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Developing a Financial Sustainability Model of the Performance Indicators Applied by Jordan Water Company (Miyahuna)
75-87Views:232Jordan is now facing real challenges to satisfy the current population water needs due to limited resources. Moreover, unfortunately, as a result of the increased demand for water in developing countries, water resources become scarce, thus, the sustainable management of water resources is very important everywhere and especially in these areas. The Ministry of Water and Irrigation in Jordan is aiming to improve both its quality of service and financial sustainability, therefore, it started to apply the performance measurement system developed by the International Water Association (IWA) to monitor its performance towards achieving these goals. In this article, a model connecting a financial sustainability indicator (operating cost coverage ratio) with other performance indicators applied by the ministry is developed. To assess the performance indicators and to build the model secondary data are collected from the targeted company, the data are analyzed using SPSS and Excel computer programs. Non-revenue water (NRW), speed of repair of bursts, and training per employee are found to be the indicators that have a major impact on Miyahuna’s financial sustainability, the NRW is found to have a negative relationship with the financial sustainability, whereas the other two indicators have a positive relationship. As a conclusion, reducing the NRW and increasing both the speed of repair and training per employee are recommended, by applying some methods that continuously diagnose problems in the water systems and defining clear and strict policies to control the water theft. Furthermore, using Active Leakage Control (ALC) methods, providing the needed equipment, tools and resources, and adopting new methods for training.
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Sustainability, sustainable supply chain management
322-328Views:773With the rapid development of the world economy, the growing scarcity of natural resources and the degradation caused by pollution, environmental protection has become a major concern for countries and regions of the world. Sustainability is a common subject in many parts of the world and the various research areas among policy makers, journalists, scientists, universities and social debate. It is generally accepted, that companies also play an important role in addressing the challenges of sustainable development. In this role, making a key challenge to balance often conflicting pressures caused by sustainable development, that is, the level of corporate economic performance against environmental deterioration and social disruption. Effective integration of sustainability principles into companies requires action beyond the borders of organizations. The issue of sustainability is becoming more and more prominent in corporate governance. One of the most important area of supply chain management is for companies to gain a competitive edge in the market. This has a significant impact on the natural environment, and there is a growing need to integrate environmental thinking in supply chain management and processes, which is why companies are increasingly focusing on sustainable development, taking on more CSR initiatives and achieving a greener supply chain. Sustainable and green supply chain management practices have been developed over the past decades, trying to integrate environmental considerations into organizations by reducing unwanted negative consequences for the environment of production and consumption processes. In this article, I have examined the issues of sustainability and sustainable supply chain management, mainly based on descriptive secondary literature.
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Testing Methods of Green Supply Chain, in Particular Supplier’s Selection an Evaluation Tools
240-254Views:349Today, more and more articles have emerged in the field of sustainability and sustainable development. Sustainability plays an important role in supply chain management too. Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) has emerged as a key approach for enterprises seeking to make their businesses environmentally sustainable. The notion of GSCM implies the insertion of environmental criteria within the decision-making context of the traditional supply chain management. Enterprises are increasingly expected to extend their sustainability efforts beyond their own operations to their suppliers and customers to their sustainability expectations. Literature of green supplier evaluation and selection methods number is large, though the number of environmental factors are relatively limited. Recently in supply chain management decision making, approaches for evaluating green supplier performance have used both qualitative and quantitative environmental data. Given this evolving research area, the purpose of this article is to analyse research conducted in international scientific journals focusing on the selection and evaluation of a green supplier. The purpose of this article will answered two questions: Which selection methods are commonly used? What environmental and other selection criteria for green supplier management are popular?
