Adapting to the COVID-19 crisis: corporate social responsibility in an emerging market economy

Grounded in the theories of stakeholder and corporate social responsibility (CSR), the study investigates the role of businesses in responding to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in an emerging market economy such as Bangladesh. Employing a convenience sampling procedure, ten commercial banks were selected as the sample for the study, and the content analysis method was utilised for data analysis. After examining the annual reports of a sample of banks, the study reveals that they have implemented diverse health safety, consumer essential needs, and community development-oriented CSR policies to safeguard their core stakeholders, such as employees, customers, and communities, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh. This indicates that corporations, through CSR initiatives, can maintain a win-win relationship between business and society, even in a crisis period. Lastly, the researcher recorded implications and proposed directions for future research on CSR policies in similar critical times, albeit in different circumstances.