A case study of Metropolitan Holdings Limited to assess the usefulness of the Global Business Coalition guidelines in relation to workplace HIV/AIDS programmes and a brief examination of the possible impact of the HIV/AIDS disclosure requirements, as recommended by the King II report

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Metropolitan Holdings Limited is a life insurance and investment companywith a well-recognised brand, operating in a competitive environment. TheMetropolitan Doyle model that the company developed in the 1980s was thefirst of its kind and is used to predict the course and impact of the HIV/AIDSpandemic. Metropolitan has since been actively engaged in developinginsurance products, designed to take HIV/AIDS into account. It has,moreover been active in advocating action on a wide range of issue relating tothe disease, not least through its RedRibbon website, the publication of therespected journal, AIDS Analysis Africa, and through various communityinitiatives, particularly involving HIV/AIDS education. The company's externalwork on the issue of HIV/AIDS is therefore well recognised. Although it hashad an internal programme for several years, it has only seriously addressedthe HIV/AIDS in the workplace since 2003 and in so doing, has not found thenecessity of using any existing models of best practice.This case study examines the guidelines of a comprehensive HIV/AIDSprogramme, as set out by the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, with aview to finding out whether and to what extent a company such asMetropolitan might have implemented its recommendations and what impact itmight have in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the workplace.The case study further examines the likely impact of the King IIrecommendations relating to the disclosure requirements on HIV/AIDS (inconjunction with the Global Reporting Initiative Guidelines) with a view toassessing whether these can enable a company such as Metropolitan, tohave regard to the impact of the disease on the sustainability of their businessand the steps that might be taken to mitigate the impact.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University