Halal Business Corporate Social Responsibility

Islam, meaning submission or submitting oneself fully to God, is one of the world’s largely practiced religions. Those that participate and practice the Islamic religion

Development of products which are first compliant of Sharia and not customer centric. Assumes that Muslim population will grow.

The article make a link between the nonspiritual and Biblical principles within which business that will be considered responsible and just should follow to. It is going to draw from principles enlisted by the Caux Round Table and those by White. (White, 1978) Caux focus mainly on the secular section of the principles without putting any emphasis on any one religion but rather as a guidance for proper business dealings for the improvement of society and not just benefit the one conducting it alone White drew his principles from teachings in the Bible therefore caters to those business with practicing Christian stakeholders. These two are drawn from what can be seen as

Malaysia is a country of democracy, a multiparty system. The ruling party Barisan Nasional has been in power for over 25 years. That fact has provided the country with a high degree of stability, which is an important factor for companies investing in the country. Corruption exists in the country. This may be an obstacle for foreign companies, as it increases the company's costs and could cause problems. Transparency International takes 47th Malaysia out of 180 countries in its Corruption Perception

Islam is more than a religion, it’s a culture, and as such has an effect on political, social, and economic aspects of life—this is especially true outside of the Western world. Followers of Islam believe in full submission to God and this submission is practiced in the secular realm (Taha, 114). Of the five pillars of Islam, one (the zakat) has a direct affect on economic policy and ethics. The culture of Islam has shaped economic and business guidelines In the Islamic World and continues to do so. Cultural ideals attributed to the Qur’an or the Prophet Muhammad, have been a vital source for economic and business practices that have helped to shape the history of many Islamic nations, and are guiding the creation of policies

Islam's unambiguous ethical standards are very significant when one considers the affect it has on the day to day lives of its adherents. The goal of walking the straight path and doing it well without any crooks or curves requires a resolve and dedication only facilitated through clearly defined rules and guidelines.

Islam was established long ago as a Muslim faith in the city of Medina and spread to Arabia shortly thereafter. This faith was sought to be spread throughout universally starting during the sixth century by means of the dynamic trade routes that were “stretching across Southwest Asia and North Africa to spread its faith and political empire,” (Worlds Together Worlds Apart, 320). The rise of Islamic law called “Sharia” is the foundation of Islam and serves as a guide for the Muslim world (326), this foundation helped to later establish strong Islamic dynasties.

Muslims are prohibited from being involved in businesses which deal in pork, alcohol, or idolatry. (Visit Kuwait, n.d.). Sharia law obviously prohibits dealing in stolen property. Sharia law prohibits ribah, or charged interest on money, although banks in Kuwait lend money with interest. The religious ban on charging interest has led to the development of Islamic banking. (Visit Kuwait, n.d.). Business agreements transacted in Kuwait that comply with local laws, are fair to both parties and consented to willingly are considered lawful. Ambiguity in the agreement, however, is subject to judicial review (Visit Kuwait,

The interaction between Shari’a and international companies is increasing as Western companies seek to expand business into Muslim controlled countries. Muslims represent a quarter of the world’s population and Muslim countries control ten percent of the world’s economy. An increasing number of corporate contracts in the region require that arbitration be Shari’a compliant, and for contract arbitration to be mediated by religious leaders. Conflict occurs when Shari’a contradicts Western laws and values. Major concerns include differences in business practices,

As taught in my recent visit to the Auburn Mosque; Sharia’s law governs many aspects of day-to-day life and describes the basic endevevours of an average Islamic persons life. Parts of

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) is a term describing a company’s obligation to be accountable to all of its stakeholder in all its operation and activities. Socially responsible companies consider the full scope of their impact on communities and the environment when making decisions, balancing the needs of stakeholder with their need to make profit.

Their target market segments are mostly high to lower income group of people. The biggest ethical issues are they are selling alcoholic drinks which come under non-halal items. Since they are operating in a Muslim country i.e. Malaysia, they should have respected the citizens of the country and they should not allow non-halal items to be sold in the retail outlet. Taking into consideration of their target market segment, they should not have non-halal item because it may appear as though they are being insensitive towards the people around them. More reasons to it are also because, the locations of the retail outlet are mostly situated at the housing area with a build infrastructure can be alarming to the

Oriental Food Industries Sdn Bhd was founded in the year 1978. From the beginning they have left a significant mark in the food manufacturing industry as of today, by holding the top position in the snack food and confectionery industry in Malaysia. In a competitive marketplace, Oriental Food Industry maintain focused on placing the necessary and interests of their customers’ first by manufacturing products that focuses on quality and availability. The key focus for success in their business depends on only on product quality but product range, research and development, a highly quality workforce right from top management to the operator level, sound marketing strategy, effective sales and advertising policies, competitive pricing, good domestic and international distribution network and most importantly the commitment to excellence in all factors of the company business, all of which are being put to test in the organization. The products can be divided into four categories, which are snack food, wafer, potato snacks and bakery products. They have variety of product brand names, most of which are commercially strong and generating the required revenue. Amongst those

MYDIN is one of the largest retail and wholesale organization in Malaysia with close to 90 outlets with consisting of hypermarkets, mini markets (MyMydin), convenience stores (MyMart), Bazaars and emporiums in the nationwide. It carries a broad range of goods ranging from food line, household, soft line and hard-line items. The Soft line products include cosmetics, textile, leather and various clothing whereas the hard-line products include hardware, electrical, stationery, porcelain and toys (Mydin, 2014). Besides that, “Mydin has been appointed as the operator for the Malaysian government-initiated Kedai Rakyat1Malaysia (KR1M) outlets in 2012 and open another 90 KR1M outlets for the year 2013 in the whole of Malaysia” (Ariz, 2013). In addition

Individuals who are familiar with the world of business may have noticed constant changes within industry along with increasing complex factors stemming from the altering dynamics of the society and culture. As a result, managers and stakeholders have to apply sophisticated quantitative and qualitative methods in trying to conjure up a business model that will incorporate all variables and lead to the best possible outcomes for sustainability and growth in a given sector. Some of the emerging issues relate to the ethical and moral nature of products and services that the businesses trade in a scientific research coupled with an explosion in innovational technologies has illuminated the adverse effects of products that were previously thought to be harmless. Technology has also made it easy to collect consumer feedback by relating to product preference, acceptance, and overall effect that would have been impossible to gather in the past generations. Furthermore, in this age of religious tolerance and intolerance, businesses have to factor in the ethical and moral implications of their businesses/products and subsequently have to employ ethical decision-making processes (McGarty, 2015).