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The role of corporate social investment initiatives in South African education / Nicole Margo SolomonSolomon, Nicole Margo January 2013 (has links)
Business is arguably the most powerful institution of our society and ever since the publication of the second King Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa (King II) in 2002, South African corporate companies have sharpened their focus on their commitment to the “Triple Bottom Line”, an expanded baseline for measuring a company’s performance which includes, in addition to the traditional financial yardstick, accounting of the impact of their activities on society and the environment. It is impossible for organisations to ignore the impact of social, ethical and environmental issues on their business.
This research provides an overview of Corporate Social Investment initiatives in South Africa towards developing education. There is a demand for corporate companies to comply with both the King Report on Corporate Governance as well as Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment. Considering the poor state of education, both Government and the private sector are contributing financially to improve the socio-economic conditions of the country, specifically the state of education. Government’s contribution to public education remains its single largest investment, because it is the key to reducing poverty and accelerating long-term economic growth. However, very little impact can be measured as conditions are still very poor and problems still persist. There is no integrated, sustainable focused approach which can be effectively measured and evaluated.
The purpose of this research is to investigate initiatives toward the development of education, the focus and the magnitude and effects of initiatives. Thereafter a more synergetic and integrated plan is presented and recommended to the corporate sector to assist in developing education. / MCom (Business Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013
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Instituições sociais e operacionalização de políticas públicas: análise crítica das ações voltadas para jovens no município de Santo André / Social institutions and putting public policies into operation: critical analysis on actions aimed towards young people in the municipality of Santo André, SPPasquim, Heitor Martins 19 May 2010 (has links)
O objeto deste estudo são instituições com projetos dirigidos a jovens, compreendidas como aquelas que concretizam em forma e conteúdo a política, por sua vez tomada como resposta ao conflito entre necessidades de grupos sociais e entre diferentes projetos de hegemonia. Tomou-se juventude como categoria social, que não se encerra no âmbito individual, construída a partir das contradições inerentes à organização e ao funcionamento do modo de produção. Para delineamento do estudo, foi considerado jovem aquele entre 15 e 24 anos. Partiu-se do pressuposto, pautado em revisão bibliográfica, de que as experiências institucionais estariam focalizadas em jovens considerados problemáticos pelas condições de reprodução social ou por seu comportamento desviante e as ações pulverizadas em diferentes entidades de atendimento, para responder a situações/grupos de risco, distante da finalidade de responder necessidades das juventudes. Os objetivos foram descrever as instituições com projetos e ações voltados a jovens do município de Santo André; analisar as características dos projetos e ações desenvolvidas por essas instituições; analisar como os projetos e as ações desenvolvidos por elas se articulam entre si, e com o projeto público municipal. O estudo foi realizado no município paulista de Santo André, onde ressalta-se o acúmulo de atuação resultante de três gestões petistas consecutivas. Onze instituições aceitaram participar da entrevista, instrumento usado para a coleta de dados. Os projetos destinam-se a jovens com precárias condições de reprodução social, selecionados por agrupamento de riscos, com ações que respondem a critérios pré-estabelecidos para se adequarem a algum repasse direto ou indireto de verbas. A juventude como etapa problemática é a abordagem em que se pautavam projetos e ações de dez instituições e apenas em uma a concepção adotada era a do jovem como ator estratégico do desenvolvimento. Paradoxalmente, os projetos oferecem espaços de socialização e acesso a renda que possibilita ao jovem uma certa realização pessoal. Entretanto, a finalidade institucional primordial é afastar jovens do ócio e do desemprego, entendidos como causas de desvios comportamentais, violência e pobreza. As ações mais relatadas são aulas e palestras, para transmissão de técnicas operacionais básicas e de comportamentos para concorrer a colocações no mercado de trabalho. Os resultados evidenciaram ainda que as instituições têm caráter privado. Os projetos institucionais não se articulam e não são monitorados pelo poder público local. A precariedade e a constante ameaça de cortes no orçamento são as marcas profundas desses projetos, que refletem os encaminhamentos das políticas públicas. / The focus of this study is institutions that have projects aimed towards young people, and specifically those that put public policies into operation. Such policies are implemented as responses