Assessing corporate social responsibility in terms of its impact on sustainable community development : Anglo American PLC programmes as case study

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Mining industries significantly influence the societies within which they operate.They have been responsible for causing a wide range of negative environmentaland social impacts at local, regional and global levels. Disruption of river flows,degradation of land and forest resources, negative impacts on the livelihoods oflocal communities near mines and disturbance of traditional lifestyles ofindigenous people are some examples.Historically, the mining industry has taken a 'devil may care' attitude toward theimpacts of its operations, inter alia by operating in areas without social legitimacy,by causing local devastation, and by leaving when an area has been exhaustedof its economically valuable resources. Cost benefit language has often beenused to justify damage caused in one place by arguing that it is outweighed byoverall financial benefits. In recent years however the global mining industry hasstarted to address its social and environmental responsibilities, visible in currentdebates about social and environmental sustainability. As a result, various miningcompanies have launched corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes thattend to focus on local community initiatives as their impact in economic, socialand environmental terms, they believe, is felt most at local level. Yet the questionremains, can CSR on its own make a substantial contribution to local sustainablecommunity development? The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) definedCSR as '…the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically andcontribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of theworkforce and their families as well as the local community and society atlarge... (WBCSD, 2003). Despite this clear definition, there is still great diversitywithin the mining sector in perceptions of what CSR constitutes and what its keytenets should be. Without a consistent definition or understanding of CSR andsustainable community development, planned efforts and programmes will dolittle to contribute to the overall improvement and well-being of the intendedbeneficiaries.The research focuses on defining sustainable community development and howit relates CSR. It identifies three characteristics of sustainable communitydevelopment and uses these to assess the CSR programmes of Anglo AmericanPlc, as case study company, to determine whether the company's programmeshave the potential to contribute to the sustainability of the communitiesassociated with its operations.The research results in three main conclusions drawn from the case study – in aphrase that CSR is able under certain conditions to contribute positively tocommunity sustainability. The conclusion also offers a few suggestions regardingways companies can increase the contribution their CSR programmes make tolocal sustainable development.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University