The increasing amount of power and potentially negative impacts that corporations exert within society has become a growing concern for many people. In response to this and due to the changing role of business in society, more and more members of social groups, who are affected by corporate activities, are claiming their rights to be better informed of and more involved in corporate decision-making. Consequently, the need for companies worldwide to be more accountable for the ways in which they conduct their business has grown at a tremendous rate. Especially during the last decade, companies have globally been placed under increasing pressure from different stakeholder groups to demonstrate and prove their commitments to the idea of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). In order to facilitate and guide these CSR-commitments, society has for many years already begun to implement various standards of behaviour/performance, which corporations need to achieve in order to be accepted as being part of the citizenry. However, despite an abundance of such standards in terms of CSR-related guidelines and codes, a clear need has been identified for the development of better measuring tools of CSR, in order to efficiently assess and monitor companies’ performance. The Bench Marks is one of the most comprehensive sets of social and environmental criteria and business performance indicators available. It offers an ethical standard on which to base decisions about global corporate social responsibility. Consequently, the need arose from the Bench Marks Foundation - in collaboration with the Bench Marks Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility at the North-West University – to develop the current Bench Marks CSR Framework into a practical measuring instrument. This need has successfully been fulfilled through this research by means of two methods, namely a literature review and an empirical study. During the literature study, the concepts CSR and Corporate Personality were contextualised - particularly with the investigation of related concepts; as well as critically examined - specifically in terms of their theoretical measurement properties. During the empirical research, quantitative research techniques have been utilised which involved: the application of certain ‘theoretically recognised phases’ of measuring instrument development; as well as a survey in the form of a ‘preliminary measuring instrument’ (in questionnaire format) that was administered on a random sample respondents (n = 350), including the statistical analysis of the results. 189 Questionnaires were completed, which gave a response rate of 54%. The statistical analysis mainly served as an effective guideline for determining the best CSR items (in terms of reliability and validity) to be included in the final version of the instrument. Apart from measuring CSR performance in line with the Bench Marks, the instrument that has been developed by this study, can also be used as a measuring mechanism for Corporate Personality. This is achieved by assessing company behaviour in terms of the theoretical dimensions of CSR (economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic) and Sustainable Development (economic, social and environmental). In doing so, this instrument provides companies with a unique way of identifying their status of being true Corporate Citizens. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Sociology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

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In this study it is argued that organisations can contribute to development through their Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives (CSR). Therefore one should consider CSR programmes similar to development programmes and should be managed accordingly. When one communicates in a development context it happens within the extensive field of development communication. In this field the participatory approach to development communication is regarded as the normative approach. In view of this, this study argues that communication in CSR programmes should conform to the principles of the participatory approach. Participatory evaluation is one of the elements of the participatory approach; therefore the evaluation of programmes should adhere to the principles of the participatory approach to contribute to sustainable development. For this reason this study is informed by the relevant principles of the participatory approach to evaluation: dialogue; participation; empowerment and diversity. These principles of participatory evaluation are rooted in the mentioned principles and they are: partnership; participation in evaluation; acknowledgement of local knowledge; empowerment and change. The financial sector in South Africa is one of the largest financial contributors towards CSR. As a result, two financial organisations were chosen to be studied. The research question of this study is: What is the nature of the communication during evaluation of CSR programmes in the financial sector? A qualitative approach is used in this study to obtain the relevant information. Qualitative content analysis, semi-structured interviews and focus groups were used as research methods. The conclusion is made that none of the five programmes in this study use participatory evaluation to evaluate their CSR programmes. In two of the programmes a limited partnership is identified between the organisation and/or the program leader and the beneficiaries, while no partnership was found in the other three programmes. Limited participation from the beneficiaries of the two programmes during evaluation was observed; hence limited local knowledge is recognised in these two programmes. It was also found that only two programmes' beneficiaries are empowered through evaluation and only these two programmes changed according to the beneficiaries’ input. These findings that were made through an empirical study indicate that in spite of the limited presence of some principles of participatory evaluation in two of the five programmes, neither of the organisations uses participatory evaluation methods to evaluate their CSR programmes. / Thesis (MA (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

