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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Corporate Social Responsibility is an essentially American phenomenon has over the years become a major concern in Western Europe and in other countries of the world following the western model of development. According to Drucker (1986), the genesis of the debate on the concept of corporate social responsibility has been traced to the wave of crisis in social values that engulfed America in the post-World War II period and most especially in the sixties. The Chief Executive of General Motors who observed the changing trend could not help observing:

“The concern is about a society that has demonstrably lost confidence in its institutions – in the government, in the press, in the church, in the military, as well as in business”.

Business in America has a most unique history. Its development growth and impact on social life in America since the civil war II is almost common knowledge. What may not be common knowledge, however, is the fact that business which has hitherto shaped and controlled the lives of millions of Americans some two hundred years ago is today being threatened by a wave of protests from various publics it uses to serve. The crisis of confidence in the social role of business has been made explicit in debates on corporate social responsibility points to the fact that America sees big business as a big powerful machine gone out of control. And efforts to control and at least re-orientate its directions form the core of the argument of all who urge business to change with the times. In other words, to deemphasize it’s so much vaunted profit maximization dogma and pay attention to the human lives and environment which it is subtly, ruthlessly and almost surely grinding out of existence. As one of the protagonists has viewed the concept of corporate social responsibility it is a crude blend of long-run profit-making and altruism. According to Drucker (1986), the debate on corporate social responsibility did not only take place in the United State of America. The noise of the debate filtered through to other countries that shares similar business cultures with America most especially the Western European countries. While the western European nations have responded positively to the debate, accepted and even implemented some of its own far reaching conclusions it is pertinent to know if the discussions and conclusion so far reached have had an impact on the countries periphery. It is believed by the researcher that although the present level of industrialization does not entitled us to discuss the issue on the same platform with the industrialized western economies; the fact that they are imitating their path to industrialization should imply that we should study their experience closely to avoid mistakes. It is arguable that foreign corporate bodies operating in host countries especially in the Third World countries are most likely to pay lip service to such principles as corporate social responsibilities which are most likely to be of benefit to their host countries. Local or indigenous organizations can neglect this principle of corporate social responsibility. Social responsibility of business is on what should or might be done to tackle and solve problems of society. The performance of corporate social responsibility is not undertaking to boost profit at the short-run but to meet some social needs, aspirations, and profit at the long-run. Organizations who hold this view of corporate social responsibility believes that once it does what is expected of it by law and its host community the organization is socially responsible. One of the objectives of this study is to investigate to what extent the current debate on corporate social responsibility and its conclusion has trickled down to the periphery of Nigeria in particular and how it is applied here by firms who have embarked on such projects in Nigeria. Owing to the vastness of this topic – corporate social responsibility the investigation is restricted to manageable proportions by focusing attention on Nigerian business organizations, using Globacom as a case study. The telecommunication industry is one of the fastest growing sector in Nigeria. There are so many telecommunication companies owned by foreign and local corporate bodies in Nigeria. These telecommunication industries have covered a large area in Nigeria from urban to rural areas in the country. As a result of this, the researcher has selected one out of the many telecommunication companies to take a look at its corporate social responsibility to the society. The researcher has decided to choice Globacom Nigeria Limited, FCT Zone, and has decided to look into its corporate social responsibility activities, to see how the company has gone in performing its social responsibility in host community.

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