Governance of sub-Saharan African companies in the era of corporate social responsibility: The case of Cameroonian companies

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Governance of sub-Saharan African companies in the era of corporate social responsibility: The case of Cameroonian companies

Governance of sub-Saharan African companies in the era of corporate social responsibility: The case of Cameroonian companies

01 Jan 2013-

TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the translation of corporate social responsibility into sub-Saharan companies in general and Cameroon in particular, showing that the rate of social responsibility is low and the relationship tested between social responsibility and type of business was significant.

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Abstract: While most studies of corporate social responsibility governance is particularly relevant in companies in developed countries, however, very few publications have focused on the translation of this corporate social responsibility into sub-Saharan companies in Africa in general and Cameroon in particular . The stakeholder theory, the theory of resource dependence and the neo-institutional theory fit the corporate social responsibility in plural governance where shareholders are no longer the unique partners and in which actors are involved in decisions and business operations. Therefore, can this concept of corporate social responsibility be transposed in African companies where the modes of social organization, economic and political systems are far west? From the data collected on a sample of 260 companies in Cameroon, this paper shows that the rate of social responsibility is low. However, the relationship tested between social responsibility and type of business was significant. This result shows a strong tendency to social responsibility actions in subsidiaries of multinational firms and some domestic firms in sectors where compliance is a legal requirement. The analysis of social responsibility in the Cameroonian companies helps conclude that we can achieve this goal if companies highlight their concern for legitimacy and ethics and that the state supports them through a legislative and regulatory framework.

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The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields (Chinese Translation)

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Paul DiMaggio, Walter W. Powell

01 Jan 2008

TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them, and describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative.

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Abstract: What makes organizations so similar? We contend that the engine of rationalization and bureaucratization has moved from the competitive marketplace to the state and the professions. Once a set of organizations emerges as a field, a paradox arises: rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them. We describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative—leading to this outcome. We then specify hypotheses about the impact of resource centralization and dependency, goal ambiguity and technical uncertainty, and professionalization and structuration on isomorphic change. Finally, we suggest implications for theories of organizations and social change.

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2,134 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Assessing social and environmental links in development strategies for Cameroon: A process approach to sustainability

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CV Ngouana, Sem Evouna, D Bitando

01 Jan 2015-Ethiopian Journal of Environmental Studies and Management

TL;DR: A social-environmental conceptual framework which consists of a checklist of 33 questions is applied to review various strategy documents of the Government of Cameroon to reveal some inconsistencies in participatory processes.

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Abstract: The links between the social and environmental pillars are particularly under-developed in scientific literature. This article bridges this knowledge gap by applying a social-environmental conceptual framework which consists of a checklist of 33 questions. It used same to review various strategy documents of the Government of Cameroon. These comprised one national strategy document, three sectoral strategy documents and two sub-sectoral strategy documents. To triangulate and enrich these documents analysis, unstructured interviews with 21 key stakeholders was held. The findings revealed some inconsistencies in participatory processes. Findings also revealed insufficient consideration of benefits sharing from the exploitation of natural resource for local social development. Bio-piracy issues were also not well considered in the documents analyzed. Nevertheless, natural and human-induced risk management, environmental awareness, generation and use of data, and commitments to infrastructure planning that concurrently promotes social integration and environmental sustainability simultaneously are well considered in the strategy documents reviewed.

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5 citations

References

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Book Chapter•DOI•

The iron cage revisited institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields

[...]

Paul DiMaggio, Walter W. Powell

01 Apr 1983-American Sociological Review

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them, and describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative.

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32,981 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness

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Mark Granovetter¹•Institutions (1)

Stony Brook University¹

01 Nov 1985-American Journal of Sociology

TL;DR: In this article, the extent to which economic action is embedded in structures of social relations, in modern industrial society, is examined, and it is argued that reformist economists who attempt to bring social structure back in do so in the "oversocialized" way criticized by Dennis Wrong.

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Abstract: How behavior and institutions are affected by social relations is one of the classic questions of social theory. This paper concerns the extent to which economic action is embedded in structures of social relations, in modern industrial society. Although the usual neoclasical accounts provide an "undersocialized" or atomized-actor explanation of such action, reformist economists who attempt to bring social structure back in do so in the "oversocialized" way criticized by Dennis Wrong. Under-and oversocialized accounts are paradoxically similar in their neglect of ongoing structures of social relations, and a sophisticated account of economic action must consider its embeddedness in such structures. The argument in illustrated by a critique of Oliver Williamson's "markets and hierarchies" research program.