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The Impact of Electrical Vehicles on Sustainability: Jordan as a Case Study
393-403Views:168The Global concern is moving toward making a revolution in favor of exploitation of renewable energy in order to improve environment conditions, limit emissions and minimizes consumption of non-renewable resources within the planet. In this context, it is necessary to focus on the transport sector as it contributes of at least 30% of the total primary energy consumption. Therefore, a set of rules must be developed to maintain economic, environmental and social sustainability to address the problems so as not to increase their severity and these cannot be done unless there are joint measures and regulations from governments, companies, manufacturers and users. Unfortunately, the Jordanian transport system mostly depend on the individual transport which supported by cars, and that because of the weak role played by the public transport sector, especially at the capital, Amman. Buying hybrid cars (internal combustion engine + electric motor) and Electrical Vehicles (EV), in the past few years in Jordan is increasing, which is compatible with the global trend to use Electrical Vehicles (EV) instead of Internal Combustion Engine vehicles (ICE) powered by fossil fuels, this issue will have a direct and indirect impact on gas stations companies, also it will have direct impact on labor sector and the current car industry since electric charging stations as well as EV manufacturing is not labor intensive. The main purpose of the study is to show how much it is necessary now to start theoretical assumptions through studying the expected annual increase in passenger cars and its impact on sustainability and predicting the future fuel consumption and emissions and compare them with the base situation.
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Flexibility Analysis Of Inventory Cost Model With Ergonomics
166-173Views:104The economic and environmental sustainability issues in supply chain management have integrated by many researchers in the past decades. The ergonomics as a social aspect of sustainability had received a little attention by researchers. Therefore, the aim of the paper is analyzing the flexibility of developed inventory cost model with relaxation allowance and endurance time as a social aspect of sustainability. The effects of distance, unit weight of item and total number of items on relaxation allowance, the total cost of logistics operation and the EOQ model were investigated. The analyzed mathematical model was a single operator-single material model which covered transportation of fixed amount of raw materials from storage plant to production plant by manual material handling with simple cart and picking, storing, pushing and pushing back with empty cart for manual handling of the products. The different parameter values applied for analysis such as total amount of handled items (Q) changes between 500 pcs to 2750 pcs, unit weight of item (w) changes between 0.1 kg to 1 kg, distance of movement by manual material handling for picking and storing motions (d1) changes between 2 m to 3 m and the distance between the storing equipment and the supermarket of the production line for pushing motion (d2) changes between 15 m to 20 m. The results of the analysis indicated that the longer the distance of movement for all motions leads to decrease in savings of the model compared to EOQ model. The increase in unit weight of item is increase the savings obtained from application of our model and decrease the optimal lot size. There was no specific change on savings or optimal lot size as the total amount of handled item is increase. The compared results indicated that an increase in d1 and d2 lead to an increase in optimal lot size and increase in total cost of the model. Consequently, the analysis has shown that a decrease in lot size would be the better way to improve both ergonomic conditions and total cost of production in any different parameter values. Finally, the analysis of the inventory model with ergonomics were proved that this model is suitable for different industrial practices.
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Sustainability Assessment of a Special Water Management Practice in a Hungarian River Basin
23-35Views:179The purpose of the study is to assess the sustainability of the current water management practice of thermal water usage for bathing. The methodological approach is material flow analysis since it allows to achieve results without regular or online measurements. The current river base management plan recorded the quality status of certain reaches of river Kösely and its tributaries - the receiving water bodies of the used thermal waters - regarding salt content as good and moderate. The ecological status is recorded as moderate and weak, respectively. Since the Water Framework Directive prescribes to achieve the goal of good ecological status, water management measures must be implemented to meet this objective. Since there is no BAT for salt removal from used thermal waters, the possibility to reduce salt loads remain the only feasible measure. The purpose of the study in the frame of a PhD study was to assess with calculations the yearly variations of water and salt flow in river Kösely and its tributaries in order to assess the sustainability of the practice of thermal water management in the river catchment. The result of the calculations is a flow scheme provided with numerical data of yearly water- and salt flow and a subsequent calculation of necessary rate of reduction of usage and discharge of thermal water
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Environmental Index and Environmental City Resilience Index calculation for Four Settlements in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County and Four in Győr-Moson-Sopron County
17-29Views:97Globalization and urbanization pose a number of challenges for different settlements. Stakeholders seek to cure global problems through sustainable projects. Since the Brundtland Commission's definition of sustainable development in 1987, the approach to sustainability has permeated all dimensions of the economy, including the environmental dimension. In Hungary, IBM conducted a study (Lados - Horváthné Barsi, 2011), in which the search for green, sustainable solutions defined in the definition of a livable city plays a key role. The characteristics of sustainable cities, that they are resilient to disasters, return to equilibrium after a shock has occurred (Seeliger, Turok, 2013). Resilience can also be mentioned as one of the pillars of sustainability. In a UN-Habitat statement, resilience refers to the ability of any urban system to withstand and recover from multiple shocks and to maintain the continuity of its services (OECD, 2018). In my study, I would like to present the results of the environmental index and the Environmental Urban Resilience Index (EURI) of the four largest cities selected on the basis of the population in the easternmost and westernmost counties of the country.
