Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management (ETDs)

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Corporate Social Responsibility

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    The role of mining companies in achieving the united nations social development goals in Madagascar by 2030
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Babila, Ndasi Moses
    The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) constitute the pillars of policies formulated by the UN member states in 2015 to combat poverty and other forms of deprivation, in order to achieve peace and prosperity for all people and the planet by the year 2030 (the so-called UN Agenda 2030). This research is an exploratory study that undertakes a synthesis of the implementation of the UN SDG policies and the economic contributions made by mining companies to local communities in Madagascar, through their commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), in order to achieve the UN Agenda 2030. Four of the 17 UN SGDs were selected to assess Madagascar’s level of achievement of the UN SGDs. The UN SGDs selected include one, end poverty in all its forms everywhere; two ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages; three Quality education and four, Industry innovation and infrastructure. The Purposive Sampling technique was used to select the Benenitra and Ranobe districts of the Atsimo Andrefana Region as areas of study due to the advantage of prior knowledge of the areas and accessibility. These areas are reflective of artisanal, small and industrial scale mining operations in Madagascar. 22 participants were interviewed to get their perception on Madagascar’s level of achievement of the UN SGDs, and the contribution of mining companies towards this and their livelihood. while mining companies are somewhat engaged, and to some extent, committed in CSR, and showing interest in developing the local communities where they operate, the government of Madagascar is lagging behind with the implementation of appropriate social protection systems to achieve the UN SDGs by 2030. 2 It is envisaged that this research would contribute to the scientific and societal discourse on mining and CSR, particular with regards to the contribution of mining companies to the economy of developing and emerging countries towards achieving the UN Agenda 2030
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    An analysis of the effectiveness of Corporate Social Responsibility in the mining sector: a comparative study of South Africa and Zimbabwe mining companies
    (2021) Mandevere, Melody
    Over the past years, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has received increased attention from the corporate world and international organisations. There has been a call for an Africanised CSR agenda based on the African context since CSR activities being undertaken in developing countries do not address the root cause of poverty and fail to improve relations with local communities. There is concern over the sustainability of the CSR projects undertaken by mining companies in Zimbabwe and the motives behind CSR activities aimed at benefitting the mining companies’ shareholders and less on the community where they operate. CSR projects in Zimbabwe differ to that of South Africa although the companies are subsidiaries. This comparative study between Zimbabwe and South Africa’s mining sectors has been carried out to analyse the effectiveness of Corporate Social Responsibility activities. The study followed the interpretivism philosophy and the qualitative research design with multiple case studies in the two countries. The target population for the research were two companies with branches in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Hence four mines were chosen, two in Zimbabwe and two in South Africa. A total of 22 respondents were purposively selected consisting of community representatives, mining company representatives, non-governmental stakeholders and governmental stakeholders. Data was triangulated by integrating semi-structured interviews and secondary documents. The findings indicated that in South Africa there is more stakeholder inclusion and ownership of the CSR projects as compared to Zimbabwe. This is more attributed to the nature of the South African legislation on CSR that encourages stakeholder inclusion. The stakeholder inclusion and ownership contributes to project sustainability which then leads to effectiveness of CSR. The research also concluded that an Africanised CSR agenda should prioritize legal issues over others. This means African countries need to attend to their legislation so that CSR is mandatory with ‘social impact’ as the driving force. The study contributes to the CSR literature specifically as a comparative study between African countries. This is one of the few empirical studies that compare CSR in neighbouring developing countries. Moreover, the study also addresses whether there is a need for a more Africanised CSR to address the social challenges and understand the effectiveness of the Africanised CSR agenda leading to sustainable development
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    Digitalisation of corporate firms in South Africa: a catalyst in shared value creation with rural communities
    (2020) Jonas, Nomakhosazana
    Introduction: The markets that corporations have historically drawn their profits from are increasingly becoming saturated, compelling firms to explore new competitive strategies and look for new markets. Rural communities present a potential new market for corporate firms. The opportunity exists to leverage the enabling potential of digital technology in creating shared value. The study aim was to explore the influence of digitalisation of corporate firms on fast tracking shared value creation with rural communities Method: A qualitative examination of commonalities in the perceptions and experiences of key influencers in large corporates in South Africa was undertaken. Using the phenomenological method, thirteen interviews with Board members and C-suite executives in corporate firms in South Africa were conducted. A thematic analysis was done using the Nvivo12 qualitative software. Findings: Shareholders need to shift the profit maximisation paradigm to one embracing inclusive societal progress as well as profits. This requires including social impact as a measurable output and key performance indicator. Data showed that Corporate Social Investment (CSI) should be more economically driven and a key focus of all managers across all business operations and not the sole responsibility of one department or individual. Additionally, digitalisation should be a priority in the agenda of the CEO due to its ongoing transformational impact on business models, processes, budgets and customer experience. Lastly skills such as emotional Intelligence and problem-solving skills are crucial in environments transformed by digitalisation and should receive the same attention as technical skills. Corporations need to first evolve the paradigm of rural communities to understanding and embracing technology before digitalisation can be used to enable Creating Shared Value (CSV). Conclusion: Key to unlocking the catalytic potential for digitalisation is a transformation of the paradigm where profit maximisation and complete ownership of the consumer are prioritised. This mindset stands in the way of collaborative strategies required to create CSV with rural communities. Further research is needed to explore rural communities ‘understanding of the enabling potential of technology and how it can be used to enable CSV.