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25,601 citations

"Governance of sub-Saharan African c..." refers background in this paper

...Admitting, like Granovetter (1985), that the economy is embedded in the society, it is also given more emphasis to societal issues. It is open the question of the legitimacy of the enterprise to social and environmental organizations. There are several possible definitions of the legitimacy of the action of the company or officer. Mostof them have in common to associate the legitimacy to the social acceptability of actions, in reference to a shared set of criteria for judgment (whether formal rules, formal or informal agreements more). And Suchman (1995) defines legitimacy as a perception that the actions of an entity are desirable, suitable for some systems built social norms, values, beliefs and definitions. CSR is the result of voluntary and compulsory at the same time and several typologies have been developed to date to classify them (Carroll, 1979, Wood 1991; Clarkson, 1995). Gond and Igalens (2008) add to these four types a synthesis approach to CSR (social control function, power relations, cultural product, socio-cognitive building). But all these rankings focus on the interface business / company and pose little problem of skills in CSR by the actors within the organization. Why the analysis of Boiral (2007) is doubly relevant in this regard....
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...Admitting, like Granovetter (1985), that the economy is embedded in the society, it is also given more emphasis to societal issues....
[...]
...Admitting, like Granovetter (1985), that the economy is embedded in the society, it is also given more emphasis to societal issues. It is open the question of the legitimacy of the enterprise to social and environmental organizations. There are several possible definitions of the legitimacy of the action of the company or officer. Mostof them have in common to associate the legitimacy to the social acceptability of actions, in reference to a shared set of criteria for judgment (whether formal rules, formal or informal agreements more). And Suchman (1995) defines legitimacy as a perception that the actions of an entity are desirable, suitable for some systems built social norms, values, beliefs and definitions....
[...]
...Admitting, like Granovetter (1985), that the economy is embedded in the society, it is also given more emphasis to societal issues. It is open the question of the legitimacy of the enterprise to social and environmental organizations. There are several possible definitions of the legitimacy of the action of the company or officer. Mostof them have in common to associate the legitimacy to the social acceptability of actions, in reference to a shared set of criteria for judgment (whether formal rules, formal or informal agreements more). And Suchman (1995) defines legitimacy as a perception that the actions of an entity are desirable, suitable for some systems built social norms, values, beliefs and definitions. CSR is the result of voluntary and compulsory at the same time and several typologies have been developed to date to classify them (Carroll, 1979, Wood 1991; Clarkson, 1995). Gond and Igalens (2008) add to these four types a synthesis approach to CSR (social control function, power relations, cultural product, socio-cognitive building)....
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Book Chapter•DOI•

Strategic Management: THE STAKEHOLDER APPROACH

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R. Edward Freeman¹•Institutions (1)

University of Virginia¹

01 Mar 2010

18,472 citations

"Governance of sub-Saharan African c..." refers background in this paper

...…by many Anglo-Saxon researchers [Berle and Means (1932), Ansoff (1968), Rawls (1971), Pfeffer and Salancick (1978 ), DiMaggio and Powell (1983), Freeman (1984), Hill and Jones (1992), Donaldson and Dunfee (1999), Post et al. (2002)] and French [Capron and Quairel - Lenoizelée (2004), Capron…...
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...…justification for the existence of stakeholder in corporate governance Source: Adapted from Andriof and Waddock (2002, 32) following the work of Freeman (1984) which, by extending and popularizing the field of business contacts, will guide the lovers of this concept on the track of theoretical…...
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Book•

Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach

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R. Edward Freeman¹, R. Edward Freeman²•Institutions (2)

University of Virginia¹, University of Minnesota²

01 Jan 1984

TL;DR: The Stakeholder Approach: 1. Managing in turbulent times 2. The stakeholder concept and strategic management 3. Strategic Management Processes: 4. Setting strategic direction 5. Formulating strategies for stakeholders 6. Implementing and monitoring stakeholder strategies 7. Conflict at the board level 8. The functional disciplines of management 9. The role of the executive as mentioned in this paper.

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Abstract: Part I. The Stakeholder Approach: 1. Managing in turbulent times 2. The stakeholder concept and strategic management 3. Stakeholder management: framework and philosophy Part II. Strategic Management Processes: 4. Setting strategic direction 5. Formulating strategies for stakeholders 6. Implementing and monitoring stakeholder strategies Part III. Implications for Theory and Practice: 7. Conflict at the board level 8. The functional disciplines of management 9. The role of the executive.

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17,404 citations

Book•

The External Control of Organizations: A Resource Dependence Perspective

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Jeffrey Pfeffer, Gerald R. Salancik

01 Jan 1978

TL;DR: The External Control of Organizations as discussed by the authors explores how external constraints affect organizations and provides insights for designing and managing organizations to mitigate these constraints, and it is the fact of the organization's dependence on the environment that makes the external constraint and control of organizational behavior both possible and almost inevitable.

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Abstract: Among the most widely cited books in the social sciences, The External Control of Organizations has long been required reading for any student of organization studies. The book, reissued on its 25th anniversary as part of the Stanford Business Classics series, includes a new preface written by Jeffrey Pfeffer, which examines the legacy of this influential work in current research and its relationship to other theories.The External Control of Organizations explores how external constraints affect organizations and provides insights for designing and managing organizations to mitigate these constraints. All organizations are dependent on the environment for their survival. As the authors contend, "it is the fact of the organization's dependence on the environment that makes the external constraint and control of organizational behavior both possible and almost inevitable." Organizations can either try to change their environments through political means or form interorganizational relationships to control or absorb uncertainty. This seminal book established the resource dependence approach that has informed so many other important organization theories.

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13,195 citations