CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: ENGAGING WITH COMMUNITY AbstractPurpose: This paper extends corporate social responsibility (CSR) theory by exploring how firms engage with community. The community is frequently cited as a stakeholder of the firm but in spite of its status in networks has not been the focus of research. Drawing on community theory and Carroll's pyramid for the foundation of our study, we undertake an empirical investigation to advance knowledge in CSR engagement with a particular stakeholder group.Design/methodology/approach: To generate in-depth insight, the study adopts a multiple case study approach involving the purposeful selection of three retail banks in Ghana as units of analysis. It draws on multiple data sources to strengthen its findings. Findings:The study finds that community engagement consists of four spheres of activity:donations, employee voluntarism, projects and partnerships. Philanthropy forms part of largely ad hoc CSR actions by firms. The study also finds that philanthropy is not merely a desired function of the CSR pyramid but an essential one. Social implications:This research imparts increased understanding of how firms engage with an important but frequently overlooked stakeholder group -community. Originality/value: This study presents specific theoretical extensions to CSR through its identification of four core activities of community engagement.Keywords: stakeholder network, corporate social responsibility, community, philanthropy, retail banking.Paper type: Research paper. IntroductionStakeholder theory states that a firm can enhance its corporate strategy by recognizing and addressing the complexity of understanding the roles and interactions of firms and stakeholders (Freeman, 1997). Debates on stakeholder theory also draw on the role of social responsibility (for example Greenwood and Van Buren, 2010), in particular where stakeholder network expectations inform a normative framework of social responsibility (Maignan, Ferrell and Ferrell 2005). For this reason, several researchers assess that engagement with stakeholders and different kinds of communities will impact on the firm (Luoma-aho and Paloviita, 2010). The purpose of this paper is to investigate how CSR strategies inform engagement with community. We find that firm CSR strategies consist of five specific spheres of activities as follows: donations, employee voluntarism, projects, partnerships and employee welfare. These activities as yet do not form part of a formalised CSR strategy but are rather more ad hoc, they currently focus on the activity rather than the outcome. Opportunities for optimising the CSR value may not be optimised.The structure of the paper is as follows: a literature review of corporate social responsibility and community, followed by the research design, findings and a discussion and conclusion section. Corporate social responsibilityBy identifying and considering a range of stakeholders firms can gain competitive advantage by engaging with customers and other partners and encoura...

Purpose This paper aims to explore the relationship between community relations (CR) and the concept of place branding (PB) by analysing several companies in a developing sub-Saharan country – Ghana, and developing a framework that links the selected concepts together. Design/methodology/approach The paper provides an analysis based on a multiple case study approach, with an interpretivist analysis of secondary and primary data derived from archival documents and in-depth interviews of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and brand managers from purposefully selected cases of private financial institutions. The data gathered were qualitatively analysed to identify and interpret common themes about CR, PB and other relevant factors such as culture. Based on analysis of the qualitative data, a comprehensive framework for CR and PB was formulated. Findings Findings show that in the developing sub-Saharan country Ghana, the process of establishing a place brand is complex because of influences exerted on CR practices by culture, management agenda of private organisations, government intervention and the fragmentation of efforts to generate a coherent dialogue with numerous stakeholders. Practical implications The study shows that managers can leverage on an array of CR elements, including moral and ethical obligations of the company, provision of economic benefits, integration, common goals between the corporation and its communities, responsibility to stakeholders, proactive action, partnerships across sector lines and active leadership, to boost PB. Thus, this research will help policymakers, country brand managers and communication professionals in structuring a proper PB starting from the efforts made in the CR field. Originality/value This research can be considered one of the few studies undertaken with a view to understanding and developing a CR framework that links with PB in a developing country. The study identifies several important moderators of PB and factors influencing CR. All issues are approached from the study of PB that promotes economic, commercial and political interests at home and abroad.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to contribute to the theory and practice of financial services marketing in sub-Saharan Africa (sSA) by investigating how financial service providers are developing corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices, in particular, seeking to uncover the involvement of stakeholders.Design/methodology/approachFollowing an interpretivist approach, the study uncovers fresh and context-rich insights through an analysis of a multiple case study consisting of retail banks in Ghana. Data consist of semi-structured interviews with senior managers and analysis of documents and archives.FindingsThe study uncovers three key CSR practices practised by the retail banks: giving, community and corporate reputation/brand with which their stakeholders are only to some extent involved. Banks not as yet drawing extensively on stakeholder resources for CSR practices.Research limitations/implicationsThe study uses an inductive and in-depth approach to explore contextual insights into CSR, but with subsequent limitations on how far the findings can be extended.Practical implicationsThe study offers outline for financial services marketing involving stakeholders in CSR.Social implicationsIt discovers that banks acquire social capital through their CSR activities in the community.Originality/valueThe study contributes to financial services marketing theory and practice through an evidence-based framework uncovering the development of CSR through practices that as yet draw on stakeholder resources to a limited extent. Research suggests that CSR practices are dynamic and subject to a range of situational conditions.

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