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Can the local government in Hungary be the appropriate local level framework for environmental sustainability?
32-45Views:105During the search for the framework for environmental (respectively social and economic) sustainability, the importance of local action / decision-making has been formulated several times. At the same time, the capability of local government structures is questioned from several aspects. Local governments today are not necessarily a proper legal-administrative framework for sustainable development, for example because the population of a sustainable local community (conceptually) and of a larger settlement (by size) does not coincide. However, the (partly networked) environmental policy system of the municipalities transcends the administrative area of the settlement, where appropriate, a larger area (agglomeration, city areas, etc.), connecting several actors and activities. The paper seeks to clarify this issue in two rather different but interrelating ways. The first approach is geographically rooted and examines the local government system and the spatial structure of the Hungarian state through environmental economics and environmental policy. The second question is about structural links, namely the problems of local governments potential for infrastructure development and the structure of the local economy. The paper concludes that municipal functions - administration, ownership, public service organization - are all concerned with environmental protection. Considering that many of the processes that are relevant to sustainability are taking place in settlements, so serious changes are needed at this level as well. In this context, cooperation between local and central government levels and the active involvement of (local) society can not be dispensed with, but the current mechanisms are hindering progress.
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Green Sports Products – Environmentally Friendly Efforts of some Sports Equipment and Sportswear Manufacturers.
45-61Views:117In today's world, the issue of sustainability has become a cardinal problem on a global scale. The question of sustainability affects society, health, the economy, and the environment to a large extent. The examination of the environmental aspects of sustainability at the points where the sports sector interacts with the environment is considered a basis for research, and an increasing number of international studies and literature deal with this topic. Sports equipment and sportswear manufacturers operate through high numbers of multi-level global supply chains. They constantly strive to meet sudden changes in consumer demand, which results in high demand for raw materials and resources, waste and greenhouse gas emissions, and water consumption, all of which contribute to the most harmful environmental effects.
The aim of this study is to present the environmental protection measures of Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour, multinational manufacturers of sports equipment and sportswear, aimed at raw material usage, waste management, minimizing water consumption, and reducing their carbon footprint, which they are increasingly applying as part of their business strategy.
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Possibilities of the Reclamation of Wastewater in Small Abattoirs Combined with Rainwater Harvesting
115-125Views:56The purpose of the study is to review the extent to which waste water from small mobile slaughterhouses can be reclaimed along with the basic cases and the purpose for which this can be realized. Keeping the criteria of sustainability in mind, I identify the possible and at the same time reasonable combinations of technology, highlighting and presenting in more detail those that include the utilization of waste water and the utilization of rainwater. I will describe the limiting factors - site features, environmental protection and health regulations - which are decisive in which alternative can be chosen during a specific installation.
