A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THREE SOUTH AFRICAN INDUSTRIES’ PRESENTATION OF THEIR CORPORATE SOCIAL INVESTMENTS

Abstract

Triple bottom line or sustainability reporting is becoming increasingly important worldwide, as companies are obliged to disclose non-financial information. The release of King II in March 2002 is considered to be a significant driver of Corporate Social Investment and sustainability reporting in South Africa. The purpose of this research was to compare how and to what extent three diverse industries’ communicate their Corporate Social Investment. The industries are financial services, information technology, and the mining industry. The research also examined the nature of Corporate Social Investment motivational principles and the managerial processes or strategies related to these. The data was collected from the companies’ sampled websites. The main findings that emerged were that the information technology industry lagged substantially behind in both Corporate Social Investment reporting and engagement. Furthermore, the companies – across the industries – with the most comprehensive websites were those with off-shore listings and the larger companies presented the most inclusive reports