Online Access
http://hdl.handle.net/10539/10039Abstract
South Africa has seen considerable economic growth over the past ten years; however, the poverty gap has grown faster than the economy. This indicates that poor households have not shared the benefits of economic growth that have been reaped by South African businesses. Consequently there is a need for South African businesses to be good corporate citizens and contribute towards alleviating the poverty that plagues the communities in which they operate. This study investigates the motives of selected South African companies for engaging in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and the strategies that they employ to align their CSR with poverty alleviation. In-depth interviews were conducted by the researcher with the managers responsible for CSR in the selected South African companies, using a uniform interview schedule. Key findings revealed that the motives of South African companies for engaging in CSR are that CSR is entrenched in the values of the company. Some companies aim to build sustainable communities. Several companies expressed the need to comply with legislation around CSR, for example the BBBEE Code of Good Practice, the King Report on Corporate Governance and the JSE SRI Index. For others the motive is to manage the reputation of the company. The strategies that the companies employ to align CSR with poverty alleviation include aligning CSR with business imperatives, aligning CSR with national imperatives, forging effective partnerships, the involvement of employees and leadership in CSR, and finally developing key focus areas. While companies acknowledge that they have a role to play in socio-economic development, there is no explicit commitment to poverty alleviation. However, the companies’ CSR initiatives are well targeted at alleviating poverty through their indirect, trickle-down approaches.MBA - WBS
Date
2011-06-08Type
ThesisIdentifier
oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/10039http://hdl.handle.net/10539/10039