Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be defined as conducting business in a way that not only aims to make a financial return but also encourages full awareness of the economic, social and environmental impacts of an organization's activities. CSR describes the behaviors of an organization that go beyond basic legal compliance to promoting a vision of responsible business practice, transparency and accountability to stakeholders. The Arab world faces numerous challenges on the social and environmental level: Unemployment, access to education, water scarcity, waste management, employee's equality and many other issues. Family businesses, especially in the Middle East, are uniquely well-equipped to design lasting and successful CSR strategies. Due to their natural inclination toward longevity and their understanding of how their success depends on their standing in the community, Arab family businesses inherently carry all the characteristics of CSR strategists. Some have said that Arab family businesses are not strategic and transparent in their philanthropy. This criticism may stem from the fact that while many families are renowned for their charity, it is rarely known whether they engage in actual CSR planning. It stands to argue that in a region where the concept of CSR is still relatively young, there may be very little visibility for those families that have CSR policies in place. It is known that many family businesses in the region have engaged in extensive activities for job creation, poverty alleviation, environmental sustainability, equal treatment of minorities and many other causes. Family businesses are said to be the basis of Arab economies. They are strongly embedded in their communities and consider themselves responsible not only for their own welfare but also for that of the people around them. They take great care in transmitting their values both to the next family generations as well as their non-family stakeholders. While culture and religion dictate many of these values, each family adds its own ingredient that is often based on a specific characteristic that can be traced back to the business founder. Generally, philanthropy is a great part of Arab culture and there is need of it for the region faces many social and environmental challenges that need to be addressed by the private sector. Like many other things in the family business, strategies around social engagement, while successful, tend to be informal. More and more, however, strategic CSR activities are emerging with families dedicating funds to job creation, poverty alleviation, education and the arts, which are aligned with their core business activities. The fact is that for Arab society at large, the longevity of family businesses is of great importance. In a way, assuring the longevity of family businesses is a social responsibility in itself. This highlights how important it is for family businesses to educate themselves and others in the CSR field and to set an example for the private sector in the region. Often family businesses are not aware to what extent they already engage in CSR activities. In family businesses, this is often the case: Many business families do not think twice about the “good” they are doing and rarely think of giving it names or formulating it into policies.
