IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ijocsr/v3y2018i1d10.1186_s40991-017-0025-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Corporate social responsibility reporting in the telecommunications sector in Ghana

Author

Listed:
  • Abdul Jelil Abukari

    (Tamale Technical University)

  • Ibn Kailan Abdul-Hamid

    (University of Professional Studies)

Abstract

Many corporations today have come to the realization that there are enormous benefits to be derived from being socially responsible in the societies they operate. Today, the argument is no longer about being a good corporate citizen on the part of businesses but the ability of businesses to communicate their social contributions to stakeholders. A number of mediums can be employed by businesses to report on their corporate social responsibility (CSR) to stakeholders: including annual reports; community reports; press releases among others. This study looked at CSR reporting in the telecommunications sector in Ghana, using websites as a disclosure medium. Drawing inspirations from prior studies, this study looked at corporate social responsibility reporting (CSRR) in five thematic perspectives: environment; human resource; product and customer; community and ethical aspects. Findings from this study indicate that the telecommunications companies in Ghana poorly articulate their CSR issues online. The community involvement category received much attention in their reportage, which supports earlier studies that most organizations are committed to corporate philanthropy. The findings also show that two telecommunications companies have dedicated department solely for CSR (MTN Ghana and Vodafone Ghana), known as CSR Foundation with separate vision statement, mission statement; objectives; aims as well as independent board different from the mother entities. The study makes relevant contribution in the area of CSRR in the context of Ghana, judging from the fact that the concepts CSR and CSRR are relatively new and also adds literature to a fairly growing area of CSR communications via websites which are fast becoming a medium of corporate communication for corporations in Ghana and beyond.

