Abstract:

Businesses operating in the modern business world are faced with varying challenges; amongst which is the need to ensure that they are performing their societal function of being responsible in the society in which they operate. This responsibility to the society is generally termed corporate social responsibility. For many years, this act of social responsibility was seen as a philanthropic act, where organizations give ‘charity’ or ‘alms’ to the society, without any link to the organization’s mission and objectives. However, in recent years, strategists have analysed that due to the first objective of the organization: profit maximization, it becomes only rational that every activity in which an organization invests in, aids its profit maximization objective. Furthermore, businesses are now faced with more stiff competition; it thus becomes increasingly important that all of an organization’s resources are duly invested into profit making activities.