SOUTH AFRICA CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
When it comes to deal with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in South Africa it is such an important business’ topic with respect of the State, the economic, and the public; as well as environment.
The World Business Council For Sustainability Development define the Corporate Social Responsibility as:
“Corporate Social Responsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large. ‘CSR is a corporate culture where businesses or companies decide voluntarily to contribute to a better society and a cleaner environment.”1
In South Africa we found a highly active support, first, from the government as well as any domestic or foreign company. In order to understand how big and important the impact of the CSR into South Africa is, we need to know a little bit of its historical background. The way of how the companies were socially involved in South Africa goes way back in time when the grumble of society was still during the apartheid. It wasn’t until 1994, when many companies were investing actively in a lot of social initiatives, since in eyes of the state there was no need to do act on behalf of the colored groups existing in the country.
Companies since then realized that the poor living conditions of the black population, which is the majority, were stopping the economic development of the country. Thenceforth, the political change and all the effort have a balance on the unequal distribution of wealth from the times of the apartheid have driven the Corporate Social Responsibility forward in South Africa....
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...programs are paid for from these funds.
National Environmental Management Act No. 107 (1998)
Among other things, encourages long-term development, access to natural resources as well as the participation of the public in decisions in the environmental realm. Specifies that companies can be made responsible for environmental damage.
Labor Relations Act No. 66 (1995) / Basic Conditions of Employment Act No. 75 (1997)
Both laws specify the basic working conditions; encourage the signing of collective labor agreements, and codetermination in the workplace.
Occupational Health and Safety Act No 85 (1993) /Mine Health and Safety Act No. 29 (1996)
The "Occupational Health and Safety Act” includes the requirements of systems for health and safety management in the workplace. The “Mine Health and Safety Act” focuses on the necessity of reducing accidents and deaths in mining
Corporate Social Responsibility is the obligation from corporations to utilize their resources to aid and benefit the larger society. The four components of CSR are economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic. Social Responsibility is a fundamental force in the wealth creation process. If correctly demonstrated, CSR should heighten competitiveness and boost the value of wealth creation to society. A company's CSR Initiatives directly represent who the company is and what it believes it. The m...
Studies done by various researchers and scholars on corporate social responsibility impact on financial performance reveal mixed results with others citing a negative, positive neutral impact of CSR on financial performance of firms. Mwangi (2011) studied the relationship between CSR and financial performance of companies quoted at NSE. The results of the analysis conclude that there was an upward trend in performance of listed firms on the NSE as well as an upward trend in the amount of money investment in corporate social practices. This leaves managers with critical decisions to make especially on how much does a firm need to invest in CSR without compromising the returns of stakeholders more so the shareholders and whether investment in CSR has any impact at all on the financial performance of the firm.(Abagail & Donald ,
Corporate social responsibilities (CSR) have a different meaning in different company but in my view CSR is the concept which is the ability one of the companies can do for society. As the company responsibilities toward the society and environment in the way operate their business. CSR is about how companies manage the business processes to produce an overall positive impact on society. CSR also known as a “corporate citizenship” and with do that CSR is not provide an immediate financial benefit to the company but promote positive social and environmental change. (www.investopedia.com/terms/c/corp-social-responsibility). CSR is a high profile nation which the business world perceives as a strategic (Economist, 2008; Porter & Kramer, 2006)
Boatright (2006) contend that corporate social responsibility denotes the responsibility recognized by a company for acting in socially responsible manner. There is no single universally accepted definition of corporate social responsibility, it has generally come to mean business decision making linked to ethical values, legal compliance, and respect for people, community, and environment. CSR accepts a company to go further than required by law so as to treat employees fairly and with respect, operate with integrity and in an ethical manner in all its business dealings with customer, suppliers, lenders, and others, respect human rights, sustain the environment for future generations and be a responsible neighbor in the community and a good ‘corporate citizen’. Hill (2009) asserts that corporate social responsibility has become a challenge which MNCs face in emerging markets. Galbreath (2009) support the view of Hill (2009) by saying that with increase in globalization, the importance of corporate social responsibility has increased a lot.
Corporate social responsibility is globally defined as operating a business in a way that meets or exceeds the ethical, legal, commercial and public expectations that society has of business. The concern of CSR has drastically increased over the last two decades. It has enhanced interactions between governments, businesses, society and internationally. In the past, businesses primarily focus themselves with the economic results of their decisions. Now, businesses must also reflect on the legal, ethical, moral and social consequences of their decisions. Corporate Social Responsibility is no longer defined by how much money a company contributes to charity, but by its overall involvement in activities that improve the quality of people’s lives.
