Course: BUS 1010: Introduction to Business Organization

ASSIGNMENT 02:

Q01. To What Extent has Corporate Social Responsibility been achieved by

Q02. Roles of CSR in Kenya today

Introduction

Corporate social responsibility is also known as corporate conscience, corporate

citizenship, social responsibility or responsible business; the CSR is one of the most

important business ethics qualities for an organization to become successful. The importance

of social responsibility as said by many business owner is that it can decrease any undesirable

characteristics towards an organization image. In the business ethics, there are four levels of

social responsibility which include- economics, legal, ethical and philanthropic. The

reputation of an organization is very important and implementing social responsibility can

increase positive satisfaction results towards stakeholders. Corporate social responsibility is

all about how companies manage the business processes to produce an overall positive

impact on society; a voluntary approach that a business enterprise takes to meet stakeholder

expectations by integrating social, ethical, and environmental concerns together with the

usual measures of revenue, profit and legal obligation.

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 The CSR spells out organizations commitments towards society and is a measure of

the organizations social responsiveness. Social responsibility refers to the overall way in

which a business attempts to balance its commitments to relevant groups and individuals in

its social environment. Social responsibility is a related concept that addresses the overall

way in which a business attempts to balance its commitments to relevant groups and

individuals in its social environment. CSR refers to business practices involving initiatives

that benefit society. A business’s CSR can encompass a wide variety of tactics, from giving

away a portion of a company’s proceeds to charity, to implementing “greener” business

operations. Corporate social responsibility is a universal concept. Companies need to build

awareness of issues and learn from experience, we need more international exchanges and

summarizing and dissemination of cases. We cannot solve all problems ourselves. But we can

open up the door and listen to experience from all other countries.

To enable the relationships between these variable and CSR to be analysed the study

used simple comparison techniques plotting the data on the different axis to graphically

represent the relationships. Too often, executives have viewed corporate social responsibility

as just another source of pressure or passing fact, but as customers, employees and suppliers

– and indeed, society more broadly-place increasing importance on CSR, some leaders have

started to look at it as a creative opportunity to fundamentally strengthen their businesses

while contributing to society at the same time. They view CSR as central to their overall

strategies, helping them to creatively address key business issues. According to Pohle and

Hittner (2008), “Corporate Social Responsibility is the way companies manage their

businesses to produce an overall positive impact on society through economic, environmental

and social actions. Liz Maw, CEO of non-profit organization, “Net Impact” noted the CSRis

becoming more mainstream as forward- thinking companies embed sustainability into the

core of their business operations to create shared value for business and society.

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Sustainability isn’t just important for people and the planet, but also is vital for any business

success. Corporate social responsibility has attained a high profile in the academic world; it

has also achieved prominence in business debates due to the pressure groups and also the

merge of the “market for virtues,” such as social responsibility initiatives.

To What Extend has Corporate Social Responsibility been achieved in

Kenya by business community?

Corporate social responsibility is a broad term that involves and encompasses

“improving staff welfare and work environment, embracing transparency and accountability

in our business transactions, ethically improving profitably, self-regulation and implementing

community development programs.” Most organizations in Kenya focus latter, “community

development programs.” The goal of the corporate responsibility of Kenya is to embrace

responsibility for the company’s actions and encourage a positive impact through its activities

in the environment, consumer, employees, community’s stakeholder and all the members of

the public sphere. For small businesses, ethical issues are questions of individual ethics, but

in questions of social responsibility, they must ask themselves if they can afford a social

agenda. Many businesses pursue corporate social responsibility activities that can best be

termed pet projects (is an individual or collaborated enterprise, possibly involving research or

design, that is carefully planned, usually by the project assigned team, to achieve a particular

aim), as they reflect the personal interest of individual senior executives. What impact has

the CSR had on society? It has taken a critical form on looking at its role on development in

the recent years. Well this is because of what has been seen to be a failure of our

governments, NGO’s and other developments organisations in eradicating poverty and

effectively improving the lives of the poorest around the world. By engaging in CSR the

Kenya airline benefits through increased visibility thus enhancing its corporate image. It has

also gained a competitive edge in the turbulent environment, in which it operates and has led

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to gradual expansion and growth beyond Kenya over the years. With the expansion, the

customer base has increased tremendously, this being due to its ability to attract new

customers and retain the loyalty of their already existing customer list.

Around the world, there are various ways that organizations go about CSR with some

adopting the Salesforce.com Foundation’s approach to Philanthropy the “1-1-1 model”.