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CSR Reporting Practices of Hungarian Banks
70-81Views:120The disclosure of information on the exercise of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the tool most frequently used by companies to promote understanding of the social and environmental performance of an organisation and to improve relationships with stakeholders. For most of the world’s largest companies, reporting on non-financial information appears to be a continuing trend, so it is essential to present the new corporate reporting trends of the 21st century. The disclosure of socially responsible information will be analysed, with a focus on the application of the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines related to CSR. Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is the best-known framework for voluntary reporting of environmental and social performance by business worldwide. The main objective of the paper is to explore the corporate voluntary disclosure practices of the listed and non-listed banks in Hungary. The extent of voluntary disclosure has significantly improved for decades worldwide, but the situation is not that obvious regarding the Hungarian financial sector. This paper aims to describe the status of disclosure practices of corporate sustainability in the annual reports, sustainability reports or CSR reports of the banking industry in Hungary. Also, increased corporate visibility and financial risk increase stakeholder demand for transparency on the social impact of financial institutions and their CSR practices. Finally, the analysis and subsequent comparison of available CSR reports of banks will be presented.
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Indicators of environmental performance evaluation – theory and corporate case study
224-231Views:678In the last decades there was a change in the field of corporate performance evaluation. Performance management systems, indicator-based systems and new, intellectual capital-based evaluation systems have appeared. Finally new, wide range of corporate evaluating methods was born in theory and in practice too. It is also important to mention, that in a life of organizations there is an improvement in the activity in connection with sustainable development, and also in the usage of methods connecting to sustainable development. Therefore the evaluation in the dimensions of sustainability – in a case of environmental performance evaluation, or evaluation of corporate social responsibility – became more and more emphasised. We concentrate on the theory and practice of environmental performance evaluation. Summarize – based on definitions – the concept of environmental performance evaluation. We concentrate on peculiarities of environmental performance indicators – based on international standards and literature review; and also mention the characteristics of indicator systems. Based on theory, the practice is also important. Therefore we present a case study of a multinational company.
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How Does Public Debt Change when the Next Crisis Comes - and It Will Come!/the Expected Evolution of Greece's State Debt in the Next Crisis Period/
91-104Views:219It has recently been announced that Greece may withdraw from the Euro-Zone permanent rescue fund's aid program because it has successfully met the conditions imposed on it. Creditors and credit qualifiers also agreed that the Greek economy was on a good growth path. That is why there is a chance that by 2030 the current sovereign gross debt of 182.7 per cent of GDP will fall to 123.3 per cent. The author finds this statement unfoundedly optimistic. He argues that the Greek debt ratio – despite the current optimum economic fundamentals – does not seem to be sustainable. He sees greater probability that in the near future it will again be necessary to release some of the Greek debt. Debt reduction will also mean a new orderly state bankruptcy. The study seeks to highlight how vulnerable and risked the sustainability of current Greek debt financing. Using a macroeconomic model, it shows and justifies how the Greek sovereign debt changes in the case of a crisis that is only half the extent of the previous subprime crisis. If this happens, by 2023, the state debt will rise to more than double the national product, and by 2030 only to the present, otherwise critical, level. It follows that the high risk of financing Greek state debt remains unchanged.
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Do Changes in the Economic Role of States through Privatization matter?: The Brazilian Case
125-136Views:137In market economies, the subject of scientific research is the extent to which the state can contribute to the sustainability of development. However, the question is to know where the boundaries of the market and the role of the state lie. The study briefly introduces different views of the state's economic role and how states have changed the proportion of their entrepreneurial assets. Among these, it highlights privatization, which is one of the significant segments of today's economic policy practice at both micro and macroeconomic levels. It then describes Brazil's economic circumstances that led to the formulation of a proper size privatization program. Finally, the socio-economic factors that, according to the author, make the realization of Brazilian privatization plans uncertain presented.