Business organizations regularly run into demands from various stakeholders groups when conducting day-to-day business. These demands are generated from employees, customers, suppliers, community groups, governments, and shareholders. Thus, according to Goodpaster, any person or group of people that can shape or can be shaped by attainment of the objectives by an organization is considered a stakeholder. Most business organizations recognize and understand their responsibilities to these groups and endeavor to honor and fulfill them. These responsibilities are often communicated to the public by a statement of principles or beliefs. For many business organizations, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an essential and integral part of their business. Thus, this paper discusses the two CSR views: the classical view and the stakeholder view. Furthermore, I believe that the stakeholder view has brought ethical concerns to the forefront of businesses, and an argument shall be made that businesses would improve both socially and economically if CSR, guided by God’s love, was integrated into their strategic planning.
It has been shown that there are many different areas in which a company may choose to focus its corporate social responsibility. The top area of focus in corporate social responsibility is on environment. Other areas that should be considered in the development of corporate social responsibility programs are education, health, nutrition and employment. “Social responsibility investment combines investors’ financial goals with their obligation and dedication to factors that ensure the well being of society such as environmental friendly practices, economic growth and justice in society” (Anderson 9). These elements not only epic corporate social responsibility, but also represent ethical standards of a company. It is unethical for some individuals to own so much and earn so much, at the expense of other suffering members of society. It is also unethical for companies to damage environmentally that result in illnesses and loss of life. It can be concluded that Social corporate responsibility and the maintenance of high ethical standards is not an option but an obligation for all
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is recognized as a well-known practice of global organizations. CSR generally describes the relation that exists between companies and society and the interrelationship between economic, social and environmental features. CSR also can improve the quality of life of different stakeholders, such as employees, owners, consumers, investors, creditors, social and other responsible and ethical performance.
There is a high demand for CSR projects in South Africa dues to too many social issues that the country is currently facing. Many companies, local and international, in South Africa are involved in CSR. There are many arguments regarding CSR. Some of these arguments are as follow:
According to Mike Peng, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the consideration and response to issues beyond the narrow economic, technical, and legal requirements of the firm to accomplish social benefits along with traditional economic gains the firm seeks. CSR is a way in which a company seeks to achieve a balance between profit, environmental concerns and social imperatives. This is known as the ‘Triple-Botto...
With the company facing themselves in the context of globalization, they are increasingly aware that corporate social responsibility can be of direct economic value. Although the company 's primary goal is to create profit, companies can at the same time contribute to social and environmental objectives into their business strategy of corporate social responsibility as a strategic investment.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be defined as the "economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary expectations that society has of organizations at a given point in time" (Buchholtz, 2014, p. 32) The basic principles of corporate social responsibility consists of organizations that has the moral, ethical, and philanthropic duties to not only to earn a profit for investors, but they must also comply with the laws and standards set for businesses as well. Today’s CSR requires organizations to assume a much broader spectrum of their responsibilities that includes not only the stockholders, but employees, suppliers, customers, the local community, state, and federal governments, special interest and a variety of environmental groups as well. (Sharma, 2014)
Corporate social responsibility and social accountability is still a newer function that is continually changing and evolving in organizations. CSR and accountability in organizations focus on improving society and the environment. According to the article, Corporate Social Responsibility: Who’s responsible, “Virtually every Fortune 1000 company has some type of CSR initiative and policy, and smaller companies are becoming increasingly active in CSR. CSR efforts are now an integral part of business culture and are on their way to becoming a standard business practice in American industry”.
There are now several concepts of CSR and its definition, along with the meaning across corporations. In my opinion, and according with our textbook in page 11. CSR is about a particular set of business and strategies that deal with social issues. In addition, we can clearly perceive that CSRs application along corporations has increase in the past decade due to the several local, and international regulations in order to enforce business to act responsible.
Corporate Social Responsibility is an organisation’s obligation to serve the company’s own interest and the one’s of the society. Moreover, Corporate Social Responsibility has a definition of a concept where the companies integrate social and the environmental concerns into their own business operation and also on a basis of voluntary with their interactions they have with the stakeholders. Corporate Social Resp...