Examination of corporate social responsibility activities of companies during disaster and crisis period: The example of 6 february Kahramanmaraş earthquake

Companies carry out corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities not only during ordinary times but also in periods of disaster and crisis. It is particularly observed that many companies implement various CSR projects in areas such as the environment, arts, education, and women's empowerment. The main purpose of this study is to compare the corporate social responsibility activities carried out by companies in the context of the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş on February 6, 2023 with their activities in normal situations. The research covers the aid activities carried out in the provinces of Kahramanmaraş, Adana, Diyarbakır, Adıyaman, Gaziantep, Elazığ, Malatya, Hatay, Şanlıurfa, Osmaniye and Kilis affected by the earthquake. In this direction, the content analysis method, one of the qualitative research methods, was used. As part of the research, reports published on the corporate websites of 38 companies, selected from the top 50 of the 2022 "Turkey's Top 500 Companies" list by Fortune Turkey magazine, as well as news articles from reliable news agencies between February 6, 2023, and December 31, 2023, were analyzed. The collected data were evaluated within the framework of corporate social responsibility. The findings of the study reveal that the companies included in the sample provided aid to the earthquake-affected regions in various categories, and these activities addressed both embedded (directly related to their sectors) and peripheral (unrelated to their sectors) urgent needs. Furthermore, it was determined that while companies exhibited a proactive approach during ordinary times, they followed a reactive process in their CSR efforts in the face of a major disaster affecting the entire country.