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Ecological Research of the Kő-hegy in Budaörs by Innovative Developmental Possibilities
54-58Views:71The function of the environmental education is essential for the sake of the natural environment. The amazing view from Kő-hegy is noticeable, and it must be preserved for the next generations. Today to achieve the environmental conscious forming aspects it’s necessary to develop modern applications and environmental education. The aim of research is the innovative development to sustainability
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Challenges of the Quality- and Change Management in the Context of Upcoming Social-Industrial Changes (5.0) – Conclusion of a Survey
138-150Views:142The upcoming industrial-social revolution, which may be called the 5.0, is emphasizing the coordination of the value-creating work of technology (machine) and man. This approach wishes to move towards sustainability, which deserves a significant role in nowadays through the world empathizing the negative effects of the wolrd. During my research I was looking for the answer that how the extended industry 4.0 and its tone be in Hungary via supply chain of the automotive industry. During my research I was looking for the answer that how the extended industry 4.0 be in Hungary and its tune through supply chain of the automotive industry. I also have examined that which changes are justified regarding management systems in interest of efficiency and emphasizing the human capital by leaders interviewed. As a part of qualitative research in-depth expert interviews were interpreted with help of content analysis based on the methodology of grounded theory. The results demonstrate the need to review and change existing processes in order to ensure that the potential of human capital is not lost and that technological development, even more so, is at the service of human resources in order to achieve its efficiency and effectiveness. Among the possible tools we can find the re-structurizing changes of post tracking processes of the audits in management systems providing quality. Furthermore, the practical implementation of multifactorial statistical process control in the evaluation of processed data, which may be one of the essences of industrial (IoT) data.
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On Institutional Services from Foreign Students’ Perspective – What Makes a Higher Educational Institution Multicultural?
343-363Views:112Higher education is of the utmost importance in terms of the competitiveness of every nation, including the Hungarian economy, therefore it is considered determinant for the future to survey student mobility of foreign students pursuing their studies in Hungary. Demographic decline that is characteristic to Hungary, already makes its influence felt in higher education, therefore internationalisation of institutions is of essential importance in terms of their operation and sustainability. Currently, it cannot remain unmentioned that it is a question of vital importance for domestic higher education institutions – and this process might only be further strengthened in the future – how they are able to compensate declining domestic demand by making their workshops attractive to foreign students and researchers.
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Energy-Efficient Buildings, a step towards Sustainability in Pakistan
109-124Views:228With every passing year, energy consumption in the world is increasing drastically. Most of the energy comes from fossil fuels which are also depleting in a fast manner. Buildings consume a significant amount of energy all over the world and the demand for energy is also increasing unremittingly in buildings. Developed countries are taking profound measures in order to make buildings energy efficient and sustainable by achieving nearly zero energy stage. Pakistan is facing a serious energy crisis from the past few decades. The building sector in Pakistan deserves special attention in this regard since the energy consumption in buildings in Pakistan is feverishly high. Many types of research have been carried out in Pakistan by the United Nations and Energy Department of Pakistan in order to devise applicable methods that not only provide thermal comfort to the occupants but also make a building energy efficient. Renewable energy also plays an important role in compensating building energy demands. It is easy to achieve nearly zero energy state in a good energy efficient building if it is coupled with renewable energy sources then it will make it self-sufficient in energy demand. A survey is also carried out to determine the thermal comfort of the occupants in different types of areas. Also, solar energy analysis is also taken into account to highlight the solar power potential in Pakistan. Several recommendations have also been suggested to implement energy efficiency measures in Pakistan.
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Sustainability Goals - Can we Reduce Malnutrition?
268-276Views:273Nowadays, some parts of the world hunger still exists. One of the milestones of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is eradicating hunger. These goals include a road map for progress and documenting specific steps to combat hunger. Another type of hunger that has been very common in these days is hidden hunger. Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger is still an illusion. The number of people living in extreme poverty and malnutrition has fallen slightly in recent years. Measuring hunger is a very complex issue. The Global Hunger Index is a tool to comprehensively measure and monitor hunger at global, regional and national levels. Despite noticeable improvements, the question remains: will the world achieve its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the eradication of hunger, by 2030? Despite these efforts, even in economically developed countries, hunger or food insecurity still exist.
