M.Phil.

Artisanal and/or illegal mining occurs throughout the African continent and is affected by government institutions and their policies, mining companies and their activities as well as the communities where it occurs. Mining companies, in particular, make significant investments in the communities around their mines via corporate social responsibility (CSR). Mining companies choose to either acknowledge that illegal miners are in fact a stakeholder in the community around the mine, and manage the relationship proactively, or they choose to accept that the activity is illegal and/or opt for the government and police to get involved in managing the relationship. The research explores the possibility of mining companies and illegal miners cooperating with each other, instead of competing, and the nature of the mining companies CSR and stakeholder engagement (SE) strategies that make for a more transformational relationship. The research establishes the environmental and organisational factors that drive this relationship. Ten interviews were conducted with CSR practitioners, sustainability managers, asset protection experts, consultants and geologists working for gold mining companies operating throughout Africa. Qualitative data was collected through the use of semistructured interviews and the data was analysed using content analysis. Through this research, a stakeholder identification and engagement tool has been developed for mining companies and their managers to use throughout their global operations. This tool can be used to report and manage the relationship with illegal miners globally, as the relationship is highly dependent on the country setting and context. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lmgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / Unrestricted

The question as to whether companies can “do well while doing good” has been investigated by academics for over four decades. Conclusive evidence of a positive link between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Corporate Financial Performance (CFP) so far has however remained elusive. In building on previous research findings, this study aimed to provide a deeper understanding into the mediating and moderating factors that impact a firm’s ability to generate returns from social investment. In particular, the moderating effect of social and environmental (SEI) impact levels on CSR returns were further investigated. Following the risk-reduction and value-creating hypotheses, it was asserted that sustainable firms with high SEI would yield superior CFP as compared to their peers with lower levels of social and environmental impact. The findings revealed that sustainable firms with high levels of social and environmental impact indeed had higher CFP than their peers with medium and low social and environmental impacts levels. However, the same results were yielded for non-sustainable companies. Although the main hypothesis did not yield the expected outcomes, the study provided important insights into the role of moderating factors on the ability for firms to generate returns from CSR. Moreover, the study uncovered previously unexplored areas of CSR and thereby opened up new avenues for future research. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lmgibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / Unrestricted

Purpose – The purpose of this research to provide insights into the underresearched area of social responsibility practises by SMEs at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP). Design/methodology/approach – Drawing from the literature, the research expands and builds on the previous work of Spence and Gilligan in explaining the daily activities of owner-managers with respect to CSR at the BOP. Also the link between ethic of care and CSR practises by SMEs at the BOP is established.Findings – The ethic of care and the owner-manager’s values are the main drivers of CSR at the BOP. Due to scarce resources, most of the CSR initiatives are linked to the core of the business. CSR is not used as a strategic competitive advantage business model. Also the CSR initiatives do not come from external pressure such as stakeholders, but are internal at a human level. The CSR practices are not linked to the bottom line; self-satisfaction is the ultimate price. Originality/value – Given the limited literature on the social responsibility practices of by SMEs at the BOP, this research makes a contribution to increasing the understanding of CSR initiatives by SMEs at the BOP, as well as to the BoP literature in general.Practical implications – The paper concludes by outlining the implications for managers, policy-makers, and stakeholders, and advancing the agenda of social responsibility for future research in the fields of both the BOP and SMEs. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / pagibs2015 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / Unrestricted

Video summarizing Ph.D. dissertation for a non-specialist audience.

