Focus Areas of Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives in Two Leading Companies in Ethiopia: Towards Unveiling the Status of CSR from this Part of the Developing World

Abstract

CSR literature clearly asserts that there is a dearth of CSR studies from the part of the developing world; and thus far very little is known about CSR initiatives from the developing world. On top of that while CSR studies from developing countries in general is dominated by studies from Asian continent, CSR studies from Africa are profoundly dominated by South Africa, and CSR scholars and practitioners know virtually so little about the status of CSR from the rest of the developing world, even if that means the CSR initiatives of leading businesses operating in this part of the world. This study examined the focus areas of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of two of the leading/largest companies in Ethiopia: MIDROC Ethiopia and Sunshine Investment Group. These leading companies are chosen based on the availability of online and document based information about their CSR engagements. Methodologically, the study employed content analysis to explore the CSR activities that these leading companies undertake based on data obtained mainly from the companies’ website documentations. Findings show that, based on the labels that the companies attached to their CSR initiatives, the following themes emerged as their CSR focus areas: community support; infrastructure development; employee welfare; charities/donations to NGOs and other organizations; and sponsorships.

Cite this Article
Yohannes Workaferahu Elifneh. Focus Areas of Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives in Two Leading Companies in Ethiopia: Towards Unveiling the Status of CSR from this Part of the Developing World. Journal of Production Research & Management. 2018; 8(1): 18–24p.