گزارش مسئولیت اجتماعی شرکت در بخش مخابرات در غنا Corporate social responsibility reporting in the telecommunications sector in Ghana

Introduction Organizations today, whether private or public are expected to conduct their businesses in a legal, ethical and transparent manner, raking in the needed profit, while at the same time meeting the expectations of various stakeholders. This is where the issue of corporate social responsibility (CSR) comes into play. Issues of CSR continue to be in the front burner in many corporate board rooms of many business corporations. This view is endorsed by (Nielsen & Thomsen, 2007) when they opined that the need for transparency and accountability from organizations operating worldwide has pushed them to put CSR high on their agendas. CSR today remains an emerging concept in many developing economies (Muller & Kolk, 2008), of which Ghana is not an exception. According to a an international survey issued by the Price Water House Coopers in the early part of 2002, reveals that nearly 70% of global chief executives believed that addressing CSR was vital to their companies’ profitability (Simms, 2002). Notwithstanding the age-long debate about corporate social responsibility and the difficulty in arriving at a consensual definition of the concept, CSR is gaining currency in many business enterprises in Ghana today. Similarly, the Ghanaian government has proactively endorsed CSR friendly practices by firms operating in the country (Atuguba & Dowuona-Hammond, 2006). This is because organizations by their nature have responsibilities assigned to them by law, shareholders, stakeholders and society at large (Carrol, 1979). Undoubtedly, corporatism today looks beyond the bottom line, in an attempt to placate its stakeholders. CSR issues are now being factored into all aspects of business operations and explicit commitment to CSR is made in the vision statement, mission statement and value statement in many business enterprises in the world (Ofori & Hinson, 2007). It is increasingly becoming fashionable today for organization not only to be socially responsible, but, also endeavor to report same. This view is endorsed by (Epinosa and Porter, 2011), when they argue that matters of sustainability reporting are increasingly assuming a global trend heading towards a paradigm shift in the ways businesses and organizations whether public or private, profit-making or non-profit-making operate in society. Engaging in social responsibility and reporting such activities at a regular interval have been recognized as an essential device for organizations towards ensuring the long term continued existence and survival (Khan, 2010). A review of the social disclosure literature suggests that reporting CSR issues have become a necessary facet of businesses to demonstrate companies’ commitment to the wellbeing of society (Khan, 2010). A number of earlier researches analyzing CSR information disclosure have touched on a wide range of fundamental issues (See for example: Mahmoud et al., 2017; Boateng & Abdul-Hamid, 2017; Hinson et al., 2010; Sulemana, 2016; Khan, 2010; Gao, 2011; Abugre, 2011; Khan et al., 2009). It appears not coincidental that issues of sustainability reporting is also suffering definitional quagmire similar to that of CSR. Consequently, it has been referred to variously as corporate citizenship report; triple-bottom line (TBL) report; social and environmental accounting; annual social report; integrity report; sustainability development report among others. It is pertinent to add that there are various mediums through which businesses can communicate CSR messages. Reasons for dwelling on corporate websites as a disclosure medium is inspired by the assertion by Zeghal & Ahmed (1990) that the use of annual reports alone do not adequately represent information disclosure of a firm or industry as they tend to target only investors and shareholders, which makes websites disclosure appropriate and relevant.