Improving learner achievement and performance remains a global challenge for many governments, especially in developing countries. Countries spend a sizeable percentage of their national budgets on education with the hope to achieve desired learner outcomes. In South Africa, legislation has made provision for companies to contribute 1% of their net profit towards social development, including education. It is within this background, that the Epoch and Optima Trusts invested significant sums of money to improve the quality of maths results in secondary schools. The study investigates school level activities to ascertain whether and to what extent these may be implicated in improved teaching practices leading to improved performance. We interrogate the assumption commonly stated in the school effectiveness literature that teaching practices in schools are stimulated and facilitated by activities occurring at that school level. The literature is inclined to the view that whatever happens in classrooms is influenced by school level instructional leadership practices, professional development of teachers and the maintenance of internal accountability measures. We preferred to make use of case study research method in order to explore teacher practices in schools because the purpose is to understand behavioural detail and impact mechanisms. A matched pairs sampling technique was used to select four schools from a population of 78 public schools which were continually supported by the Trusts over a period of two years. One pair was classified as former Model C schools (one high performing and one low performing), while the other pair consisted of two former Department of Education and Training schools (one high performing and one low performing). This design reduces the socio-economic and cultural differences between the two schools in each pair. A framework was derived from the literature to guide the collection and analysis of data. The framework commences with the three categories of school level practices, disaggregated into eight specific activities. A set of indicators was then formulated to assess the degree to which each of the specific practices was present in schools. Collective responses of four interviewees at each school were rated and triangulated during this process. Given the nature and the size of the sample, we cannot generalise on the basis of four case studies. However, the value of this report is that we have developed:  a scheme for describing and analysing school-level practices that may facilitate and optimise teaching and learning, and  a set of hypotheses for accounting for improved school performance. In conclusion, we inferred that schools that institutionalised some practices and systems as identified were able to increase and maintain the number of quality passes in mathematics and as such, meeting the objectives of the donors. The factors which appear to hold the most potential for optimising performance in the two high SES former Model C schools are collegial practices on curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. In the two low SES former DET schools performance advantage seems to be enhanced by the systematic use of assessment data and by an increased sense of intrinsic motivation on the part of teachers.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science (Environmental Science). Johannesburg, 2017. / South Africa’s SDFIs have potential to play a critical role in fostering environmental compliance in the mining industry. Their role is particularly important in the small-scale and junior mining sector which is usually shunned by private finance institutions because of high environmental credit risk. Equipped with knowledge and experience of working with clients across different sectors and their potential leadership role in technology transfer, SDFIs can leverage their position in acting as trusted third party environmental regulation enforcers. Financial institutions have long been criticised for showing little interest in environmental impacts of their clients while concentrating on profit maximisation. This study sought to investigate the response by financial institutions to this criticism through evaluating the role of SDFIs in fostering environmental compliance by small-scale and junior mining companies which are generally viewed as having a poor environmental compliance record. Through the twin qualitative research methods of interviews and document analysis, the role of three state-owned development finance institutions in fostering environmental regulation compliance by small-scale mining enterprises in South Africa was evaluated. The study revealed that SDFIs explicitly and implicitly provide a wide range of products and services which help small-scale and junior miners in complying with environmental regulations. The study also found that, while SDFIs are beginning to adopt market-based mechanisms to encourage environmental compliance, they still heavily rely on command and control mechanisms as a way of mitigating environmentally related risks arising from financing mining companies. / LG2018

