Smith, CharlotteMohamed, SarahHamlan, Amal2023-10-292023-10-292023https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14154/69497Given that Islamic banks are required to abide by the principles of the Sharia, the research set out to determine whether, in Islamic banks in Saudi Arabia, Corporate Philanthropy (CP) is purely altruistic and exists independently of business considerations such as long-term profit maximisation. Using a theoretical framework derived from stakeholder and institutional theory, the study set to understand the critical determinants of CP engagement in Islamic banking, the institutional pressures that compel managers of Islamic banks to engage in CP, and how far instrumental stakeholder theory explains CP in a society such as Saudi Arabia. A Saudi Arabia full-fledged Islamic bank was used as a case study to realise the study's aim and answer the research questions. This research was premised on the contention that understanding CP requires interpreting meanings and analysing human perspectives and interpretations. The human perspectives and interpretations captured and analysed were those of managers of the fullfledged Islamic bank and managers of charities that had received donations from the bank. The data was collected using semi-structured interviews, focusing on a single case study, and choosing convenience and snowball sampling to capture the perspectives and interpretations. The sample comprised eighteen managers of an Islamic bank and fifteen managers and employees of three charitable organizations. The main findings demonstrated that the critical determinants of CP engagement in the Islamic bank were a mixture of institutional and stakeholder-related factors. Among institutional factors were Islamic ethics, cultural values, Sharia regulations, and coercive and mimetic pressures. Among factors relating to shareholder interests was the strategic nature of CP engagement. Managers of Islamic banks and Charities emphasised the strategic value of each stakeholder's interests within the CP practices. However, in the long run, accountability was to the shareholders. Thus, although the bank's CP practices were a mixture of instrumental and non-instrumental, the former was more dominant. The non-instrumental or intrinsic value of CP was evident at the level of individuals. This study contributes towards expanding knowledge of CP's nature and determinants in an Islamic banking context; debunks widely held views that portray Islamic CP as purely altruistic (non-instrumental). Finally, the research demonstrates that CP is better understood in an Islamic setting by examining it through institutional and stakeholder theory. It shows that none can independently explain CP in an Islamic setting85222enCorporate philanthropyThesis