers by guiding MNCs in designing and implementing CSR programs for poverty alleviation in Pakistan.