Abubaker Mousa Eltoum

During the first quarter of 2020, COVID-19 spread worldwide, claiming lives of thousands of people every day. This marked the beginning of all emergency and business continuity plans around the world. This study attempts to study people’s awareness of CSR practices among business firms in Dubai and investigate people’s evaluation of these CSR practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study employs a quantitative research method and mainly uses questionnaires for data collection. 199 respondents are selected from different business firms in Dubai. Expert interviews are also conducted for triangulation purposes. It involves the Dubai community with various backgrounds and status. This study shows that a large scheme of the Dubai community has a decent level of expertise in sustainability and corporate social responsibility. It also shows that firms that have implemented CSR before the crisis will mostly be better suited to play a supportive role for government and society during the crisis.

Acknowledgment
Research grant provided by the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme [FRGS/1/2017/SS01/UUM/02/23] under Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia, and University Utara Malaysia (SO Code: 13806) is gratefully acknowledged.

The private sector is assisting in sustainable development because of the enormous development and rise in commercial and industrial revolutions. However, corporate social responsibility is declining despite this development for several reasons. Among others, they include a lack of belief on the part of owners or boards of directors in the sustainability idea and the prohibitively expensive nature of some technologies. This study aims to examine how community members’ awareness relates to the amount of commitment of businesses in Dubai. In order to investigate the association between two variables, this study used a mixed methods approach that included both interviews and a general questionnaire with several questions. A sample of 314 members of the Dubai community was selected via an electronic platform to collect the data. Descriptive analysis, regression analysis, and pertinent correlations were used to process the data. The findings of this study were encouraging regarding the strength of the link between a person’s social consciousness and their level of commitment to businesses and organizations operating in the exact United Arab Emirates community. Further studies can investigate additional influential factors. The conclusions of this paper may serve as valuable tools for pressuring businesses to increase their effectiveness and efficiency to forge a genuine societal commitment to sustainability.

Acknowledgment
Financial assistance provided by the RIMC (14802) of University Utara Malaysia is gratefully acknowledged.