(MENAFNEditorial) Business students from Canadian University Dubai (CUD) have been learning the value of random acts of kindness as part of a class project to coincide with International Pay it Forward Day on Thursday, 30th April.
Designed to highlight the motivations and practices of corporate social responsibility (CSR), the assignment challenged students to 'pay it forward' and look at how their acts of kindness affected the people they touched.
The 'International Pay it Forward Day' was established to inspire people from any walk of life to perform a good deed for someone else without receiving anything in return, and to encourage the recipient to pay it forward to another person. The student project was set in the run up to this year's campaign, which is expected to inspire more than three million acts of kindness across 70 countries.
Assistant Professor and project supervisor Jeanette Teh explained, "I start the assignment by bringing chocolates into class and when students thank me for the treat, I ask them instead to pay it forward. Their task is then to write about the reactions of the recipient and their own feelings about their good deed.
"As the course is on Business Ethics, they need to apply their thought process and theories to the motives of companies that perform CSR initiatives, to consider if they merely do so because they are asked to by stakeholders, or because they truly believe in them."
While the 'International Pay It Forward' campaign is yet to officially make it to the UAE, student Issam Kassabieh believes that it is a concept that fits well into the social fabric of the region. He said, "It's something that isn't labelled here, but it is certainly practiced. It relates very much to the Islamic culture which is at the root of our society." For his own good deed, Issam offered his phone to a cleaner at his workplace so that he could call his family back home, while fellow student Hammam Ahmed Abbas took food to a group of labourers who were gathered in the street after a long day's work.
For marketing major Nouran Heimann and HR student Chahrazed Meddeb Hamrouni, the assignment was an opportunity to make a small difference to the life of a stranger, in an area of town they rarely visited. Nouran explained, "We felt it was important to pay it forward to someone we'd never met. Behind the skyscrapers of Sheikh Zayed Road is a totally different world, just a street away, so we decided to head to Satwa, where we spotted an old man struggling with a trolley. He didn't speak a word of English, so it was difficult for us to communicate, but when we brought him some juice it was clear he was overwhelmed by the gesture."
Chahrazed continued, "We were amazed that such a simple act could create such happiness, not just for the man, but for us too. It was a truly uplifting and rewarding experience, to feel that we'd accomplished something and made a difference."
According to Professor Teh, the assignment is an important reminder about how it only takes a few minutes to put a smile on someone else's face, and an opportunity for students to reflect on themselves and the state of society.
As for the role of good deeds in the business world, Finance and Accounting major Issam believes that CSR will become increasingly important to the profitability of companies. He said, "There is a growth in the ethical consumer movement and people are increasingly concerned with where their products are coming from. I believe that in the future, companies will be committing a significant amount of their budget to CSR initiatives in order to capture and retain their market."
Speaking about her own experience of the project, Professor Teh concluded, "This is my absolute favourite assignment. I really enjoy reading about and am very proud of my students' generosity and kindness. It is always my hope that this might lead to more random acts of kindness and just a little bit of happiness being spread
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