AN EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTS OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ON CORPORATE IMAGE AND BENEFICIARY COMMUNITIES: CASE STUDY ANGLOGOLD ASHANTI, OBUASI MINE

Abstract

The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was initiated by Sheldon in 1924. Corporate Social Responsibility has tremendous social and economic relevance to the beneficiary community by way of providing development for the community and also has positive image building and credibility enhancement to the company in question, however, its establishment has been a worldwide subject of immense controversy and interest for businesses, society, government and academia alike. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the effects of CSR on the beneficiary communities and what factors AngloGold Ashanti must consider when designing and implementing CSR projects/programmes. This thesis focuses on the AngloGold Ashanti, Obuasi mine and how they can improve their CSR work within their organisation. The research employed the mixed method approach. This implies that the research study relied on both quantitative and qualitative sources of data. The qualitative data was collected through the survey of household heads in beneficiary communities, with the primary data collected through interviews. In all, the study finds CSR as a major strategy that can be used to ensure the development of communities if well done. CSR should be more participatory, allocate maximum resources and should be well monitored and evaluated. Above all, governments should intervene and make legislations on CSR such that corporate entities should be mandated to undertake development projects in their areas of operation.