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The concern over the lack of corporate respect for stakeholder interests and human rights was raised many years ago and is even more relevant today. Internalizing externalities, or corporate social responsibility in legal terminology, has become a hotly debated topic for many years. The need for companies to respect not only the claims of shareholders but also the interests of stakeholders – such as employees, consumers, suppliers and the environment – has become a major concern of the international community due to inadequacy of the law and lack of enforcement. The problem is caused in part by the limit of common law on directors’ duties, in particular, their duty to maximize profits for the shareholders, not other stakeholders. Various creative solutions had been found to better integrate the interests of stakeholders. However, one of the most difficult and neglected areas in the stakeholder debate concerns their implementation. This thesis tackles this issue and asks how stakeholders can be effectively integrated into the corporate governance structure and decision-making process through stakeholder board. It further addresses the question how this might be sensibly implemented at the national and/or international level. In proposing such a solution, this thesis adopts an economic efficiency approach to law reform adopting economic principles, to avoid some of the unintended consequences of legal approach to law reform and help design better rules that promote allocative efficiency for the benefit of society as a whole. It argues that international organizations should take the lead to promote the use of stakeholder board in multinational corporations that have a history of corporate abuses for corporate decisions that have an impact on all stakeholders. This thesis finds, through historical lenses, that the true purpose of corporations has changed over the years from originally invented to serve the interest of the society, to profit maximization for shareholders when they were adopted by entrepreneurs for business. It argues that whilst profit is a necessity from the entrepreneurs’ and other stakeholders’ point of view, maximization of it for the benefit of shareholders does not serve the interest of society well. We should return to the true purpose of corporations which is to serve the interest of the society, not merely shareholders. It further argues that whilst in economic theory, maximization of profit for shareholders would be most efficient for society if all costs of the corporation’s operation are internalized, in practice, this does not happen. It points out that looking after stakeholders’ interest by internalising negative externalities could be more efficient and suggests that a stakeholder board could act as an appropriate governance structure for this purpose. As it is not possible to conduct empirical study on the proposed stakeholder board which does not yet exist, this thesis draws on the evidence from the practical benefits of, and the academic and theoretical arguments on the benefit of the German co-determination board, which is one type of stakeholder board, albeit only restricted to the workers and shareholders, as well as some recent positive empirical evidence concerning co-determination board, to predict the probable efficiency of a stakeholder board. Thus, my criticisms of capitalist corporate governance state the premises and provide the starting point for my stakeholder governance model. The thesis ends by proposing the use of stakeholder board in China. To sustain the economic growth and its political legitimacy and dominance, the Chinese government has incentive to implement CSR which it attempted to do through its corporate law. But an effective mechanism for such implementation is lacking. As well, the purpose of corporations under Chinese company law is to serve the interest of the state. China’s failed attempt to improve SOEs has led to the recent adoption of party committee in SOEs. The integration of party committee into SOEs’ governance structure is a necessary characteristic in China to ensure SOEs are run for the benefit of the state, and there is empirical literature on the effectiveness of party committee’s integration. This thesis explains the importance of stakeholder committee/board to Chinese SOEs and proposes two ways to weave stakeholder committee/board into SOEs’ current governance structure by a minor improvement to the composition of party committee and the terms of reference on its members’ duties.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is one important response to the increasing amounts of criticism levelled at corporations. A number of studies have focused on CSR in a range of industries; however, some contentious industries, e.g. the gambling industry, remain unexplored. Mobilizing CSR in a novel setting not only enhances the knowledge of CSR and gambling, but also provides an overview of this industry itself. This thesis attempts to investigate three questions: to what extent does the gambling industry disclose CSR-related data, how is CSR understood in this industry and why does the gambling industry engage in CSR? This thesis provides a general overview of the international gambling industry and an in-depth investigation of Macao's gambling industry. The research design of the thesis employs mixed methods: content analysis and semi-structured interviews. The principal research is based on 49 interviews. This thesis advances three main arguments. First, it will be argued that there are relatively low volumes of Corporate Social Disclosure (CSD) and Responsible Gambling (RG) disclosure in the international gambling industry, which can be viewed as a legitimising strategy. Second, in Macao's gambling industry, it is argued that organisations in this industry tend to place a greater emphasis on positive social impacts, while obscuring such negative impacts as gambling addiction and health-related issues. Third, this thesis holds that organisations in Macao's gambling industry engage symbolically, rather than substantively, with CSR and RG in order to manage stakeholders' perceptions in an attempt to gain different sources of legitimacy and in turn to enhance its economic interests. In conclusion, the gambling industry does not entirely conform to the institutional environment, which poses a challenge to the organisational legitimacy literature. This thesis introduces a necessary caution into the discussions about the extent of CSD, CSR, and RG in this industry more generally.