Corporate social responsibility in Cameroon : Mobile Telephone Network’s self-presentation
Ngobo Moby, Jeanne (2018)
Ngobo Moby, Jeanne
2018
Master's Degree Programme in Global and Transnational Sociology
Yhteiskuntatieteiden tiedekunta - Faculty of Social Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2018-12-18
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:uta-201901021006
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:uta-201901021006
Tiivistelmä
Although Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been examined from the perspective of developed countries, there is still much to uncover about how the current CSR research streams match with the realities of a developing country in Africa. This case study analyzes how the South Africa-based mobile telecommunications company, Mobile Telephone Network (MTN), presents itself when it comes to its social responsibility commitments in Cameroon. By examining the phenomenon through the lenses of domestication, this research shows how international non-governmental organizations have become important stakeholders in holding corporations socially accountable and in the convergence between the dissonant interests of companies that must define their economic, social and environmental performance as a contribution to a common good – similar to the vision developed by H. Bowen, the originator of CSR concept, in his book "Social Responsibilities of the Businessman" (1953). The approach utilized in this study is explanatory and uses a qualitative content analysis as an interpretation method to derive insights about how MTN deals with a global policy locally. Even though MTN seems to be paying significant attention to its corporate social responsibilities, there is lack of information on how the company plans to put into practice specific actions, which tempts to emphasize a purely ceremonial commitment or highlights the difficulty of implementing CSR practices in countries that lack infrastructure to support them.