Suggested Citation

  • Abdul Jelil Abukari & Ibn Kailan Abdul-Hamid, 2018. "Corporate social responsibility reporting in the telecommunications sector in Ghana," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ijocsr:v:3:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1186_s40991-017-0025-9
    DOI: 10.1186/s40991-017-0025-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1186/s40991-017-0025-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1186/s40991-017-0025-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Waris Ali & Muhammad Rizwan, 2013. "Factors Influencing Corporate Social and Environmental Disclosure (CSED) Practices in the Developing Countries: An Institutional Theoretical Perspective," International Journal of Asian Social Science, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 3(3), pages 590-609, March.
    2. Azlan Amran & S. Susela Devi, 2008. "The impact of government and foreign affiliate influence on corporate social reporting: The case of Malaysia," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 23(4), pages 386-404, April.
    3. Riham Rizk & Robert Dixon & Anne Woodhead, 2008. "Corporate social and environmental reporting: a survey of disclosure practices in Egypt," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 4(3), pages 306-323, August.
    4. Habib‐Uz‐Zaman Khan & Abdel K. Halabi & Martin Samy, 2009. "Corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting: a study of selected banking companies in Bangladesh," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 5(3), pages 344-357, July.
    5. Waris Ali & Muhammad Rizwan, 2013. "Factors Influencing Corporate Social and Environmental Disclosure (CSED) Practices in the Developing Countries: An Institutional Theoretical Perspective," International Journal of Asian Social Science, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 3(3), pages 590-609.
    6. James B. Abugre & Richard B. Nyuur, 2015. "Organizations’ commitment to and communication of CSR activities: insights from Ghana," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 11(1), pages 161-178, March.
    7. Laetitia Pozniak & Perrine Ferauge & Laurent Arnone & Angy Geerts, 2011. "Determinants Of Internet Corporate Social Responsibility Communication," Global Journal of Business Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 5(4), pages 1-14.
    8. Mahmoud Abdulai Mahmoud & Charles Blankson & Robert E. Hinson, 2017. "Market orientation and corporate social responsibility: towards an integrated conceptual framework," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 1-15, December.
    9. David J. Campbell, 2000. "Legitimacy Theory or Managerial Reality Construction? Corporate Social Disclosure in Marks and Spencer Plc Corporate Reports, 1969–1997," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1), pages 80-100, March.
    10. Frempong, G. K. & Atubra, W. H., 2001. "Liberalisation of telecoms: the Ghanaian experience," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 197-210, April.
    11. J. Geerings & L. H. H. Bollen & H. F. D. Hassink, 2003. "Investor relations on the Internet: a survey of the Euronext zone," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(3), pages 567-579.
    12. Mohammed Abdulai Mahmoud & Robert E. Hinson, 2012. "Market orientation, innovation and corporate social responsibility practices in Ghana's telecommunication sector," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 8(3), pages 327-346, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Peter Ansu-Mensah & Emmanuel Opoku Marfo & Lyon Salia Awuah & Kwame Oduro Amoako, 2021. "Corporate social responsibility and stakeholder engagement in Ghana’s mining sector: a case study of Newmont Ahafo mines," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-22, December.
    2. Jordan Famularo, 2023. "Corporate social responsibility communication in the ICT sector: digital issues, greenwashing, and materiality," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-25, December.
    3. Ritika Gupta & Pankaj Kumar, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility disclosure: a study on NIFTY 100 companies," Global Business and Economics Review, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 27(4), pages 492-515.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Moazzem Hossain & Angela Hecimovic & Aklema Choudhury Lema, 2015. "Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility Reporting Practices from an Emerging Mobile Telecommunications Market," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 25(4), pages 389-404, December.
    2. Hassan, Qaraman Mohammed & Khudir, Ibrahim Mustafa & Olawuyi, San, Damilola S., 2023. "Regulating corporate social responsibility in energy and extractive industries: The case of international oil companies in a developing country," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    3. Matthias S. Fifka, 2013. "Corporate Responsibility Reporting and its Determinants in Comparative Perspective – a Review of the Empirical Literature and a Meta‐analysis," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 1-35, January.
    4. J. Mahadeo & V. Oogarah-Hanuman & T. Soobaroyen, 2011. "A Longitudinal Study of Corporate Social Disclosures in a Developing Economy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 104(4), pages 545-558, December.
    5. Mohammad Sohail Yunis & Laila Durrani & Amad Khan, 2017. "Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Pakistan: A Critique of the Literature and Future Research Agenda," Business & Economic Review, Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar, Pakistan, vol. 9(1), pages 65-88, March.
    6. Mahadeo, Jyoti Devi & Oogarah-Hanuman, Vanisha & Soobaroyen, Teerooven, 2011. "Changes in social and environmental reporting practices in an emerging economy (2004–2007): Exploring the relevance of stakeholder and legitimacy theories," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 158-175.
    7. Soysa, R.N.K. & Pallegedara, Asankha & Ajantha, Sisira Kumara & Jayasena, D.M. & Samaranayake, M.K.S.M., 2023. "Developing a Sustainability Reporting Index using the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for Sri Lankan Business Firms," MPRA Paper 116098, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Waris Ali & Jedrzej George Frynas & Zeeshan Mahmood, 2017. "Determinants of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Disclosure in Developed and Developing Countries: A Literature Review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(4), pages 273-294, July.
    9. Asterios Stroumpoulis & Evangelia Kopanaki, 2022. "Theoretical Perspectives on Sustainable Supply Chain Management and Digital Transformation: A Literature Review and a Conceptual Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-30, April.
    10. Nobanee, Haitham & Ellili, Nejla, 2016. "Corporate sustainability disclosure in annual reports: Evidence from UAE banks: Islamic versus conventional," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 1336-1341.
    11. Robert Ebo Hinson & Frederick Avornyo & John Kuada & Felix Ankomah Asante, 2017. "Corporate social responsibility and international business: examining the nexus and gaps from a developing economy perspective," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 1-14, December.
    12. Bonsón, Enrique & Bednárová, Michaela, 2015. "CSR reporting practices of Eurozone companies," Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 182-193.
    13. Kurniawan, Putu Sukma, 2018. "Factors Affecting Company’S Capability In Performing Integrated Reporting: An Empirical Evidence From Indonesian Companies," INA-Rxiv xrcbe, Center for Open Science.
    14. Waris Ali & Jeffrey Wilson & Muhammad Husnain, 2022. "Determinants/Motivations of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure in Developing Economies: A Survey of the Extant Literature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-26, March.
    15. Mehmoona Sharif & Kashif Rashid, 2014. "Corporate governance and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting: an empirical evidence from commercial banks (CB) of Pakistan," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 2501-2521, September.
    16. Osemeke Louis & Nobert Osemeke, 2017. "The role of ethnic directors in corporate social responsibility: Does culture matter? The cultural trait theory perspectives," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 14(2), pages 152-172, May.
    17. Sajon Dhar & Mohammad Ashraful Ferdous Chowdhury, 2021. "Impact of Environmental Accounting Reporting Practices on Financial Performance: Evidence From Banking Sector of Bangladesh," International Journal of Asian Business and Information Management (IJABIM), IGI Global, vol. 12(1), pages 24-42, January.
    18. Kansal, Monika & Joshi, Mahesh & Batra, Gurdip Singh, 2014. "Determinants of corporate social responsibility disclosures: Evidence from India," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 217-229.
    19. Michaela Bednárová & Roman Klimko & Eva Rievajová, 2019. "From Environmental Reporting to Environmental Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-12, May.
    20. Rohaida Abdul Latif & Kamarun Nisham Taufil Mohd & Hasnah Kamardin & Arifatul Husna Mohd Ariff, 2023. "Determinants of Sustainability Disclosure Quality among Plantation Companies in Malaysia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-23, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:ijocsr:v:3:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1186_s40991-017-0025-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.