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Justification for the Olympic Reform Package Based on Good Practice
Views:215The Olympic Games have always been the pinnacle of sport and achievement. The modern Olympics are held every four years, and the venue is chosen from among the cities that apply. In my research, I wanted to find out the reasons for the decline in the popularity of the Games. To answer this question, I looked at 2 successful Olympics (2000 Sydney, 2012 London) in the hope of identifying success factors that could be adapted to other host countries. I conducted secondary research, reviewed related international and national research, and the available economic data. During the document analysis, I found that the expected costs of organising the Olympic have increased significantly over the last two to three decades, and under-planning is a common feature. As a result of the research, I have found that the most important pillars of successful organisation are a proper organising committee, comprehensive opportunity and risk analysis, accurate planning, sustainability in planning, continuous cost control, private sector support, and the work of volunteers.
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Evaluation Opportunities tor Recreational Sport Services – Adapted to Higher Education Environment
150-164Views:195In our study, we analyse various researches dealing with quality aspects of sport services, and different quality models related to the interpretation of quality. The results which were obtained in the framework of primary research activity present the opinions of students from five different research universities. Sport services’ operation and sustainability are determined by market regulations, as parts of the service industry. Considering that the university leisure sports services take place in a competitive environment, the universities often have to compete with external sports service providers for achieving confidence of the young generations. For the qualitative tests, we used the QSport-14 measurement scale, which is generally applied by sports centres. This scale investigates the sports services according to three different aspects: (1) instructors, (2) infrastructural facilities and equipment and (3) offered sport programs. We have adapted the measurement scale to the university environment because of the differences and special characteristics of external sports service providers and university sports services. In addition, we analysed the factors influencing recreational sports, and we also examined that what changes would be needed in order to improve the quality of recreational sport activities in higher education.
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Analysis of the Policy Background of Transport Related Use of Renewable Energy
124-129Views:90The EU energy policy prioritizes the following principles: sustainability, competitiveness and security of supply and addresses the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions as a priority. The related EU policy (including the White Paper on Transport) outlines these principles, identifies goals and opportunities for action. At company level methodological guidelines and standard procedures can be used to assess the carbon footprint of the organization, to generate efficiency goals and to prepare action plans. In the Hungarian policy framework, a comprehensive National Sustainable Development Framework Strategy defines the basic principles for the analysis of the sectorspecific or regional strategies. Sustainable Energy Action and Climate Plans (SECAPs) integrate energy and climate issues and include interventions and improvements for the better use of renewable energy sources in transport at municipal level. As a summary it can be stated that exploration of the policy background would needed to influence the use of renewable energy sources for transport and definition of the development goals can help economic organizations to transform their mobility patterns and reduce related carbon footprint.
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The Global Electric Car Industry and the Related Indirect Emission
Views:476Our planet tries to create a more environmental friendly transport. Related to the car purchases we can determine the consumers’ attitudes have changed in the last years and we can say that the electric cars have become one of the most significant participants in the industry. In one of his investigations Christopher Buchal realised electric cars can burden the environment with more than 11-28% than the avarage engine cars. It is possible if we make difference between direct and indirect emission, because the direct emission of the electric cars is zero, but the indirect emission can be really high related to the power generation. My goal is giving a real picture about the electric car industry and presenting my suggestions for the future.
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Corporate Social Responsibility Scenario in Jordan: Transformation Context
1-10Views:254Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not an alien concept in Jordan; although it has been seen so far as a philanthropic activity in keeping with Jordanian traditions. Jordan is an old state, politically stable and it is now in transformation from the point of CSR view, since more and more Jordanian stakeholders are becoming aware of the CSR concept and some firms in Jordan are working their way towards strategizing CR efforts. However, business still not fully grasps CSR practices and still considers CSR as part of philanthropy framework rather than lifting it to an upper level and taking it as a strategic approach to sustainability. Unfortunately, CSR in Jordan faces impeding obstacles: economic challenges, lack of government’s incentives, skill-set, weak transparency and disclosure, and finally management and governance. This study attempts to present the picture of the transformation of CSR in Jordan and discuss its main steps of evolution, moreover, it aims to analyze the challenges and future prospects of CSR on a national level. Regarding the applied research method, the paper’s data sources are of secondary research and I have used desk research to illustrate most important points and findings on the topic.
