Rethinking the Conceptualization of Corporate Social Responsibility in an African Context: A Research Note

Abstract

The overall objective of this paper is to provide clarity in the understanding of the CSR concept in an African context. This conceptual paper seeks to provide some ideas about the reasons why business firms have taken up the challenge of CSR in the African context. This article adopts a conceptual approach in analysing the current debates about CSR and its linkage with the distinctive interpretations and definitions of CSR in African countries as well as a ‘political’ role of business firms in the communities in which they operate. The findings suggest that firm-society relationships would be beneficial for the continent in terms of provision of public goods that have previously been the sole prerogative of government. The distinctive interpretations and definitions of CSR in different African countries (or African communities) hint at the need to provide an important insight into ‘context-issues’ in the body of CSR research focused on the African context. The findings suggest that, within the context of an African country and/or an African community, unless we explore, in some depth, we will be unable to understand the distinctive interpretations and definitions that underpin the conceptualization of CSR. This paper provides a contribution to the CSR literature as it improves our understanding of the conceptualization of CSR in the African context. A major contribution of this paper is that we propose a framework, identifying a constellation of factors shaping a business firm’s CSR decisions in the African context. Our framework can guide empirical research into various CSR issues areas, and thereby, stimulate corporate engagement with the public good in an African context.

Keywords:Corporate social responsibility (CSR), Institutional theory, Political CSR, Governance, Government, African countries

DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/136-04

Publication date:September 30^th 2023