The Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility on Sustainable Business

Master's Thesis from the year 2012 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: B, , course: Executive MBA, language: English, abstract: The thesis investigated the effect of Corporate Social Responsibility on sustainable business in Uganda taking a case of the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA). It is derived from the fact that many organizations are seeking better ways of increasing their efficiency and effectiveness in order to remain competitive. Various ways have been advanced and one that is steadily gaining popularity today is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

The objectives of the work included to examine the contribution of CSR initiatives on overall business sustainability, to establish whether staff of URA have knowledge about CSR and whether URA derives benefits from CSR. Data was collected from a sample of 62 randomly selected respondents using a structured questionnaire and by in-depth key informant interviews; all in Kampala, Uganda. Their views were also used as a basis for soliciting recommendations on the best ways of improving CSR not only in URA but also other corporations.

A socially responsible company should supersede its main objective of maximizing its shareholders' wealth. It extends its mandate by undertaking social and environmental activities in society within which it carries out its operations through initiatives such as environment conservation, improving the quality of life of its employees and society in general and also being transparent in its business operations. More stakeholders are being drawn towards socially responsible companies because of these initiatives.

As organizations struggle to remain competitive within their respective industries while at the same time addressing their long term corporate objectives, they need to be able to incorporate certain values and initiatives of corporate social responsibility into their strategic objectives if they are to further gain competitive advantage. A lot of debate has gone on about whether a company's social image contributes to its attainment of corporate objectives. The work therefore sought to establish whether CSR has an effect on business operations and performance.