Corporate Social Responsibility and the Prospects for Community Development: the Case of LG Electronics ' Community Development Project in Dngdcdera Village
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2014-06
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
By tak ing the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) community development project of LG
Corporation that is being implemented in Dugdedhera as a case, thi s study ex plores the role of
CSR to community development. Dugdedhera is a rural village located in Kombole Kebele of
the Bereh Woreda ofFinfinee Surrounding Special Zone of Oromia Regional State. It is loca ted
66 K.M north of Addi s Ababa. The study primarily employs the experiences of the beneficiaries
to uncover the potential of CSR to community development. In-depth interviews, FGD and keyinformant
interviews were the techniques of data coll ection that were used in th is study to find
out the experiences, complaints and satisfactions of the members of the community towards the
CSR community development proj ect. A total of twenty four pat1icipants were engaged in this
study; fourteen for in-depth interviews, e ight for FGD participants and two key informants. The
findings of the study indicate that the LG's Corporate Social Responsibility Proj ect is tuned to
the rea li ties and needs of the community there by reflecting a deviation from the mainstream
CSR agenda. The project is a multi-level community development proj ect comprised of different
initiatives including income improvement initiatives, educational initiative and hea lth and
hygiene initiative. The study further indicated that CSR initiatives can be moulded to attend to
the needs and co ntex ts of the local communities of developing nations. Bes ides, the study also
shows that CSR can be an important force for community development in developing nations
where governments find it difficult to meet the social governa nce needs of local communities.
However, the study proved that the role of the government in creating an enabling environment
and that of the local gove rnments' (Wereda admi ni stration) role to follow up the implementation
of the project has gene rally been ve ry low.
Key Words: Corporate Social Responsibili ty, Community Development
Description
Keywords
Corporate Social Responsibili ty, Community Development