Is Corporate Citizenship the main feature of Integrated Thinking? Part 3
This article serves to bring main dimensions of corporate citizenship covering ‘ integrated thinking’, ‘ the organisation as an integral part of society’, ‘ stakeholder inclusivity’ and corporate citizenship itself.
In the last article we discussed the characteristics of a company as the corporate citizen which included the last few characteristics that are: perpetual succession of a company, diffused membership of a company.
We further brought some details on a diffusion of a public ( Including listed) company membership, the strategies of membership management, especially during times of holding Annual General Meetings ( AGM). We also briefly discussed the evolution of corporate governance during pre- and post- industrial revolution which period created the emergence of agency theory/ problem which was defined and briefly discussed.
Based on the foregoing, in this article, we discuss the aspects of the underpinning philosophies of King IV Report as some aspects of integrated thinking. Integrated thinking denotes a holistic connectivity and interdependencies of all factors of production and provision of service to create business social and economic value.
The idea of business is the leverage of all these factors, maximise their harness and minimise their dysfunctionalities that may come because of failure to engage in an optimal mix of all the business requirements including the environmental ones. King IV Report states that, the essence of integrated thinking is underpinned by the following outline: seeing the organisation as an integral part of society and hence a corporate citizen. The stakeholder inclusive approach to business with a view to having multidimensional factors of the provision of products and services. Subsequently, the entire process will result in sustainable development evidenced by the integrated reporting. To further elucidate this, we analyse the organisation’s activities as an integral part of society by creating its awareness of how it affects the society in which it operates both in positive and negative ways. A further analysis also investigates how and the extent in which the society affects the organisation both positively and negatively. According to King IV Report on corporate governance, society and business environments affect business in many ways.
Firstly, society’s response to business is to give it the opportunity to establish itself and maintain its pursuit to realise its business concepts and vision through justification of the business licensing or to authorise the organisation to do business. This support to business may occur in several ways including diversity of executing business direction and mentorship.
The stakeholders may include capital providers to the business by buying a stake from the organisation/ company in the form of buying shares or contributing to debt capital of the company. The other stakeholders become consumers’ products produced by the organisation or the users of its services.
The society can also facilitate the strategic and operational activities by providing human capital from the society itself in the form of employees, board of directors and members of its committees, business advisors, etc. In reciprocity, the business offers employment to members of society, trains them and maintain their livelihoods.
One of good examples of human capital development through training and career advancement for some years has been offered by the mining industry starting from on- the- job training through both organisational exposure, to training on the actual occupation.
In addition, on the job trainers’ advancement of their artisan training was by sending employees for training in vocational technical training colleges.
The other groups were those who had attained promising aptitude to sciences who were previously sent to the University of Botswana for Pre- Entry Science Course ( PESC) as a bridging programme to their long- term career in mining engineering, other types of engineering and other disciplines like accounting and human capital training and development. In addition to these initiatives, an organisation ensures that it maintains safety health and environmental services to employees for their on- the- job protection from occupational hazards. Organisations/ companies ensured that production of their products and services are not executed at the expense of the society despite the lack of knowledge on the part of the latter.
Some of the common examples were that of Selebi Phikwe Copper Nickel mine which was generating chimney smoke which was affecting villages in the vicinity of the mine including the town itself. One other example is that of indiscriminate scattering litter and engine oils which are detrimental to the environment and by extension to human health. The other lapses are that of exposing the employees themselves to hazardous occupational machinery, equipment and the other tools that are put into use without due consideration to human effects. It should be remembered that corporate governance celebrates its fourth year of uninterrupted publication. This coincides with the columnist publication of this week’s article while on a tour to the Holyland ( Israel); in Jerusalem, a city of one colour, homogenous architectural structure and other structures, a really chosen city by all mighty.
In the next article, we will be completing this topic. We extend our warm gratitude to our readers continual feedback and their spirit of goodwill in these articles.