In this study it is argued that organisations can contribute to development through their Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives (CSR). Therefore one should consider CSR programmes similar to development programmes and should be managed accordingly. When one communicates in a development context it happens within the extensive field of development communication. In this field the participatory approach to development communication is regarded as the normative approach. In view of this, this study argues that communication in CSR programmes should conform to the principles of the participatory approach. Participatory evaluation is one of the elements of the participatory approach; therefore the evaluation of programmes should adhere to the principles of the participatory approach to contribute to sustainable development. For this reason this study is informed by the relevant principles of the participatory approach to evaluation: dialogue; participation; empowerment and diversity. These principles of participatory evaluation are rooted in the mentioned principles and they are: partnership; participation in evaluation; acknowledgement of local knowledge; empowerment and change. The financial sector in South Africa is one of the largest financial contributors towards CSR. As a result, two financial organisations were chosen to be studied. The research question of this study is: What is the nature of the communication during evaluation of CSR programmes in the financial sector? A qualitative approach is used in this study to obtain the relevant information. Qualitative content analysis, semi-structured interviews and focus groups were used as research methods. The conclusion is made that none of the five programmes in this study use participatory evaluation to evaluate their CSR programmes. In two of the programmes a limited partnership is identified between the organisation and/or the program leader and the beneficiaries, while no partnership was found in the other three programmes. Limited participation from the beneficiaries of the two programmes during evaluation was observed; hence limited local knowledge is recognised in these two programmes. It was also found that only two programmes' beneficiaries are empowered through evaluation and only these two programmes changed according to the beneficiaries’ input. These findings that were made through an empirical study indicate that in spite of the limited presence of some principles of participatory evaluation in two of the five programmes, neither of the organisations uses participatory evaluation methods to evaluate their CSR programmes. / Thesis (MA (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

The increasing amount of power and potentially negative impacts that corporations exert within society has become a growing concern for many people. In response to this and due to the changing role of business in society, more and more members of social groups, who are affected by corporate activities, are claiming their rights to be better informed of and more involved in corporate decision-making. Consequently, the need for companies worldwide to be more accountable for the ways in which they conduct their business has grown at a tremendous rate. Especially during the last decade, companies have globally been placed under increasing pressure from different stakeholder groups to demonstrate and prove their commitments to the idea of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). In order to facilitate and guide these CSR-commitments, society has for many years already begun to implement various standards of behaviour/performance, which corporations need to achieve in order to be accepted as being part of the citizenry. However, despite an abundance of such standards in terms of CSR-related guidelines and codes, a clear need has been identified for the development of better measuring tools of CSR, in order to efficiently assess and monitor companies’ performance. The Bench Marks is one of the most comprehensive sets of social and environmental criteria and business performance indicators available. It offers an ethical standard on which to base decisions about global corporate social responsibility. Consequently, the need arose from the Bench Marks Foundation - in collaboration with the Bench Marks Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility at the North-West University – to develop the current Bench Marks CSR Framework into a practical measuring instrument. This need has successfully been fulfilled through this research by means of two methods, namely a literature review and an empirical study. During the literature study, the concepts CSR and Corporate Personality were contextualised - particularly with the investigation of related concepts; as well as critically examined - specifically in terms of their theoretical measurement properties. During the empirical research, quantitative research techniques have been utilised which involved: the application of certain ‘theoretically recognised phases’ of measuring instrument development; as well as a survey in the form of a ‘preliminary measuring instrument’ (in questionnaire format) that was administered on a random sample respondents (n = 350), including the statistical analysis of the results. 189 Questionnaires were completed, which gave a response rate of 54%. The statistical analysis mainly served as an effective guideline for determining the best CSR items (in terms of reliability and validity) to be included in the final version of the instrument. Apart from measuring CSR performance in line with the Bench Marks, the instrument that has been developed by this study, can also be used as a measuring mechanism for Corporate Personality. This is achieved by assessing company behaviour in terms of the theoretical dimensions of CSR (economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic) and Sustainable Development (economic, social and environmental). In doing so, this instrument provides companies with a unique way of identifying their status of being true Corporate Citizens. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Sociology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

