The head of the Department of Management Studies, University of Cape Coast, Dr Abraham Ansong has charged employers in the informal sector to take advantage of the Covid 19 pandemic to practice Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
Usually, CSR is misconstrued as a practice for only big corporations through philanthropy, however; Dr Ansong believes the practice could also be adopted by businesses in the informal sector as they explore other innovative ventures to garner profit to retain their staff.
“When we talk about CSR we need to break it down to the specifics, if we still keep it at the philanthropic level, then there is the tendency for us to feel that only big companies can engage in CSR but there are several dimensions.”
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Dr Ansong made this statement during the 5th School of Business UCC webinar on the topic, Coronavirus Pandemic and Corporate Social Responsibility Strategies.
He indicated that “the lower dimensions are becoming far more important now, so whether you are a big business or informal it is important that you find an area where there is an opportunity and instead of laying off staff you can start a business in this particular area where there is the need for that particular product or service.”
He said in normal times it would be termed as profit-making, however, in this period, once the opportunity to be able to keep a business running and also help employ others has been utilized, and can be seen as a corporate social responsibility initiative.
Owing to the Covid 19 pandemic, many businesses have suffered economically. This has forced many organizations to halt some intended CSR initiatives.
In his view, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Institute of Directors – Ghana, Mr Fredrick Aryeetey believes, CSR should rather be on the increase within this period since it would inform the decision of an organization’s publics and stakeholders post the pandemic.
“This is the time that CSR is needed the most, in this period any resource that you have must be geared towards employees wellbeing, keeping employees safe and also customers satisfied”, he suggested.
He added that the health, safety and environmental issues of an organisation’s employees and clients are very important especially within covid 19 eras. Hence CSR budgets should be increased and called on employers “to think beyond a budget of growth approach to a budget of preserving and sustaining business.”
Source: Joseph Kobina Amuah / ATL FM NEWS
