Corporate Social Responsibility in Namibia
A Business Monitoring and Marketing Mechanism
May 2, 2009
Corporate social responsibility, otherwise known as CSR, is a business practice not only adopted by business organisations that want to be known to achieve sustainable business success, but also by communities that want to ensure that these organizations adhere to their commitments in giving back to the community what has been taken out.
Socially Responsible Citizens
The term socially responsible citizens is the term that organizations in Namibia such as Telecom, NamPower, First National Bank, Trustco and many others have used to lay out well defined social responsibility programs; and by deeming themselves as such have regaled themselves in the business and social community by providing assistance in areas such as; environmental management, citizen empowerment, health education and Small Medium Enterprise (SME) development.
These corporate citizens spare no expense at ingratiating themselves with the community. According to a media release on the 19th March 2009 issued by Rejoice Itembu, Cell One, the second telecommunications giant in Namibia, recently spent one million Namibian dollars in their ‘Education for All' responsibility program, that aims at providing affordable education to children that are less privileged in society. These activities allow communities to compare how the profitability of an organization successfully impacts its social environment.
Sustainable Profitability
As we see the corporate social responsibility activities of organizations in Africa and the world grow, we also see the complete overhaul of the organizations corporate image. Organizations portray themselves as citizens and community figureheads, who exude community concern with a main focus on sustainable profitability. Despite firm denials, business leaders and marketers agree that this has become a very effective form of advertising and marketing, which will effectively create a lifestyle of consumption for consumers.
In the 2007 Journal of Business and Public Policy paper entitled the ‘Legitimacy of Corporate Social Responsibility as a Marketing Tool,’ J.J. Asongu asserts that for marketers, corporate social responsibility has become invaluable, but despite organizations generous efforts to serve the community, more emphasis is often placed on advertising its services. Namibian businesses could substantially benefit from incorporating CSR practices into their marketing plans to a far greater extent than what they are doing now.
As Namibia evolves to rapidly catch up with a dynamic world economy and consumer environment, it is seeing traditional business practices change and evolve as well. New methods of organizations meeting their profitability levels and providing for the community are rising up; and one of those ways is corporate social responsibility.
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