to the conflict between the needs of social groups and between different civilizing projects. Youth was taken to be a social category that was not closed at individual level, and this was constructed from the contradictions inherent to the organization and functioning of the means of production. To delineate the study, young people were taken to be between 15 and 24 years of age. The initial presupposition, backed by a review of the literature, was that institutional experiences would be focused on young people who were considered problematic (because of the conditions of social reproduction or because of their deviant behavior) and that the disseminated actions at different care-providing entities, for responding to situations and groups at risk, would be far from the purpose of responding to the needs of such young people. The objectives were to describe the institutions that had projects and actions aimed towards young people in the municipality of Santo André; to analyze the characteristics of the projects and the actions developed by these institutions; and to analyze how the projects and actions thus developed interlinked with each other and with the municipal public project. The study was conducted in the municipality of Santo André, state of São Paulo, where it is highlighted that the cumulative actions are the result from three consecutive administrations in the hands of the Workers Party. Eleven institutions agreed to participate in interviews, which were the data gathering instrument. The projects were aimed towards young people with precarious conditions of social reproduction, who were selected through risk grouping, with actions that responded to preestablished eligibility criteria for direct or indirect fund allocation. Youth as a problematic stage was the approach governing the projects and actions of ten institutions, while only one institution took the concept of young people as strategic players for development. The projects provided spaces for socialization and access to income that enabled the young people to achieve a certain degree of self-fulfillment. However, the basic institutional objective was to lead young people away from idleness and unemployment, which were understood to be the causes of behavioral deviation, violence and poverty. The actions most often reported were classes and talks, in order to pass over basic operational and behavioral techniques for competing for placements within the job market. The results also showed that the institutions have private nature. The institutional projects did not interlink and were not monitored by the local public authorities. Precariousness and the constant threat of budgetary cuts deeply marked these projects, which reflected the directions of public policies.
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A internacionalização de investimentos sociais privados corporativos : uma análise de práticas de empresas multinacionais brasileirasZingano, Elisa Dihl January 2014 (has links)
No cenário de crescente envolvimento do setor privado em questões sociais públicas, em que a distinção entre o público e o privado torna-se cada vez mais tênue e empresas são conclamadas para a solução de demandas sociais, disseminam-se práticas de Responsabilidade Social Corporativa (RSC), e organizações multinacionais passam, gradativamente, a desenvolver iniciativas sociais além de suas fronteiras, enfrentando desafios inusitados. O Investimento Social Privado (ISP), que é definido na literatura brasileira como o repasse de recursos voluntários a projetos sociais e que representa a dimensão da RSC focada na comunidade e nas ações sociais voltadas ao interesse público (GIFE, 2013), vem se tornando objeto constante de pesquisas no Brasil. Dentre os desafios relacionados ao ISP, aponta-se a lacuna de estudos que analisem a internacionalização do Investimento Social Privado, fato este particularmente significativo visto que multinacionais brasileiras vêm expandindo suas práticas sociais para além das fronteiras do país (NOGUEIRA; SCHOMMER, 2009). Neste contexto, a presente pesquisa qualitativa e exploratória, realizada através de estudos de casos múltiplos em quatro representativas multinacionais brasileiras que investem socialmente em países estrangeiros nos quais mantêm atividades, se propõe a investigar como ocorre a internacionalização do Investimento Social de multinacionais brasileiras, analisando seus principais desafios e limitações. Os resultados apontam como principal desafio à internacionalização do ISP brasileiro o seu processo de governança, caracterizado pela baixa participação de seus stakeholders ao longo do processo, especialmente das comunidades locais, fato potencializado pela falta de articulação de atores locais em determinados países. Assim, o estudo propõe uma reflexão sobre o Investimento Social realizado na atualidade por multinacionais brasileiras no exterior, visto, de um lado, as preocupações do setor empresarial em relação ao respeito aos povos locais e, de outro, o baixo envolvimento das empresas com as demais partes interessadas. / In increasing private sector involvement in social public issues, where the distinction between public and private becomes tenuous and companies are invited for the solution of social demands, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices are spreading, and