Prof. Daniel Frimpong Ofori calls on the government to implement a national CSR policy

Author: Godfred Amoaful

The Vice-Chancellor of the College of Humanities, University of Ghana, Prof. Daniel Frimpong Ofori, has called on the government to take the lead in implementing the National Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Policy, which was launched in 2016 to guide corporate entities on how to implement CSR recommendations.

He said the lack of government guidance on the application of the policy has resulted in corporate entities struggling to implement country-specific recommendations that suit their operations. Professor Ofori emphasized that Ghana’s CSR policy includes a wealth of knowledge that enables corporate entities and organizations to indicate how corporate social responsibility should be implemented.

Speaking at his inaugural lecture on the topic; “On Indom, Kalypo and condoms, an intimate conversation on corporate social responsibility in Ghana” Professor Ofori advised organizations to focus on CSR as part of their organizational strategy to avoid losses.

Corporate social responsibility, CSR, is also variously referred to as corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship, sustainability or corporate philanthropy.

It encompasses not only what companies do with their profits but also how they make those profits. In effect, Corporate Social Responsibility is about managing relationships across all the key spheres of an organization’s influence in the workplace, the marketplace, the supply chain, the community, and public policy.

It goes beyond philanthropy and compliance to how companies manage their impact on the economy, society, and environment. As a result of these multiple pressures and determinations, “corporate social responsibility” has become many things to many people, as it is practiced in different ways depending on the context.

Research suggests that when used wisely, CSR brings numerous benefits, such as reducing costs, improving reputation and having the potential to build a responsible brand. the study also indicates that there is a lack of guidance on practicing CSR in Ghana, which has led to many corporations engaging in incidental CSR activities.

Corporate social responsibility is here to stay, and so are organizations. This has led to organizations realizing that they need to do more across the range of their operations to operate more economically, efficiently and productively, while also addressing liability issues.

Organizations therefore have no choice, because it is no longer a question of whether corporate social responsibility should be taken into account, but of a thoughtful and conscious assessment of the type, framework, model or approach that organizations should adopt to adapt to the expectations of stakeholders and their own audiences .

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