PROPOSAL / CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Corporate Social
Responsibility an essentially American phenomenon has over the years become a
major concern in Western Europe and in other countries of the world following
the western model of development.
According to Drucker,
(1986:66).The genesis of the debate on the concept of corporate social
responsibility has been traced to the wave of crisis in social values that
engulfed America in the post World War II period and most especially in the
sixties. The Chief Executive of General Motors who observed the changing trend
could not help observing; “I am concerned about a society that has
demonstrably lost confidence in its institutions – in the government, in the
press, in the church, in the military, as well as in business”.
Business to America has
had a most unique history. Its
development growth and impact on social life in America since the civil war II
is almost common knowledge. What
may not be common knowledge, however, is the fact that business which has
hitherto shaped and controlled the lives of millions of Americans some two
hundred years ago is today being threatened by a wave of protests from various
publics it uses to serve. The
crisis of confidence in the social role of business as made explicit in debates
on corporate social responsibility points to the fact that America sees big
business as a big powerful machine gone out of control. And efforts to control and at least
re-orientate its directions form the core of the argument of all who urge
business to change with the times. In
other words, to deemphasize its so much vaunted profit maximization dogma and
pay attention to the human lives and environment which it is subtly, ruthlessly
and almost surely grinding out of existence. As one of the protagonists has viewed
the concept of corporate social responsibility it is a crude blend of long-run
profit-making and altruism, a doctrine which fuses social values with profit
maximization goals.
In the early years of the
American Republic and especially in the post civil war reconstruction era,
business in America played an almost indispensable role as a powerful social
tool for harnessing resources and ensuring material progress. Ducker (1986:66).
But as the years rolled on and business began to concentrate and centralize
capital, its role in the economy became expansive and pervasive. At the height of prosperity, the
captains of industry were heralded as heroes of the society.
The later years of the
post World War II era harbored a different story. The boom period following the end of
World War II soon gave way to a periodic wave of depressions and crisis that
was to rock every foundations of society on which business existed. The frustrating economic situation
characterized by inflation, unemployment, failing profit, declining investment,
pollution of the external environment etc., pushed Americans to re-examine
almost every old values and the assumptions behind them.
According to Drucker,
(1986:96) the debate on corporate social responsibility did not only take place
in the United State of America. The
noise of the debate filtered through to other countries that shares similar
business cultures with America most especially the Western European countries. While the western European nations
have responded positively to the debate, accepted and even implemented some of
its own far reaching conclusions it is pertinent to know if the discussions and
conclusion so far reached have had an impact on the countries periphery.
One of the objectives of
this study is to investigate to what extent the current debate on corporate
social responsibility and its conclusion has trickled down to the periphery of
Nigeria in particular and how it is applied here by firms who have embarked on
such projects in Nigeria.
It is believed by the
researcher that although the present level of industrialization does not
entitled us to discuss the issue on the same platform with the industrialized
western economies; the fact that they are imitating their path to industrialization
should imply that we should study their experience closely to avoid mistakes.
It is arguable also that
foreign corporate bodies operating in host countries especially in the Third
World countries are most likely to pay lip service to such principles as
corporate social responsibility which are most likely to be of benefit to their
host countries. Also local
or indigenous organizations can neglect this principle of corporate social
responsibility to their host communities.
These days, social
responsibility of business is on what should or might be done to tackle and
solve problems of society. The
emphasis is on what contribution they can make to such social problems as
protected and restoration of physical environment, racial discrimination or
social discrimination.
In
striving to satisfy its corporate goals and achieve its objectives the
organization cannot operate in isolation from its environment.
The performance of
corporate social responsibility is not undertaking to boost profit at the
short-run but to meet some social needs, aspirations, and profit at the
long-run.
Organizations who hold
this view of corporate social responsibility believes that once it does what is
expected of it by law and its host community the organization is socially
responsible.
Owing to the vastness of
this topic – corporate social responsibility we shall have to restrict our
investigation to manageable proportions by focusing attention on
telecommunication sector Nigeria, using Globacom Nigeria Limited.
The telecommunication
industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in Nigeria. There are so many telecommunication
companies owned by foreign and local corporate bodies in Nigeria. These
telecommunication industries have covered a large area in Nigeria from urban to
rural areas in the country. As
a result of this, the researcher has selected one out of the many
telecommunication companies to take a look at its corporate social
responsibility project.