multinational companies are gradually developing social initiatives beyond its borders, facing numerous issues. The Private Social Investment (PSI), which is defined in Brazilian literature as the voluntary transfer of resources to social projects and that is the dimension of CSR focused on the community and on the public interest (GIFE, 2012), becomes a constant subject of study in Brazil in recent years. Among the challenges related to PSI, it is pointed the gap in the investigation of the internationalization of Brazilian Private Social Investment, as the phenomenon of expansion of Brazilian multinationals, often accompanied by the promotion of social practices by these global companies in the countries in which they operate (NOGUEIRA; SCHOMMER, 2009). In this context, this qualitative and exploratory study conducted through case studies in four representative Brazilian multinationals that invest socially in foreign countries in which they hold activities , proposes to investigate how the internationalization of Social Investment of Brazilian multinationals occurs, analyzing its main challenges and limitations. The results indicate that the main challenge to the internationalization of Brazilian PSI is related to its governance process, characterized by low participation of its stakeholders, particularly local communities, throughout the process, a situation aggravated by the lack of coordination of local actors in certain countries. Thus, the study proposes a reflection on the current phenomenon of social investment led by Brazilian multinationals abroad, since on the one hand, the concerns of the business sector in relation to respect for local people, and on the other, the low involvement of companies with other stakeholders.
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Social investment as a strategy to achieve Sustainable Development Goals : a critical assessmentHorsfield, Will January 2019 (has links)
This paper assesses the relevance of social investment in relation to the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), targets, and indicators. The research question is: How could social investment support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals? The thesis conceptualises social investment, sustainable development, and sustainability, before turning to the issue of how social investment could enhance its impact by focusing on areas of policy that it has not considered typically. This thesis goes beyond addressing the SDGs themselves to consider other issues that shall arguably be significant in relation to achievement of the 2030 Agenda, such as the contentious matter of limits to growth. The thesis includes a content analysis of the global indicator framework for the 2030 Agenda, based upon social investment-related search terms and focused reading of particular examples from the social investment literature. The first part of the analysis suggests that social investment in its current form can contribute towards Goal 4 on quality education and Goal 8 on decent work and economic growth; and to a somewhat lesser extent towards Goal 1 on no poverty, Goal 5 on gender equality, and Goal 10 on reduced inequalities. The analysis considers subsequently further SDGs that social investment could ultimately support. While recognising the value of social investment as understood usually for policymaking to achieve the SDGs, the concluding section suggests that a broadened version of social investment could strengthen policy relevance.
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The philanthropic contract: building social capital through corporate social investmentCooke, David Unknown Date (has links)
This study investigates the relationship between profit-making corporations and the not-for-profit sector within Australia. The broad field of corporate social responsibility, or CSR, is discussed, narrowing to the activity of corporate philanthropy and corporate social investment. The latter is defined as being philanthropy with strategic intent, in order to build capacity within the recipient organisation which in most cases will produce beneficial outcomes for the donor as well (Tracey, 2003). The title of this study has used the term ‘philanthropic contract’ (Broadbent, 2001; Kouzmin, 2007) to describe the relationship between commercial organisations and charitable ones and the unwritten societal expectation, that the corporate sector will support the work of members of the not-for-profit sector. This study also uses the term ‘social capital’ (Putnam, 1995) to describe one of the principle areas of benefit for companies who participate.The aspect of the relationship between the two sectors that formed the focus of this study is defined as being the interaction between the two that involves financial contributions and those of goods and services as well as expertise, information and influence flowing from profit-making companies to not-for-profit organisations.The direction of the research is to advance toward an understanding of why corporations engage in this practice and toward a conclusion as to whether corporate social investing is a mutually beneficial exchange. Finally, the study highlights examples of engagement processes, and advice from those participating. The inclusion of these in the study is designed to provide valuable