Sports Promotion of Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited: Example of Corporate Social Responsibility and Beyond
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The Shield (ISSN-1991-8410) Vol. 14, 2019 SPORTS PROMOTION OF PAKISTAN INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES CORPORATION LIMITED: EXAMPLE OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND BEYOND Khalid Abbasi , Ashique Jhatial1* , Sameena Khokhar1 ABSTRACT: This study aimed to investigate sports promotion of Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited (PIACL) throughout the history in the country. Study has per- formed content analysis of secondary data published through annual reports, web- sites and key documents of the corporation. Study found out that PIACL has sup- ported a large number of sportsmen and invested generously to promote different sports especially squash, hockey and cricket at local, national and international levels. Many sports icons once played on the panel of PIACL at different occasions which has set an example for many organizations. Study concludes that there is urgent need of public-private partnership support and promote sports to develop national talent particularly in youth. Introduction: Investing in sports promotion searchers to the profit of compa- through Corporate Social Re- nies and how much of that is be- sponsibility (CSR) brings about ing returned to communities’ long-term social impact. Sports welfare through activities such as promotion and sports personali- health, education and sports. ties possess higher influential power that could usher social Such activities help compa- change. nies to earn reputation and fulfill their responsibilities towards so- CSR is a mechanism for align- ciety (Kiran et al., 2015; Aid, ing company policies and prac- 2004). tices with the socioeconomic, cul- tural and environmental chal- Commission of European lenges societies face (Jhatial et al, Communities (2001) defined CSR 2014, p.111). CSR has drawn at- as a “concept of companies’ social tention of businessmen and re- and environmental integration, 97 Sports Promotion of Pakistan International Airlines Cooperation Limited concerning voluntarily interac- appear in text below) is a com- tion between the business opera- mercial public sector organiza- tions and stockholders”. tion. It has been playing very vi- tal role to promote youth devel- Likewise, CSR is a voluntary opment and sports activities commitment of business organi- within country by supporting zations on continuous basis to major sports in the country. enhance the quality of life of workforce, their families, com- PIACL which is also known munities at local levels and all as ‘flag carrier’ with its sports di- other stakeholders (Worthington, vision has been facilitating sports Ram and Jones, 2006). by providing employment to tal- ented athletes from various More recently, many studies sports. have observed that sports organi- zations within the sport industry Apart from providing em- such as Nike and Reebok to the ployment, flag carrier has also NBA and NASCAR have long been arranging various national adopted CSR programs (Cor- as well as international level nelius et al. 2008). sports events on regular basis (The Express Tribune, 28th Au- Smith and Westerbeek (2007) gust, 2015). noted that sports play unique role to keep society healthy and From extensive review of lit- fit. Walters (2009) observed that erature, it has been observed that ‘community sports’ an independ- very limited research is under- ent charitable trust which works taken on the role of PIACL on as non-government organization sports promotion in the country. in UK delivered a range of com- It is imperative to examine the munity-oriented initiatives of role of big commercial organiza- sports, health, education and so- tions for sports promotions for cial inclusion activities. social development. PIACL (e.g., it is also com- As a result, this study at- monly referred as national flag tempted to investigate the role of carrier or corporation, which may 98 Sports Promotion of Pakistan International Airlines Cooperation Limited PIACL in sports promotion in the it-making but also contributes to country. social development of the people. Literature Review Aupperle et al. (1985) sur- veyed CEOs and found most of The concept of CSR was first business organizations invest ac- time introduced by Bowen How- cording to Carroll’s model and ard in 1953. It was the first major improve social development. work on CSR titled as ‘Social Re- UNIDO (2009) pointed out that sponsibilities of the Business’. relationship is shifting towards This book is considered by vari- corporate social responsibility ous authors as first book on CSR from philanthropy, either busi- (Valor, 2005) as a result many be- ness run by private or public sec- lieve Bowen is ‘Father of CSR’ tors need to