A study on the corporate social responsibility of Islamic financial institutions : learning from the experience of socially responsible financial institutions in the UK

In order to fulfill the Shari'ah objective of promoting the welfare of society, Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) are expected to consciously align their decisions and actions so that they are `socially responsible'. An integral policy approach towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) would constitute assigning explicit social objectives to IFIs over and above their economic, legal, Shari'ah, and ethical responsibilities. Alternatively, the task of undertaking socially-oriented projects could be argued to be a discretionary responsibility of IFIs, with the objective of CSR being sought merely as a peripheral practice. Recent debates on the evolution of the practice of Islamic finance highlighted the profit and economic efficiency motives of IFIs rather than a concern for socio-economic equity and welfare. A divergence between the economics literature on Islamic finance and the course taken by the practical field of Islamic banking and finance has been argued to be arising over the years. An assessment of this contention motivates this study. The study seeks to assess the Corporate Social Performance (CSP) of a sample of forty six financial institutions offering Islamic products (FIIPs), located worldwide, which have responded to a questionnaire survey and whose CSR practices have been further verified by content analysis. The findings revealed that the majority of the Islamic financial practitioners believed in attributing an integrated social role to FIIPs. However, the practices of the FIIPs reflected a more limited approach to CSR. Most of the FIIPs were observed to be focused on meeting their legal, economic and Shari'ah responsibilities, that is, were concerned with the goals of profit maximisation and for their transactions to meet Shari 'ah compliance. Concurrently, the study appreciates the lessons that can be learnt from the socially responsible financial (SRF) movement that has evolved in the West to promote ethical finance. The ethical worldview of these socially responsible financial institutions (SRFIs) is guided by secular humanistic values which are largely socially determined rather than being drawn from a religious philosophy. The CSR practices of twelve British SRFIs - comprising mainly banks and asset management firms - have therefore been critically analysed through content analysis of their published and electronic materials. The analysis revealed that a sophisticated understanding of CSR shaped the culture of SRFIs which have mostly embedded CSR within their business transactions. CSR constituted an integral, explicit and strategic decision of management, with appropriate management system in place and, in some cases, with indicators developed to assess CSR performance against planned targets.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Mechanical characteristics of diabetic and non-diabetic plantar skin

Diabetic foot ulceration is linked to high amputation and mortality rates, with the substantial associated annual spend on the at-risk diabetic foot reflecting the intensive time and labour involved in treatment. Assessing plantar interactions and developing improved understanding of the formation pathways of diabetic ulceration is important to orthotic interventions and patient outcomes. Plantar skin surrogates which emulate the mechanical and tribological characteristics can help improve physical models of ulceration, reduce reliance on cadaveric use and inform more complex computational modelling approaches. The information available from existing studies to characterise plantar skin is limited, typically featuring ex-vivo representations of skin and subcutaneous tissue combined and given focus to shear studies with time dependency. The aim of this study is to improve understanding of plantar tissue mechanics by assessing the mechanical characteristics of plantar skin in two groups; (1) non-diabetic and (2) diabetic donors without the subcutaneous tissue attachment of previous work in this field. Digital image correlation was used to assess inherent skin pre-tension of the plantar rearfoot prior to dissection. Young’s modulus, storage and loss moduli were tested for using tensile stress–strain failure analysis and tensile and compressive dynamic mechanical analysis, which was conducted on excised plantar rearfoot donor specimens for both disease state cohorts at frequencies reflecting those achieved in activities of daily living. Plantar skin thickness for donor specimens were comparable to values obtained using ultrasound acquired in vivo values. Median tensile storage and loss moduli, along with Young’s modulus, was higher in the diabetic cohort. With a mean Young’s modulus of 0.83 ± 0.49 MPa and 1.33 ± 0.43 MPa for non-diabetic and diabetic specimens respectively. Compressive studies showed consistency between cohorts for median storage and loss moduli. The outcomes from this study show mechanical characteristics of plantar skin without the involvement of subcuteanous tissues under reflective daily achieved loading regimes, showing differences in the non-diabetic and diabetic specimens trialled to support improved understanding of plantar tissue response under tribological interactions

Takaful Operators’ Corporate Social Performance (CSP): An Industry Perspective

Takaful operators which are part of Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) derive their fundamental principles from shariah. These religious based institutions are expected to fulfill the two important roles in their business operations: commercially profitable and socially responsible. Nevertheless, their societal role is rarely measured and discussed. Therefore, this study appraised the societal role of takaful operators by assessing the components which have been proposed under the corporate social performance (CSP) theme for IFIs. This study has arranged structured interview sessions with the Chief Investment Officers and Heads of Investment of each of the eleven takaful operators in Malaysia. The Delphi-style technique was adopted when developing the interview questions. The questions were developed in the form of a five-point Likert scale, addressing specific issues on CSP of takaful operators. In addition, information on takaful operators’ CSR activities, zakat and tax payment were gathered from the companies’ websites and annual report of takaful operators. The study concludes that takaful operators in Malaysia have achieved their societal role through two channels: CSP programmes financed from companies’ profits and fulfillment of CSP as a result of business-community agenda. This study covers every takaful operator in Malaysia and the results reflect industry opinion

Ethical Decision-Making in Islamic Financial Institutions in Light of Maqasid Al-Sharia: A Conceptual Framework