learning for other corporations, and not-for-profit organisations, contemplating entering into their own philanthropic partnerships.Through ten qualitative interviews this inquiry investigated the attitudes toward this relationship of various stakeholders including the management of not-for-profit organisations, representatives of relevant associations and social commentators. It became apparent that the previously well-publicised opposition to publicly listed companies supporting the not-for-profit sector, proffered by organisations such as the Australian Shareholders’ Association, had largely evaporated.Case studies involving five profit-making corporations, operating within Australia, were then undertaken and the views of their senior management sought as regards their motivations, aims, and outcomes. Overwhelmingly their experiences were positive for the corporation, the organisations they were funding, and the members of the community that the recipients were in turn supporting.Corporate benefits reported included increased ability to attract quality staff, enhanced ability to retain staff, significant development for staff that actively participated, improved corporate culture and the building of social capital leading to enhanced reputation which supported the corporations licence to operate, future objectives and long term sustainability.It is hoped that these insights along with the advice offered up by those individuals and organisations that participated in the study will benefit others and promote greater participation in corporate philanthropy and social investment within Australia. vii
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Experiences and perceptions of mining CSR representatives in Thabazimbi municipality: dependency and empowerment / Lesego Rammusi.Rammusi, Charlotte Lesego January 2013 (has links)
The aim of the research was to understand the experiences and challenges of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Thabazimbi and the implications and consequences for communities in terms of dependency and empowerment, as seen from the perspective of the mining representatives.
As corporate citizens, mining companies generate profits through the exploitation of mineral resources. There is an expectation that some of the benefits of this mining endeavours should be passed on to communities surrounding the company. This is generally considered the best sustainability practice and companies are expected to act as responsible corporate citizens.
Most of the previous research on CSR has focused on the perceptions of community members. This research is unique in that it focuses on the effects of CSR on the experiences and perceptions of key personnel from the mining companies who are responsible for the designing and implementing CSR strategies.
Mining company representatives did acknowledge that the past approach to CSR has created some dependency issues. However, more recently the company has moved to a strategy that focuses more on empowerment. They also acknowledge that, going forward, a new challenge emerges for mining companies, communities and local government. This challenge is to work towards ensuring sustainable development and empowerment with the focus on actual community needs. The conclusion was that for empowerment to be realised all relevant stakeholders need to play a role in the development process. / Thesis (Master of Development and Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.
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Experiences and perceptions of mining CSR representatives in Thabazimbi municipality: dependency and empowerment / Lesego Rammusi.Rammusi, Charlotte Lesego January 2013 (has links)
The aim of the research was to understand the experiences and challenges of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Thabazimbi and the implications and consequences for communities in terms of dependency and empowerment, as seen from the perspective of the mining representatives.
As corporate citizens, mining companies generate profits through the exploitation of mineral resources. There is an expectation that some of the benefits of this mining endeavours should be passed on to communities surrounding the company. This is generally considered the best sustainability practice and companies are expected to act as responsible corporate citizens.
Most of the previous research on CSR has focused on the perceptions of community members. This research is unique in that it focuses on the effects of CSR on the experiences and perceptions of key personnel from the mining companies who are responsible for the designing and implementing CSR strategies.
Mining company representatives did acknowledge that the past approach to CSR has created some dependency issues. However, more recently the company has moved to a strategy that focuses more on empowerment. They also acknowledge that, going forward, a new challenge emerges for mining companies, communities and local government. This challenge is to work towards ensuring sustainable development and empowerment with the focus on actual community needs. The conclusion was that for empowerment to be realised all relevant stakeholders need to play a role in the development process. / Thesis (Master of Development and Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.
