Social responsibility in developing countries by Wayne Visser

Today morning found fascinating publication that helps to broader one’s mind “Social Responsibility in developing countries” chapter 21 in CSR in Global Context by Wayne Visser. He is a person with bright mind - poet, author, speaker and academic, with a passion for Africa and corporate sustainability & responsibility and more, the Founder and Director of the think-tank CSR International.

Here in our blog I would like to post some ideas of his work. Namely, Visser in Social Responsibility in developing countries starts “The challenge for corporate social responsibility in developing countries is framed by a vision that was distilled in 2000 into the Millennium Development Goals and then presents a statement from United Nation Millennium Development Goals Report 2006, issued in Brussels “a world with less poverty, hunger and disease, greater survival prospects for mothers and their infants, better educated children, equal opportunities for women, and a healthier environment”. He continues “Unfortunately, these global aspirations remain far from being met in many developing countries today” and therefore questions “what is the role of business in tackling the critical issues of human development and environmental sustainability in developing countries?” To give more ground he refers to his own earlier publication from 2007 “the formal and informal ways in which business makes a contribution to improving the governance, social, ethical, labour and environmental conditions of the developing countries in which they operate, while remaining sensitive to prevailing religious, historical and cultural contexts”.

In his work Visser conducts funded literature research and presents drivers of CSR in developing countries and proposes a pyramid model of CSR for developing countries.

He writes “While many believe CSR is a Western invention (and this may be largely true in its modern conception), there is ample evidence that CSR in developing countries draws strongly on deep-rooted indigenous cultural traditions of philanthropy, business ethics, and community embeddedness”. He adds “Indeed, some of these traditions go back to ancient times”.

Drivers of CSR in developing countries

Visser, having considered the various drivers for CSR in developing countries questions if the current Western conceptions and models of CSR are adequate for describing CSR in developing countries and proposes modifications to the most popular CRS Pyramid Carroll´s model.

CSR pyramid for developing countries

He explains his approach as “hence, in developing countries, economic responsibilities still get the most emphasis, however, philanthropy is given second highest priority, followed by legal and then ethical responsibilities”.

In the conclusion of this chapter he summarizes “In developing countries, CSR is most commonly associated with philanthropy or charity, i.e. through corporate social investment in education, health, sports development, the environment, and other community services”, that has been the main line we have followed in publishing posts in our blog.

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Find the full chapter 21 Social Responsibility in Developing Countries in CSR in Global Context available at http://www.waynevisser.com/chapter_wvisser_csr_dev_countries.pdf and more work by Wayne Visser by Googeling his name.

Wish nice Sunday to everyone!

Posted by Maie Peetri