Submitted by Mariangela Carvalho (mariepcarvalho@hotmail.com) on 2015-05-06T15:49:25Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Final 09 04 2015.pdf: 4760072 bytes, checksum: 626b09f4c1c4daf0b460de4d924e87de (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by ÁUREA CORRÊA DA FONSECA CORRÊA DA FONSECA (aurea.fonseca@fgv.br) on 2015-05-07T13:42:53Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Final 09 04 2015.pdf: 4760072 bytes, checksum: 626b09f4c1c4daf0b460de4d924e87de (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marcia Bacha (marcia.bacha@fgv.br) on 2015-05-11T11:44:45Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Final 09 04 2015.pdf: 4760072 bytes, checksum: 626b09f4c1c4daf0b460de4d924e87de (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-11T11:46:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Final 09 04 2015.pdf: 4760072 bytes, checksum: 626b09f4c1c4daf0b460de4d924e87de (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-31 / Esta dissertação traça uma trajetória, evitando, no entanto, uma linha evolucionista, dos termos e conceitos que foram usados no decorrer da história para identificar as intervenções das empresas em ações sociais, desde as atuações assistencialistas até a atuação direta em projetos, com criação de institutos e fundações ligados às empresas, compartilhando não só investimentos financeiros, mas conhecimento, tecnologia e mão de obra especializada. Mas, como veremos, só isso não é suficiente para que uma empresa seja caracterizada como socialmente responsável. Como parâmetro, será trabalhada a diferenciação entre responsabilidade social empresarial (RSE) e investimento social privado (ISP), usando as definições e modelos do Instituto Ethos de Responsabilidade Social e do Grupo de Institutos e Fundações e Empresas (GIFE), respectivamente. Como estudo de caso, será apresentada a GTECH Brasil, empresa multinacional do ramo de loterias online, que, para realizar ações sociais, criou o Instituto Gtech de Cidadania e Cultura (IGCC), em 2000. A empresa, fazendo uso da verba disponível de incentivo à cultura, com a Lei Rouanet, realizou um projeto corporativo de arte-educação, chamado Projeto Asa, que tinha por foco trabalhar com jovens de sete a 17 anos, englobando arte e tecnologia. Por acreditar no poder transformador da arte, o projeto foi se atualizando e passou a desenvolver o conceito de arte-cidadania. O Asa funcionou até 2009, durando mais do que a própria empresa, que, em 2006, encerrou as atividades no Brasil. Nesse período, atendeu a mais de 3.500 crianças e jovens. Por meio de documentos, manuais, relatórios e diversas entrevistas, o presente trabalho delineou as atividades sociais da GTECH, analisando se a empresa deveria se enquadrar como RSE ou ISP e também demonstrando alguns dos impactos gerados pelas ações realizadas tanto nos funcionários da empresa, quanto na equipe do projeto e, principalmente, nos jovens que participaram das atividades. / This dissertation traces a path, avoiding, however, an evolutionary line, the terms and concepts that have been used throughout history to identify the interventions of companies in social actions, from the welfare performances to the direct involvement in projects, with the creation of institutes and foundations connected to the companies, sharing not only financial investments but also technology, skilled labor and knowledgement. Nevertheless, as we may see, that is not enough for a company to be characterized as socially responsible. As a parameter, the differentiation between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and private social investment (PSI) will be taken forward, using the definitions and models respectively from Ethos Institute for Social Responsibility and from GIFE (Group of Institutes and Foundations and Companies). As a case study it will be presented GTECH Brazil, a multinational company in the online lottery business, which to perform social actions, created the Gtech Institute of Citizenship and Culture (IGCC), in 2000. The company, making use of available funds to encourage culture, through the Brazilian Rouanet Law, conducted a corporate project based on art education, called 'Asa Project', which was focused on young people aged from seven to seventeen years old, encompassing art and technology. Believing in the transformative power of art, the project was updated and proceeded developing the art-citizenship concept. Asa project worked until 2009, lasting more than the company itself, which in 2006 ended its activities in Brazil. During this period served more than 3,500 children and youths. By means of documents, manuals, reports and several interviews, this dissertation will outline the social activities of GTECH, analyzing whether the company should fit as CSR or PSI and also showing some of the impacts of actions taken in the company employees, as well as in the project team, and especially among the young people who participated in the activities.