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Managing Globalisation: Governing the subjects and spaces of Queensland education in the first decade of the 21st century.Stephen Hay Unknown Date (has links)
This thesis documents the attempts by one Australian State government to manage assumed social and economic risks associated with its transition into a globalised economy and society. The specific research focus is on the policy strategy Queensland State Education–2010 (QSE-2010) developed by the Queensland State government and released in 2000. The thesis adopts a governmentality perspective to develop a policy case study focusing on the formulation of QSE-2010 through to its implementation as set out in the Queensland Government’s 2002 White Paper, Education and Training Reforms for the Future. The research demonstrates how one State education system in Australia was transformed as a result of the spread of global risk rationalities originating in comparative studies conducted by the OECD. The study begins by examining how QSE-2010 was discursively positioned within a policy environment characterised by the transformation of social and economic relations into deterritorialised flows and globally connected networks of the global knowledge economy. Queensland’s future prosperity in this emerging context was articulated as unpredictable and uncertain. The policy discourse of QSE-2010 thus presented the global as a novel problem space requiring intervention by responsible government. This analysis identifies the key policy role of knowledge producing practices such as statistical studies, international comparisons and performance benchmarking in transforming global uncertainty into a form that was conducive to governmental programming in education. In the case of education in Queensland, this involved mobilising specific calculative technologies to transform global economic uncertainty into knowable and calculable educational risk. This was expressed in QSE-2010s principal performance target that required 88 percent of students to complete Year 12 by 2010. This study further traces how Education Queensland’s aspirations to manage globalisation risks were translated into practical programs of social and educational governance. It proposes that the concept of social capital was critical for providing a means of attributing economic value to certain patterns of social interaction within families and between families and communities. Once authorities were able to link particular patterns of sociability to increased levels of educational attainment, it became possible to problematise the social capital of some families as a potential source of risk for educational disengagement of students. Here, the social capital believed to characterise the professional, globally networked middle class family emerged as a model for education authorities in Queensland for re-configuring the social capital of disadvantaged families. Social capital thus became instrumental in Education Queensland’s strategy to govern the relationships between schools and their communities, especially relationships between the home and school. Understanding of the problem of educational disengagement afforded by social capital led to attempts to impose particular forms of social capital on Queensland families. This was achieved by mandating the involvement of parents and students in the process of Senior Education and Training Plans. These plans were formally negotiated education and training pathways that students would follow for the completion of the senior phase of learning and the award of the Queensland Certificate of Education. The study argues that governmental technologies such as social capital are critical determinants of the limits and possibilities for social justice outcomes in education policy because they function to constitute both the problems of government and the scope of legitimate policy intervention. It further argues that these technologies have been instrumental in sustaining neoliberal policy solutions in Queensland education because they render invisible socio-economic explanations for educational disadvantage and structured inequalities in education. The study concludes by exploring alternative policy configurations that are made intelligible by alternative ways of representing the social and economic context of schooling.
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Managing Globalisation: Governing the subjects and spaces of Queensland education in the first decade of the 21st century.Stephen Hay Unknown Date (has links)
This thesis documents the attempts by one Australian State government to manage assumed social and economic risks associated with its transition into a globalised economy and society. The specific research focus is on the policy strategy Queensland State Education–2010 (QSE-2010) developed by the Queensland State government and released in 2000. The thesis adopts a governmentality perspective to develop a policy case study focusing on the formulation of QSE-2010 through to its implementation as set out in the Queensland Government’s 2002 White Paper, Education and Training Reforms for the Future. The research demonstrates how one State education system in Australia was transformed as a result of the spread of global risk rationalities originating in comparative studies conducted by the OECD. The study begins by examining how QSE-2010 was discursively positioned within a policy environment characterised by the transformation of social and economic relations into deterritorialised flows and globally connected networks of the global knowledge economy. Queensland’s future prosperity in this emerging context was articulated as unpredictable and uncertain. The policy discourse of QSE-2010 thus presented the global as a novel problem space requiring intervention by responsible government. This analysis identifies the key policy role of knowledge producing practices such as statistical studies, international comparisons and performance benchmarking in transforming global uncertainty into a form that was conducive to governmental