Corporate Social Responsibility: Egalitarianism, insuring future profit margins or “Cultural Capitalism”?

I just looked at the headline of this post and wondered whatever happened to the young creative who loved writing poetry and short stories for children. I once heard you become the person the world needs you to be, maybe that’s what’s beginning to happen…

A few weeks ago we had an evening session with the wonderful Harry Culver, a former executive at a large corporation in South Africa, SAWIP board member and active citizen passionate about the future of South Africa. He introduced and facilitated a discussion on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) within the South African context. We outlined what the general idea behind these ideas meant. We explored some of the work being done by some of the large companies in the country. Things were going well…

It may be a result of hyper-critical minds, cynicism, or a general distrust of the ethics of large corporations and “boardroom philanthropy,” but the discussion quickly began to interrogate the motivations for some of these initiatives. I think the work being done by these corporations is commendable: some corporations implement excellent welfare systems for their employees, ensuring there are support structures such as health care, child care and education subsidies available to them and their children. I also realise that a workforce that is holistically supported would have less quotidian “stresses”, thereby elevating Human Resource problems in the company and maximising productivity. The support of entrepreneurial enterprises and the support of programmes to grow the middle class allows growth for the country as a whole and in so doing raises the amount of expendable household income, allowing for an increase in consumerism that benefits the future of a lot of the same corporations.

I’m sure I may come across as some theatre student who has no concept of the various initiatives being implemented that have no feasible benefits AT ALL to the companies that implement them. I do acknowledge that there are indeed true altruistic executives in the world. SAWIP alumni, ahem… None the less the motivations behind the work being done is not that important, the fact is CSR initiatives are being implemented regardless of reason.

‘It is much easier to have sympathy with suffering than it is to have sympathy with thought.”

Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man Under Socialism

To be honest, I don’t know if the way we’re bridging the stark economic differences in this world is the best or most efficient. That video is VERY interesting but it still doesn’t offer practical solutions of what the RIGHT thing is. What I am finding is that his final thoughts are EXCATLY some of the things we in the team have been talking about. Some of the CSR initiatives we have been exposed to in parts of this programme don’t have sustainability in mind or elements of self-actualisation ingrained in them. That, I fear is contributing to our society’s sentiments of entitlement post-Apartheid and its continued implementation is doing more harm than good.

“If you just operate the child then they live a little bit better but in the same situation which produced them.”

Oscar Wilde