Through this model, companies are encouraged to contribute 1% of their product, 1% of their

equity, and 1% of their employee hours back to the communities in which they operate. But

the most common model in Kenya is the budget allocation in the Public Relations

Department. Corporate social responsibility therefore has become a “new” public relations

outlet that Kenyan companies are using to build stronger ties with the community where they

operate in as well as strengthening the ties with their partner organizations and other

stakeholders. In the case of my colleagues former work place, “being a good corporate

citizen” was a deliverable by the Public relations docket. The department was tasked with

finding, evaluating, managing end to end engagement and produce a report on the

benefits/impact of the organization’s involvement to the community, partners and

organizations. A corporate social responsibility policy was developed by the department that

would focus on issues in the community where the organization can be able to leverage. The

cases and leverage revolved around; 1. Tech; the nurturing keynote speaker, internship,

sponsorship and mentorship. 2 Health; tech 4 health at subsidized prices. Funding,

participating in specific projects. 3 Education; with funding, nurturing, mentorship, keynote,

and global money week. 4. Community; every community in the area doing business provide

the will to impact the community, be sustainable lasting footprint and were within the “tithe”.

The “tithe” was a unique concept to approach funding of the CSR projects, the communities

and the partner organizations to involve. The ‘tithe’ dictated that a percentage, 5%-10% of

every product/service sale was set aside by the organization to go back to the community

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where the organization the company that bought the product/service hails from, this would

not only strengthen the organization ties with the new partner but also introduce the

organization to the community as well as paint the partner in good light with the community.

With the Extent of CSR achieved in Kenya by the business community, Kivuitu and

Fox (2005) provide some insights into CSR in Kenya. Although the term is relatively new,

the notion that business that has responsibilities to society is well established in Kenyan

Society. Kivuitu and Fox assert that there already exist many initiatives that may be described

as Corporate Social Responsibility. The notion of CSR is most commonly associated with

philanthropy at present. Companies make donations to help alleviate social problems,

justified by the belief that companies should ‘give something back’ to the societies in which

they operate. Unfortunately, there is a “tradition of companies using philanthropy as a

respectable means of buying off stakeholders to accept their operating practices” (Hopkins,

2007, p. 175). Corruption is a major obstacle to achieving CSR in Kenya. However, the

trajectory of CSR has been influenced by civil society organizations campaigning against

poor labour practices and environmentally damaging production processes in the export

sectors, such as cut flowers, horticulture and textiles (Dolan et al, 2005; Kivuitu and Fox,

2005). Though, government regulations to ensure socially responsible behaviour remain

limited.

Rather, CSR-related organizations including Ufadhili and the Sisa Center for

Corporate Partnership are raising the profile of CSR at the national level. Multilateral and

bilateral development agencies are also leading CSR initiatives. For instance, Kenya has been

selected for the UN Global Compact/UNDP ‘Growing Sustainable Business for Poverty

Reduction’ initiative (Kivuitu and Fox, 2005) and more than thirty national companies have

joined the Global Compact Kenya network (UNDP, 2007). In addition, Kenya is attracting

foreign investors who have already established CSR practices. The CSR initiatives of these

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companies provide a benchmark against which companies in Kenya develop and measure

their CSR. CSR in Kenya may therefore be homogenous with Western notions of CSR.

Kivuitu and Fox (2005) highlight the need to localize the CSR agenda, and for there to be a

Kenyan CSR.

Businesses increase their operations in Africa which has its own challenges in

development, it needs to be in a sustainable way that both brings long term profitability and

sustainable development

Most banks of today, have manage to impact the different communities, for example

at National Bank they understand that they have a responsibility to their society and have

made a CSR an integral part of their business a culture. To underline their deep commitment

of making a difference in people’s lives, they are guided by an existing policy and the Bank

commits a substantial budgetary allocation each year to CSR initiatives. The Bank’s CSR

efforts focus on a few key areas. Environments, the Bank rolled out a campaign across the

bank’s branch network with a target to plant and sustain over two million trees all over Kenya

by 2017. This was a part of their contribution to national development and improving the

wellbeing of communities where they do business. Their efforts aim to increase Kenya’s

forest cover to the desirable standards and protect the environment from present and future

generation. Health; National Bank has been keen to the efforts to reach out to the sick and

unfortunate members of the society and so they are working to complement the efforts of the

governments in provision of better healthcare. The Bank offers long term solutions to health

care all over the country through the construction of health facilities, donation of machines

and equipment’s for government hospitals. Education; everyone knows that education is the

backbone of development in a country and therefore the Bank has been a key player in

support of educational initiatives that raise the standards of education. The bank has aided

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schools in the construction of classrooms, laboratories, sanitation facilities and provision of

equipment. These include:

Provision of text books to Milimani Secondary school and Friends Secondary School in

Mugomari and chairs and lockers to Awendo Primary School and Kamagambo Day

Secondary School. Construction of a sanitary block and a water tank in Thindigua Primary

School, Kiambu and donating water tanks to Makunga and St. Phillip Yago mixed secondary

schools. We have also donated computers to various schools across the country in order to

improve computer literacy in schools. Finally, the bank has continued with the school’s

trophy programme to reward performance in academic and sports in various schools and

institutions of higher learning. To reach the less fortunate members of our society, the bank

undertakes a number of initiatives aimed at improving the living standards of these members.

In 2012/13, the bank donated basic amenities like food stuff, double decker beds and

beddings to Bishop Luigi Locati Children’s home and Joy-Land Special Secondary school.