This article develops a conceptual framework for ethical decision‐making in Islamic financial institution based on the Islamic methodological approaches on ethics. While making use of the similarities between the scientific method and the Islamic jurisprudence method, a framework is developed by means of argumentation and reasoning to integrate Sharia doctrines with the “plan, do, check and act” (PDCA) cycle as a managerial tool. Using Al‐Raysuni's analysis of Al‐Shatibi's work on maqasid al‐sharia, this article develops a framework to assess the ethical aspects of Islamic financial operations, which is then applied to hypothetical cases. This approach can help overcome the methodological deficiencies in measuring ethical performance in Islamic finance by focusing on the process of ethical decision‐making that leads to the outcomes of organizational behavior beyond legality of contracts. The framework outlines the conditions under which an activity that is considered legal and permissible contractually could lead to outcomes that can make it ethical or unethical

Perceptions on the accessibility of Islamic banking in the UK—Challenges, opportunities and divergence in opinion

This study examines the views of UK-based Muslims, Islamic Scholars and Islamic banking employees on the current state of the latter industry, both in practical terms and as regards engagement with the nation’s large, but often marginalised Islamic community. The British Government has recently championed the Islamic banking sector and committed to supporting it as a means of addressing financial services needs and consolidating London’s position as the global centre for Islamic investment. The analysis adds to the substantive literature in two principal ways: (i) by contextualising the evidence via the notions of empowerment, engagement and social justice that underpin both the state’s attempts to foster growth and the central tenets of Islam; and (ii) by placing comparison of the opinions of key groups at the heart of the investigation. The findings reveal that while progress has been made, UK-based Muslims see several substantive impediments to access, including the complex terminology of Islamic banking products, the lack of internet banking facilities and branch networks as well as a generalised lack of interest in marketing on the part of the institutions. Whilst some coincidence of perception is evident, the views of bankers are shown to be out of line with those of the other parties in a number of key areas. For example, bankers appear to see less potential in the role of the internet as a medium for spreading awareness than do either potential customers or religious scholars. The paper therefore concludes with a call for multi-party Ijtihad and Qiyas (deductive analogy) that will encourage industrial outreach and, in so doing, support long-term growth

Higher ethical objective (Maqasid al-Shari'ah) augmented framework for Islamic banks : assessing the ethical performance and exploring its determinants.

This study utilises higher objectives postulated in Islamic moral economy or the maqasid al-Shari’ah theoretical framework’s novel approach in evaluating the ethical, social, environmental and financial performance of Islamic banks. Maqasid al-Shari’ah is interpreted as achieving social good as a consequence in addition to well-being and, hence, it goes beyond traditional (voluntary) social responsibility. This study also explores the major determinants that affect maqasid performance as expressed through disclosure analysis. By expanding the traditional maqasid al-Shari’ah,, we develop a comprehensive evaluation framework in the form of a maqasid index, which is subjected to a rigorous disclosure analysis. Furthermore, in identifying the main determinants of the maqasid disclosure performance, panel data analysis is used by including several key variables alongside political and socio-economic environment, ownership structures, and corporate and Shari’ah governance-related factors. The sample includes 33 full-fledged Islamic banks from 12 countries for the period of 2008–2016. The findings show that although during the nine-year period the disclosure of maqasid performance of the sampled Islamic banks has improved, this is still short of ‘best practices’. Through panel data analysis, this study finds that the Muslim population indicator, CEO duality, Shari’ah governance, and leverage variables positively impact the disclosure of maqasid performance. However, the effect of GDP, financial development and human development index of the country, its political and civil rights, institutional ownership, and a higher share of independent directors have an overall negative impact on the maqasid performance. The findings reported in this study identify complex and multi-faceted relations between external market realities, corporate and Shari’ah governance mechanisms, and maqasid performance

A study on the corporate social responsibility of Islamic financial institutions: learning from the experience of socially responsible financial institutions in the UK

In order to fulfill the Shari'ah objective of promoting the welfare of society, Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) are expected to consciously align their decisions and actions so that they are `socially responsible'. An integral policy approach towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) would constitute assigning explicit social objectives to IFIs over and above their economic, legal, Shari'ah, and ethical responsibilities. Alternatively, the task of undertaking socially-oriented projects could be argued to be a discretionary responsibility of IFIs, with the objective of CSR being sought merely as a peripheral practice. Recent debates on the evolution of the practice of Islamic finance highlighted the profit and economic efficiency motives of IFIs rather than a concern for socio-economic equity and welfare. A divergence between the economics literature on Islamic finance and the course taken by the practical field of Islamic banking and finance has been argued to be arising over the years. An assessment of this contention motivates this study. The study seeks to assess the Corporate Social Performance (CSP) of a sample of forty six financial institutions offering Islamic products (FIIPs), located worldwide, which have responded to a questionnaire survey and whose CSR practices have been further verified by content analysis. The findings revealed that the majority of the Islamic financial practitioners believed in attributing an integrated social role to FIIPs. However, the practices of the FIIPs reflected a more limited approach to CSR. Most of the FIIPs were observed to be focused on meeting their legal, economic and Shari'ah responsibilities, that is, were concerned with the goals of profit maximisation and for their transactions to meet Shari 'ah compliance. Concurrently, the study appreciates the lessons that can be learnt from the socially responsible financial (SRF) movement that has evolved in the West to promote ethical finance. The ethical worldview of these socially responsible financial institutions (SRFIs) is guided by secular humanistic values which are largely socially determined rather than being drawn from a religious philosophy. The CSR practices of twelve British SRFIs - comprising mainly banks and asset management firms - have therefore been critically analysed through content analysis of their published and electronic materials. The analysis revealed that a sophisticated understanding of CSR shaped the culture of SRFIs which have mostly embedded CSR within their business transactions. CSR constituted an integral, explicit and strategic decision of management, with appropriate management system in place and, in some cases, with indicators developed to assess CSR performance against planned targets