The corporate social responsibility strategies and practices of South African organisations
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Date
2015
Authors
Fredericksz, Lara Anne
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Abstract
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a strategic business and marketing tool
for businesses worldwide which, if integrated into an organisation’s overall marketing and
business strategy, can lead to increased financial returns, a favourable reputation, a more
productive workforce and a greater competitive advantage. Unfortunately however, CSR is
not always fully understood or practiced in the precise manner that would benefit organisations
in these ways. In this case it can be suggested that these organisations have adopted a CSR
strategy as an afterthought that is “bolted on” and not strategically aligned or “built in” to their
business.
In order to assess whether CSR strategies are built in or bolted on within a South African
market context, the perceptions of employees were investigated to assess how well CSR is
being integrated within South African organisations. Not only are employee CSR perceptions
a relatively unexplored dimension of CSR but employees are one of the most important
stakeholders within any organisation and thus clear and consistent communication to them
relating to their CSR strategy will contribute towards ensuring that it is aligned and consistent
with the overall business direction.
To evaluate employee perceptions, a questionnaire was developed and adapted from
previous CSR studies and administered to employees working for South African organisations.
Pre-requisites for candidates to be able to participate in this study included employment in a
South African company that employs a CSR programme or CSI measures, and who work
within the main head office of their organisation. A total of 196 respondents were analysed.
The areas of focus included linkage of CSR to organisational vision, mission and values;
culture; involvement of the CEO; CSR communication and CSR linked to job satisfaction and
organisational trust.
The research findings show that there are a number of gaps in the fundamental involvement
with CSR and the communication of CSR to employees as well as linkage to core business
aspects. Areas where South African organisations need to focus their efforts to ensure that
CSR is built in or more entrenched within their business include engaging employees in more
CSR activities, aligning company culture closer to CSR, improving internal CSR
communication and finally focusing on improving CSR dimensions which are linked to job
satisfaction and organisational trust.
Description
Thesis (M.M. (Strategic Marketing))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, 2015.