Inclusive and sustainable business models, Dr Shihanah AlMutairi

Dr Shihanah AlMutairi
Associate Professor of Marketing, PRME Coordinator, College of Business & Economics
American University of Kuwait
Kuwait

Purpose: To map how Kuwaiti private-sector companies align their corporate-social-responsibility (CSR) programmes with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), identifying priorities and blind spots.
Design/methodology: An exploratory content analysis coded the CSR disclosures of 103 firms listed in a 2022 CSR–SDG compendium, assigning each initiative to primary and secondary SDGs and generating descriptive cross-tabulations.
Findings: Social goals dominate: SDG 3 (health) is cited 10 times and SDG 4 (education) 4 times. In contrast, SDGs 6, 7, 10, 13, 14, and 15 each appear only once, revealing a significant gap in water, clean energy, inequality and biodiversity commitments. Sector type predicts SDG emphasis, highlighting an overall social–ecological imbalance.
Value: Provides the first systematic SDG benchmark for Kuwait’s private sector and a replicable coding framework for researchers and regulators seeking to broaden SDG coverage and strengthen alignment with Kuwait Vision 2035.
Research Limitations: Secondary-data study; forthcoming interviews will probe causal drivers and recent changes.
Practical Implications: Pinpoints under-reported SDGs that firms and policymakers can prioritize in future ESG guidelines.