programming in education. In the case of education in Queensland, this involved mobilising specific calculative technologies to transform global economic uncertainty into knowable and calculable educational risk. This was expressed in QSE-2010s principal performance target that required 88 percent of students to complete Year 12 by 2010. This study further traces how Education Queensland’s aspirations to manage globalisation risks were translated into practical programs of social and educational governance. It proposes that the concept of social capital was critical for providing a means of attributing economic value to certain patterns of social interaction within families and between families and communities. Once authorities were able to link particular patterns of sociability to increased levels of educational attainment, it became possible to problematise the social capital of some families as a potential source of risk for educational disengagement of students. Here, the social capital believed to characterise the professional, globally networked middle class family emerged as a model for education authorities in Queensland for re-configuring the social capital of disadvantaged families. Social capital thus became instrumental in Education Queensland’s strategy to govern the relationships between schools and their communities, especially relationships between the home and school. Understanding of the problem of educational disengagement afforded by social capital led to attempts to impose particular forms of social capital on Queensland families. This was achieved by mandating the involvement of parents and students in the process of Senior Education and Training Plans. These plans were formally negotiated education and training pathways that students would follow for the completion of the senior phase of learning and the award of the Queensland Certificate of Education. The study argues that governmental technologies such as social capital are critical determinants of the limits and possibilities for social justice outcomes in education policy because they function to constitute both the problems of government and the scope of legitimate policy intervention. It further argues that these technologies have been instrumental in sustaining neoliberal policy solutions in Queensland education because they render invisible socio-economic explanations for educational disadvantage and structured inequalities in education. The study concludes by exploring alternative policy configurations that are made intelligible by alternative ways of representing the social and economic context of schooling.
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The philanthropic contract: building social capital through corporate social investmentCooke, David Unknown Date (has links)
This study investigates the relationship between profit-making corporations and the not-for-profit sector within Australia. The broad field of corporate social responsibility, or CSR, is discussed, narrowing to the activity of corporate philanthropy and corporate social investment. The latter is defined as being philanthropy with strategic intent, in order to build capacity within the recipient organisation which in most cases will produce beneficial outcomes for the donor as well (Tracey, 2003). The title of this study has used the term ‘philanthropic contract’ (Broadbent, 2001; Kouzmin, 2007) to describe the relationship between commercial organisations and charitable ones and the unwritten societal expectation, that the corporate sector will support the work of members of the not-for-profit sector. This study also uses the term ‘social capital’ (Putnam, 1995) to describe one of the principle areas of benefit for companies who participate.The aspect of the relationship between the two sectors that formed the focus of this study is defined as being the interaction between the two that involves financial contributions and those of goods and services as well as expertise, information and influence flowing from profit-making companies to not-for-profit organisations.The direction of the research is to advance toward an understanding of why corporations engage in this practice and toward a conclusion as to whether corporate social investing is a mutually beneficial exchange. Finally, the study highlights examples of engagement processes, and advice from those participating. The inclusion of these in the study is designed to provide valuable learning for other corporations, and not-for-profit organisations, contemplating entering into their own philanthropic partnerships.Through ten qualitative interviews this inquiry investigated the attitudes toward this relationship of various stakeholders including the management of not-for-profit organisations, representatives of relevant associations and social commentators. It became apparent that the previously well-publicised opposition to publicly listed companies supporting the not-for-profit sector, proffered by organisations such as the Australian Shareholders’ Association, had largely evaporated.Case studies involving five profit-making corporations, operating within Australia, were then undertaken and the views of their senior management sought as regards their motivations, aims, and outcomes. Overwhelmingly their experiences were positive for the corporation, the organisations they were funding, and the members of the community that the recipients were in turn supporting.Corporate benefits reported included increased ability to attract quality staff, enhanced ability to retain staff, significant development for staff that actively participated, improved corporate culture and the building of social capital leading to enhanced reputation which supported the corporations licence to operate, future objectives and long term sustainability.It is hoped that these insights along with the advice offered up by those individuals and organisations that participated in the study will benefit others and promote greater participation in corporate philanthropy and social investment within Australia. vii
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