BUSINESS
THE IMPORTANCE OF CORPORATE
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
By Barry Elliott, MD of Rockwell Automation SA
It is imperative for an organisation to recognise that corporate social responsibility (CSR)
goes further than philanthropic, ethical, legal, and economic concerns.
Rockwell believes that CSR is a good conduit through which to implement B-BBEE in South Africa.
I
n fact, the long-term sustainability
of your company, the economic and
business environment in which you
operate, the workforce, and ultimately,
society as a whole, depend on it.
B-BBEE, the scorecard implemented
by the South African government to
measure a company’s commitment
to transformation, forms a significant
element of CSR within the South African
context, as it seeks to redress the
inequalities of the past.
I am of the view that South African
companies implementing B-BBEE with a
focus purely on achieving the maximum
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NOVEMBER 2018
points for the minimum effort are missing
an opportunity.
A preoccupation with what score can
be achieved seems misguided to me.
Focusing on the processes that ultimately
produce the score — that is where our
attention should be directed.
So, how do you get past a detached,
numbers-only approach to B-BBEE and
CSR in general?
You need buy-in and engagement from
all levels of the organisation. And how is
this achieved? I believe it all comes down
to an alignment of values. If you can
understand and appreciate this, then you
can begin to take a proactive approach in
redressing the issues and disparities of the
past more effectively — in a way that goes
beyond window dressing.
You can begin to affect meaningful,
economically tangible change in a way
that aligns with your company values.
This is a proactive approach to B-BBEE
implementation.
Here’s how we took the proactive
approach:
One critical aspect of B-BBEE is
black-owned shareholding. In 2016, we
entered into a partnership with a B-BBEE
shareholder: a joint venture between two
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