Social value incorporates economic, environmental, and social impact in public policy decision- making. Social Return on Investment (SROI) has emerged as a popular way to measure social value. SROI is a tool for nonprofit organizations and social enterprises to measure their impact and express it in a common economic unit. This study employed a systematic review approach to assess the quality of SROI reports in the advocacy and human rights sector. The goal of this study was to determine whether SROI can measure the broader social effects of a program. Findings indicate that SROI has been used primarily by health and social services and significantly less often by advocacy and human rights groups. As such, the methodology has not yet been robustly applied to study very broad social effects associated with advocacy and human rights interventions. The social outcomes are usually captured qualitatively and not often quantitatively. Further, the social outcomes are rarely monetized due to a lack of financial proxies. SROI would benefit from being applied to a robust advocacy or human rights program, specifically focusing on broad social effects.

The purpose of the study is to determine the effectiveness of the interventions used by the South African Breweries (SAB) KickStart Programme to establish and grow entrepreneurial small businesses among young South Africans. South Africa has an extremely high unemployment rate, low economic growth and a dismal Total (early-stage) Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA). With regard to established businesses (older than three-and-a-half years), the GEM report of 2005 ranked South Africa the lowest of all the countries surveyed. The SAB KickStart Programme comprises five phases: an awareness campaign, recruitment and training, a business plan competition for grants, success enhancement and national awards. The following interventions form part of the programme: the General Enterprising Tendency (GET) test; two-week live-in business management training; funding and mentoring; and a national competition for prize money. At every stage, adjudication is based on business plans and presentations. The evaluation of the effectiveness of an existing entrepreneurship programme, the SAB KickStart Programme, has several advantages, in so far as it determines whether the programme does indeed attain its objectives, and could help to improve the structuring of such programmes for future use by other corporations in South Africa. The population for the study comprised all the participants of the SAB KickStart Programme, from 2001 to 2006. A questionnaire was developed and a response rate of 28.5% was realised. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to the turnover and percentage profit figures of respondents to investigate the significance of the type of SAB KickStart support afforded. The results were confirmed by the Bonferroni multiple comparison of means test. The deduction is that funding and mentoring, after training, adds value to the programme. Eighty per cent of the SAB KickStarters were still operating their initial businesses, which they owned when they started on the programme, while a further six per cent had started another business, hence a "failure" rate of only 14 per cent. Many other meaningful findings emerged. In conclusion, it can be said that the SAB KickStart Programme adds value and advances entrepreneurship, and could possibly be applied by other large institutions in South Africa In conclusion, it can be said that the SAB KickStart programme adds value and advances entrepreneurship, and can be elevated to other large institutions in South Africa. / Business Management / D.Comm. (Business Management)

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T16:44:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ROBERTO GALASSI AMARAL.pdf: 882236 bytes, checksum: e89a3a4a16d38c93a5b9f24f09f53757 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-05-23 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The inclusion of responsibility for the management and execution of social projects in the agenda of human resources has brought in both synergy and challenges. This area, historically created aiming at the management of employees in a company, assists and supports now two distinct audiences. The first, inherently related to a work agreement and which is oriented by the organizational policies, management principles and company control, and the second which does not follow hierarchy. This research has then attempted to contribute to the implementation of social responsibility in the company, especially within the management of relations with the community initiated by the human resources area. In that sense, it has made a theoretical analysis based on management sciences, examining the