During the Christmas Festive season the bank donated gifts to the Soweto Good Samaritan

Orphans and Destitute Children’s Centre and the Mama Fatuma Goodwill Children’s Homes.

Discuss the role of CSR in Kenya today

a. Corporate social responsibility helps people in Kenya today to acquire talents.

Organizations with a reputation for corporate social responsibility take advantage of their

status to strengthen their appeal as an attractive employer by making commitment part of

their value proposition for potential candidates. It is also found that when employees view

their organization`s commitment to socially responsible behaviour more favourably, they also

tend to have positive attitudes in other areas that collate with better performance. They

believe their organizations recognizes and rewards great customer service, act quickly to

address and resolve customer concerns, and are led by people in senior management who act

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in the best interest of customers. To share the negative consequences as a result of

industrialization. This leads to businesses adopting a more conscience-focused way of doing

business and behaving more ethically because it’d be “unfair” to agitate the community they

are in.

b. Closer ties between corporations and community.

Through CSR the existence of corporations in the social system is felt beyond a perception

that corporation is a place just to get employment and producers of goods and services.

Therefore, corporations and community would stay in peace and harmony.

c. Helping to get talents.

Organizations with a great CSR reputation can take advantage of their status and strengthen

their appeal as an attractive employer by making their commitment part of their value

proposition for potential candidates.

d. Transfer of technology (TOT)

International organizations participating in CSR in Kenya help communities gain when they

train their people and or bring technologically advanced solutions to problems in the

community. Barton (2007) highlights three mechanisms of international technology transfer:

the flow of human resources; the flow of public-sector technology support; and the flow of

private technology.

e. CSR helps to protect environment

By an organization becoming committed to reducing their environmental footprint, it gives

benefit to society and community in preserving the latter’s rights towards reaping healthy

environment; a social capital that is beneficial to the organization and the community.

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f. CSR for human rights

The United Nations have launched the “Global Compact” – an initiative to convince

international companies to commit themselves to universal principles in relation to protection

of human rights (UN Global Compact, 2009). Being the world's largest voluntary corporate

responsibility initiative, the UN Global Compact is also seen a strategic policy for businesses

that are committed to aligning their operations and strategies within the areas of human

rights, labor, and environment.

g. Interdependency between a corporation and community.

The close link between a corporation and community is another aspect of CSR role in the

community because in long run it creates sustainable development.

h. CSR to alleviate poverty.

An organization can for example sponsor a program that trains, equips and educates

communities to be self-sufficient and thereby alleviate poverty.

i. CSR fighting crime

An organization can sponsor the erecting and installation of light towers or police posts in

slum areas and other areas with a high crime rate and it’ll not only benefit the police force but

also the community and support business objectives.

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 In conclusion corporate social responsibility is about business, government civil

society collaboration with bottom line is the achievement of a win-win situation among the

three payments. The roles of corporate social responsibility refer to the ways the responsible

behaviour is perceived by the community of stakeholders and how impacts are felt by them. It

is also concluded that the skills needed by corporate social responsibility managers do vary

due to the diverse disciplines involved and also the complexity of the roles and

responsibilities of a corporate social responsibility initiative. There are no specific

qualifications required for this field. Because field is new, transferrable skills and knowledge

from other related specializations such as environmental management, business ethics,

transfer of technology, human resource management and community development are valued.

In short, the skills required by managers are classified as business skills, people skills and

technical skills; and the specific skills required are further determined by the mission and

vision of the organizations where the CSR managers serve.

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 Reference

Bennett J. 2002, Social Responsibility and Conflict, Journal of International

Affairs, spring 2002, vol 55, no. 2

Blowfield 2007, Reasons to be cheerful? What we know about CSR’s impact,

Third world Quartely, 28:4, 683-695

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ITS ROLE IN COMMUNITY

DEVELOPMENT

http://www.sosyalarastirmalar.com/cilt2/sayi9pdf/ismail_maimunah.pdf

A KEY COMPONET OF SAFARICOM FOUNDATIONS

http://www.safaricom.co.ke/annual_report_2010/pdf/csr.pdf

An Insight into Corporate Social Responsibility in Kenya by. Victoria Emma

Gilbert, University of Nottingham.

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National Bank of Kenya Corporate Social Responsibility

http://nationalbank.co.ke/corporate-social-responsibility-csr/

CSR IN KENYA: FACTORS THAT DRIVE and AFFECT THE BUSINESS

COMMUNITY: Published: 23rd March, 2015

https://www.ukessays.com/essays/business/csr-in-kenya-factors-that-affect-

business-community-business-essay.php

Making the most of corporate social responsibility by Tracey Keys, Thomas

W. Malnight, and Kees van der Graaf

http://www.mckinsey.com/global-themes/leadership/making-the-most-of-

corporate-social-responsibility

What is Corporate Social Responsibility? by Sammi Caramela, Business News

Daily Contributor June 27, 2016

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4679-corporate-social-

responsibility.html#sthash.kEU6mnS9.dpuf

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