Why CSR principles differ globally
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be viewed as a global governance mechanism.
Understanding CSR from this perspective is useful for realising why civil society organisations and governments are interested in CSR. The view of CSR as a global governance mechanism emerges from the global trans-national institutions that developed in the twentieth century, such as the United Nations, the International Labour Organisation, The World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), together with international treaties and agreements negotiated by governments and non-government organisations.
These institutions and arrangements are designed to create international order around the pillars of democracy, respect for human rights, and economic development.
Checks reveal that, the world’s failures to redress poverty and abuses of human rights and the need to assure equitable benefits from trade liberalisation have driven the rise of the CSR concept among these organisations. This explains the plethora of initiatives at this level, such as the UN’s Bruntdland Commission which popularised the notion of sustainable development and the proliferation of over 300 different codes and guidelines related to corporate social responsibility.
Despite the development in the area of CSR, an issue such as, CSR is not the same in meaning in all countries of the world still arises. While some analysts believe that CSR is the same in meaning across the world, others are of the view that corporate social responsibility is the same. They however, relate their argument to a lot of differences between countries, their specific contexts and cultural factors,
Reacting to this issue, an Expert in CSR, Adewale Okoya told Daily Times that, it is a matter of semantics. Though, he said that the fundamental definition of CSR may be the same across the world, the approach to CSR is not the same at all.
For instance, he continued, in countries like Nigeria, CSR should be taught at colleges and universities to make students aware of the nature and role of CSR in development. They must know that companies exist in societies and should give back a lot to society through effective CSR initiatives.
An accreditation mechanism should be put in place for companies through an independent agency for mainstreaming and institutionalizing CSR in the main business framework of the companies.
According to him, “CSR has the same meaning in the balance of economic, social and environmental issues. The principle of sustainability is the same everywhere, but each country has different peculiarities that request several approaches in practices. In my opinion, after globalization, all countries need to develop a common framework in respect to standards.
Obviously, triple bottom line shows different shades in different macro-regions. However the highest values of CSR have to be the same for all countries, but with policies dedicated to the country’s specific emerging issues.”
“There are great differences in financial reporting patterns among countries, even given similar reporting frameworks. These patterns depend on a host of factors, like the legal and economic environment and the adherence to internationally recognized reporting guidance, to mention just the few. Therefore, I would assume that CSR would also differ.”
Also speaking, a public affairs commentator, Pwano Maxwell said; “More recently, scholars have argued by reference to the experience of well-known companies, such as Shell and Motorola, that the corporation be understood as an entity with the purpose of creating wealth in all forms for its stakeholders.”
Wealth is broadly defined as “the cumulative result of corporate performance over time, including all of the assets, competencies and revenue-generating capacities developed by the firm.” By attending to the interests and issues of a wider set of stakeholders, corporations can maximise their intangible assets, such as relationships, goodwill, reputation, trust and opportunities for innovation.”
Building on a stakeholder view of the firm, management gurus Michael Porter and Mark Kramer introduced the concept of “shared value” in Harvard Business Review in 2011,sying that, “It has become one of the most influential and widely read articles related to the field of CSR. Its most prominent contribution to thinking on CSR is to emphasise the need to bring scale and innovation to address social problems. In this respect it echoes ‘bottom of the pyramid ideas first described.”
L-R: Marketing Manager, GOtv, Johnson Ivase, General Manager, GOtv, Akinola Salu, GOtv Ambassador, John Odafe Asiemo aka Daddy Showkey; Jennifer Ukoh, Public Relations Manager, GOtv and Martin Mabutho, General Manager, Marketing and Sales, MultiChoice Nigeria during the launch of GOtv MAX, a new bouquet on the GOtv platform, recently… in Lagos.
Stories by Godwin Anyebe