answer various ques- (Carroll, 1999; Windsor, 2001). tions raised by consumers. Bowen defined CSR as an ob- Because in this age of sophis- ligations of business to follow ticated technologies independent policies, make decisions desirable media and internet customers are in terms of objectives and values well aware of corporations and of society. Many other scholars their social responsibilities have defined CSR beyond social (Chandler and Mazlish, 2005). responsibility obligations. Gamble et al. (2007) suggested According to them CSR not that state-owned enterprises only deals with ‘social responsi- (SOEs) in order to benefit stock- bilities’ obligations but it also holders should practice strategies deals with legal obligations be- of good corporate citizen by dis- yond economic obligations mak- playing social conscience while ing business more responsible to running corporations. societies (McGuire, 1963; Davis, 1960; Sethi, 1975). To achieve this, the top level management of SOEs monitor Carroll (1979) argued about and audit that what overall im- CSR as social responsibility pact their decision making have which concentrates not only prof- on employees’ wellbeing, on 99 Sports Promotion of Pakistan International Airlines Cooperation Limited community, environment and on for community wellbeing at grass society. root levels. It has been observed that many corporations either na- Walter and Idowa, 2009 noted tional or multinational in Paki- that SOEs need to be responsible stan fail to address important as- for their actions and mandatory pects of CSR such as formal rep- obligations to every stakeholder. resentation of workers in trade Corporations are considering unions, gender equality, poverty CSR as an important element to reduction, anti-corruption prac- judge business and its perfor- tices, child labour, health, educa- mance these days. This is what tion and human rights (Naeem makes their business different and Welford, 2009). from others. In response to such situation CSR in Pakistan of corporate efforts a SRO No. 983(I)/2009 was issued by Com- Ali et al.(2010) cited by Jhatial missioner of Companies dated et al. (2014) suggested CSR in Pa- 16th November, 2009. kistan passes through an evolu- tionary stage. It was Asian Insti- Where companies were di- tute of Management (AIM) which rected to disclose their descrip- encouraged CSR by pioneering tive CSR activities necessarily for its activities and created a forum every financial year. on CSR e.g. ‘Asian Forum of The CSR information that Corporate Social Responsibility’ companies need to disclose man- to hold meetings every year in datory in the light of above men- order to promote health, reduce tioned SRO includes, environ- poverty, take care of environ- ment protection measures taken ment, support education to en- by companies, corporate philan- hance its quality and improve thropy, welfare schemes and workplace practices of Asian community investments, energy companies. conservations, welfare spending This forum awarded certifica- for under privileged classes, con- tion to various companies for sumer protection measures, ef- their efforts to implement CSR forts for poverty reduction, health and occupational safety, 100 Sports Promotion of Pakistan International Airlines Cooperation Limited anti-corruption measure and Research Methods business ethics and rural devel- opment programs. Dataset and collection proce- dure: CSR in PIACL In order to explore sports en- Being a state-owned enter- gagements of PIACL and their prise (SOEs) and leading com- social impact for communities, mercial air transport corporation secondary data from 2002 to 2017 of country, PIACL is striving to were collected from PIACL an- build relationship with society by nual reports, website, brochures offering various community ser- and periodical reports. vices e.g., customers, employees and partners. Special focus was paid on how corporation has used the In order to play a vital role for CSR umbrella to promote sports its stakeholders’ flag carrier is activities and reported in its vari- rendering services through active ous reports either available citizen programs for example Boy online, publication or in the na- Scout Association (BSA), provid- tional dailies such as Dawn, The ing social services such as sup- News. porting non-governmental organ- izations (NGOs), medical services Dataset comprised on follow- through Al-Shifa Trust (AST) and ing aspects from various online services to promote education website and printed documents and sports within country. or newspapers: a) the hierarchical structure of the website focusing To achieve this, PIACL estab- on where CSR and sports related lished a CSR Committee with aim information is located; b) the to fight corruption and ensure communication techniques em- business ethics and recommend- ployed on these websites and ed updated practices. printed