Corporate Social Responsibility in South Africa and Ghana: a Comparison of Successes, Failures and Futures in a “Developed” and an “Undeveloped” African Country

Firstly we must look at mining as a whole in which other major mining companies have followed a global standard of practices in protecting the environment. Governments play a key role in setting these environmental standards for organisations to meet them. There are a series of guidelines “that are targeted at managers to provide the practical techniques and guidance they need to manage the environmental risks and impacts of their own operations” ₃

Africa is the world's second largest and most populated continent after Asia. With 1.0 billion people as of 2009 accounting for about 14.72% of the entire human population. Africa suffers from many environmental problems including deforestation, oil pollution, air pollution, and land and water pollution. This issues is as a result of new technologies leading to an increase in solid mineral mining, oil exploration, an increase in the number of plants and factories, and on the whole increase in the application of manufacturing tools. Consequently, the quality and richness of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments have been polluted and has declined. Other factors contributing to Africa’ environmental issues are rapid

Canada is home to some of the largest mining corporations in the world. In fact, seventy-five percent of the world’s mining companies are based in Canada (Dean, 2013). These companies are involved in the extraction of numerous resources, including silver, petroleum, bitumen and coal. Canadian mining operations also have a particular focus in gold, as twenty-one of the country’s top forty mining companies are involved in gold extraction. With billion dollar annual revenues and interests in almost every continent, these multinational companies are making a large impact around the globe (Canadian Mining Journal, 2014). However, these impacts are not necessarily positive. Canadian mining corporations have failed to implement CSR policies and

One of the most dominating concepts of business reporting is Corporate Social Responsibility. It has become mandatory for every business to include a policy with regards to CSR and produce a detailed report with regards to its activities. CSR can be defined as the relationship between a corporate company and the society in which the company operates. The concept of CSR became famous during the late 1960’s and since then it has helped corporations to sustain itself in the market.

Corporate social responsibility is not going to solve the world’s problems. With that being said, corporate social responsibility is a way for companies to benefit themselves while also benefiting society. It allows companies to take small steps to make big differences in areas of need. Some may say that it is a bunch of “greenwashing” – the deceptive use of green marketing that promotes a misleading perception that a company’s policies, practices, products or services are environmentally friendly – but there is a call to action that inspires a company to get involved in the community (Kewalramani, Sobelsohn).

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is something that affects all companies and should be an active factor in the company’s decision making. It is something all corporations need to care about. CSR is when business’ or corporations take part in an initiative or campaign for a cause that will benefit society and/or in some way make the world a better place (Taylor, 2015). Initially, Corporate Social Responsibility started to take shape around the 1950’s, but some say that it dates all the way back to the 1800s, the idea of CSR was seen (Carroll, 2007). One may think that because it is dated so long ago, it doesn’t have an important impact today nevertheless, it is proven that Corporate Social Responsibility is a pathway for entities to self benefit as they are in the process of benefitting society.

In the Canadian economy, corporate social responsibility is a significant aspect of most business transactions. This is due to the importance placed upon it by society, in particular the demands of Canadian citizens. In every economy around the world, these demands are different and thus reflected in the creation of government policies that require corporate social responsibility to be considered. It is not only these policies, but the consumer demands for CSR that determine the significance of CSR within companies. Therefore, although a great importance is placed upon CSR in Canada, especially here at Macewan, this is not always the case in other locations around the world.

This report will demonstrate how Carroll’s interpretation of corporate social Responsibility (CSR) is more suited to an Anglo-American interpretation of CSR compared to that of a Nigerian perspective as it is difficult to apply the ideas in the African context due to the country being less stable than the western world that we know. To demonstrate this I will look at the Shell case study in Nigeria and how “culture may have an important influence on CSR priorities” (Burton et al, 2000). In March 2007 a British national was kidnapped from an oil rig in Nigeria emphasising the issues that large corporations face in foreign countries. To meet the expectation of “true corporate social responsibility it is expected that all four levels are met

The mining industry in developing nations often lacks the enforcement of ethical principles, laws and regulations. I therefore believe developing nations are better off without large mining companies operating within them. Mining majors can use force to get there way and this often includes political involvement and corruption. Mining companies often overlook the artisanal miners, that use the mine as their lone source of income, and move them out from the mines. The impact on locals is not usually not taken into account when a new mine is set up. Mining companies often disregard the citizenship, fairness and dignity principles of the Global Business Standards Codex to improve profits.

The rise in corporate power cannot be seen more vividly than in Africa. Over the past four decades, corporate social responsibilities of multinational corporations operating in Africa has been one of the most prominent issues in the world. The rise in potency of multinationals owes its existence to the natural riches of Sub-Saharan African nations. These African nations are characterised by high inflation rates, poverty and diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS. Multinational corporations has seen an opportunity to exploit these resources in the aim of increasing their profits, thus have

Corporate social responsibilities are one of the most important issues that global businesses professionals may face. Nothing will cause more problems between a business relationships than if the country or even the community in which you are forming a relationship with gets the perception the company is operating in a way that may be harmful to the country.

Corporate social responsibility has been one the key business buzz words of the 21st century. Consumers' discontent with the corporation has forced it to try and rectify its negative image by associating its name with good deeds. Social responsibility has become one of the corporation's most pressing issues, each company striving to outdo the next with its philanthropic image. People feel that the corporation has done great harm to both the environment and to society and that with all of its wealth and power, it should be leading the fight to save the Earth, to combat poverty and illness and etc. "Corporations are now expected to deliver the good, not just the goods; to pursue

Corporate Social Responsibility (“CSR”) is often described as the measures taken by companies to manage environmental, social and economic impacts of their business activities. Since the globalisation of economic and labour markets, CSR has become an argumentative topic. For companies to be considered as good in terms of CSR, they are required to go above and beyond of their legal requirements and take into consideration what is in the best interests of its stakeholders.

Corporate social responsibility, or CSR, has been conceptualized rather broadly as the managerial obligation to take action to protect and improve both the welfare of society as a whole and the interest of organizations. In recent years, corporate social responsibility has been becoming increasingly important and is held

The responsibility of a business goes beyond just turning a profit, they also have an obligation to society. The stakeholders; consumers, employees, the community and the environment, all have a variety of needs that should be met by the company. These needs can include things such as safer more affordable products for the consumer, fair wages and good working conditions for the employee, or environmentally safe production practices that cut down on pollution for the community. Meeting these needs is known as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and can have a profound impact on the company. Businesses, big and small, have an obligation to society to provide quality services while protecting the integrity of the environment and community surrounding them.