context of corporate management, the management and the manager, identifying corporate social responsibility as a model of corporate management. It has systematized concepts that come around it such as: Corporate Philanthropy, Citizen Corporation, Private Social Investment, Marketing of Social Causes. It has also examined the interaction between business ethics and the third sector within this management model. This paper has gathered reflections on the history of the performance of the human resources area, people management models and the interaction that lies within the area and the socially responsible management. It has presented a concept model to support the processes of role assignment between positions in human resources and corporate management. To generate understanding about all these issues, this study has been based upon research made in the human resources departments in ten different companies in the metropolitan area of São Paulo. As a general objective, it verified the way the area of human resources has been managing corporate social responsibility concerning the company s relations with the community. Some specific objectives were equally sought. First, it tried to verify the understanding of this subject from the point of view of managers and directors of the researched area, as well as its implementation as a model of management. Second, it attempted to investigate some motivational profiles in the companies, how these motivations are translated into practical actions within the community and how they are managed. Third, it tried to get to know the perception of organizations about the challenges set upon social actions, when performed by the company and managed by the human resources area. Finally, some recommendations have been made regarding researches on the real implementation of this model of management. A favorable conclusion was drawn towards the development of competences in the professionals of human resources in order to potentialize their new role as articulators between private and public interests / A inclusão da responsabilidade pela gestão e execução de projetos de Ação Social na agenda das áreas de recursos humanos tem trazido sinergias e desafios. Área historicamente criada visando a gestão de funcionários da empresa tem, agora, dois públicos distintos entre si sob sua visão e cuidado. O primeiro com relações inerentes a um contrato de trabalho e que se orienta pelas políticas organizacionais, princípios de gestão e controle da empresa, e o segundo cuja relação não caminha pela hierarquia. Esta pesquisa buscou, então, contribuir com a implementação da responsabilidade social da empresa, em particular com a gestão das relações com a comunidade realizadas a partir da área de recursos humanos. Para tanto, fez reflexão teórica examinando o contexto da gestão empresarial, o management e o manager localizando a responsabilidade social da empresa como um modelo de gestão empresarial, a partir das ciências da gestão. Sistematizou conceitos que gravitam em seu entorno como: filantropia empresarial, empresa-cidadã, investimento social privado, marketing de causas sociais. Examinou, ainda, a interação da ética nos negócios e do terceiro setor com este modelo de gestão. Este trabalho trouxe, igualmente, reflexões sobre o histórico de atuação da área de recursos humanos, modelos de gestão de pessoas e sobre a interação existente entre a área e a gestão socialmente responsável. Apresentou um modelo conceitual para apoiar processos de negociação de papéis entre a função de que recursos humanos e a gestão da empresa. Para gerar discernimento sobre todas estas questões, este estudo se sustentou em pesquisa realizada nas áreas de recursos humanos em dez empresas da região metropolitana de São Paulo. Teve como objetivo geral verificar a maneira como as áreas de recursos humanos estão gerenciando o tema da responsabilidade social da empresa, no que se refere às relações com a comunidade. Alguns objetivos específicos foram igualmente perseguidos. O primeiro buscou verificar a compreensão sobre este tema a partir do olhar dos gestores e dirigentes da área pesquisada, bem como sua implementação como modelo de gestão. O segundo buscou verificar alguns perfis de motivação das empresas, como estas motivações se traduzem em ações práticas junto à comunidade e como são geridas. O terceiro buscou conhecer a percepção das organizações sobre os desafios colocados para a Ação Social, quando executada a partir da empresa e gerida pela área de recursos humanos. Ao final, foram feitas recomendações para pesquisas sobre a real implementação deste modelo de gestão. Conclui-se a favor do desenvolvimento de competências dos profissionais da área de recursos humanos no sentido de potencializar o seu novo papel de articulação entre o privado e o interesse público