The researcher has decided
to pick on Globacom Nigeria Limited, Enugu Zone, and has decided to look into
its corporate social responsibility activities, to see how the company has gone
in performing its social responsibility in host community.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
In recent years there have
been series of arguments, debates and controversies among businessmen,
academics, government officials and the society in general on what should be
the principle objectives or business enterprises.
Over the years, managers
have neglected the problems created by corporate firms to their host
communities. These problems possess a lot of threat and sometimes make life
difficult for these communities. The
privilege giving to organization to operate in the society stems from the act
that society believes that there is a mutual inter-dependency existing between
them, that is, the organization and the society.
The relationship between
organizations and their host community has become increasingly important. The decision made in an organization
may influence community prosperity and also national and even internationally
economic activity might be affected. An
example of these problems is the on-going crisis in the Niger Delta region
which has led to the destruction of lives and properties. There are accusations from the youths
in these areas that companies misdirect their efforts and resources that they
should have used to develop the community to bribe opinion leaders in order to
overlook their responsibilities to the community, and these have caused a lot
of acrimonies between the two parties, community and the firm. These same problems can also be
identified in other arrears and in other communities across the country where
large companies are located. This
prompted the researcher with deep sense of burden to these communities to
unraveled the need for these large firms to see the need in helping the society
solve some of its problems, most especially those they help to create, and
involve in philanthropic donations to the needs of these communities and
provide the community with some social amenities.
Despite the roles played
by organizations carrying out corporate social responsibility and the growing
importance of social responsibility, the following issues have not been fully
addressed:
i.
Why should organizations be socially responsible to their
environment?
ii.
What benefits do organizations get from performing its corporate
social responsibility?
iii.
Why is social responsibility considered as a waste drain of
business resources?
iv.
Are organizations in Nigeria socially responsible?
In view of the above, the
researcher has taken up the issue of social responsibility in the
telecommunication sector in Nigeria and used Globacom Nigeria as a case study
to examine the extent of the company’s involvement in corporate social
responsibility.
1.2 PURPOSE OF STUDY
For organizations to
successfully survive in business, it must recognize the importance of social
responsibility to the society. The
broad objective of the study is to;
i.
Examine the argument for and against corporate social
responsibility.
ii.
Whether Globacom Nigeria Limited has been involved in social
responsibility activities, and if so, to what extent have they been involved in
their corporate social responsibility to their environment?
iii.
To examine whether the immediate environments are taking into
cognizance during planning and implementation of social responsibility,
iv.
To know the factors that motivates the adoption of corporate
social responsibility.
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS/HYPOTHESIS
In
pursuit of the objective of identifying the effectiveness and workability of
corporate social responsibility the following hypothesis have been formulated,
which intend to test in the course of this study:
Ho: The organization
involvement in social responsibility does not have an effect on the company and
its host community.
Hi:
Ho:
We also intend to answer
the following research questions to collaborate with the above hypothesis.
i.
Why is social responsibility necessary in an organization?
ii.
To what extent does an organization involvement in social
responsibility have an effect on the company and its host community?
iii.
What factors motivates the company in carrying out social
responsibility activities?
iv.
Who do you think are the beneficiaries of the company social
responsibility activities?
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY:
The study of social
responsibility of a business organization is hoped to be of benefits not only
to student’s businessmen, government, customers, community, stockholders,
academics, but the whole society. The study also hopes to highlight the problem
associated with social responsibility and to make use of the analysis to
improve the working situations thereby minimizing the problems social
responsibility conflict in that organization and its environment as well.
Finally, the study will
inform all at large, the need for corporate social responsibility not only to
the firm, but to the society at large.
1.5 SCOPE
AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
This research work focuses
on the telecommunication industry in Nigeria, but with particular reference to
Globacom Nigeria, Enugu sector.
This research was faced
with a lot of problems and limitations. The
major problem acting as a limitation was a problem of Nigerians attitude to the
supply of data to a researcher due to fear. Secondly, because of financial
constraints, the scope and dimension of this study could not be extended beyond
this limit.
1.6 DEFINITION OF TERM
Globacom: Global
communication. It is a name of a telecommunication firm in Nigeria. Global
communication limited is the case study for this research work.
Glo: A short name for
Globacom.
CSR: Corporate social
responsibility.
BSc: Bachelor of Science.
NCE: National Certificate
in Education.
OND: National Diploma.
HND: Higher National
Diploma.
MBA: Master in Business
Administration.
SSCE: Senior School
Certificate Examination.
FSLC: First School Leaving
Certificate.
