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Faculty of Management Sciences

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    Monitoring and evaluation of corporate social responsibility programmes in South Africa
    (Virtus Interpress, 2015) Rampersad, Renitha
    The South African corporate sector invests millions to support community development and social programs. One of the more fundamental issues about sustainability in a business context is the fact that directors have a fiduciary duty to take into account interests of those stakeholders other than investors/shareholders. This therefore places major importance on sustainability reporting through reports on governance, economic, social and environmental performance and is increasingly being regarded as a key form of stakeholder engagement, and the most accepted formal way of communicating measured outcomes to all stakeholders. A number of methodologies may exist for the development of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies or “how-to guides” for community engagement and investment, however, it lacks development in the field of CSR Programme Evaluation. Integrated approaches to the measurement thereof are still in expanding stages of development and statistical data and/or empirical evidence is lacking at this point. Trust and relationships take time to build but are valuable assets, therefore a company must show it has listened and acted in response to stakeholder concerns, this means that ongoing communication and reporting back to stakeholders is a very important component in any engagement strategy. It is therefore important for the corporate sector to not only evaluate the effectiveness of their CSR Programmes, but also to measure the impact on both their beneficiary communities and their business and subsequently on the Return on Investment (ROI). This paper will highlight a case of the South African corporate sectors attempts to evaluate its effectiveness and impact on beneficiary communities and how they quantify the impact of the investment through successful CSR interventions.
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    Examining the practice of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Sub-Saharan Africa
    (Virtus Interpress, 2014) Rampersad, Renitha; Skinner, Chris
    In this study, we will examine the way in which CSR is conceptualised by various scholars along with the realities of its implementation on the ground in specific African countries. The key objectives of this paper are therefore; to extend the discussion of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) by providing insight into the effect that the level of economic development may have on CSR and the impact this may have on the practice of CSR amongst leading companies in Sub-Saharan Africa. The paper will focus on discovering the similarities and differences in policies, procedures and practices in the region as a whole. In order to help shed some light on these issues, this article explores how leading companies report on CSR in five Sub-Saharan countries (Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Kenya, and South Africa). Our analysis of company information reveals that opportunities are widely appreciated and that most companies report on their economic and social impacts. However, CSR reporting is fairly generic, and the specific context seems to bear only a limited influence on the type of CSR activities undertaken.