Zimbabwe: Industry Can Still Give Back to the Community

The economic climate in the country has resulted in most companies adopting means and ways to remain operational. The country's community of individuals, entrepreneurs and the industry, at large, has now adopted a "survival" approach in order to remain afloat.

What it means is that, the corporate world has put aside their normal way of operating which included supporting their host communities and showing goodwill gestures to their publics. The theme for most companies is now survival, survival and survival. And one cannot blame them.

However, the corporate world can still operate normally despite the country's economic challenges.

The industry can still afford to give back to the community and proffer goodwill gestures where it is required through corporate social responsibility activities.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a public relations tool used to win the hearts of the community in which a company operates by giving back to the community as appreciation and incentive to co-habit together harmoniously, as both cannot do without each other.

The company needs the citizens for support, business growth and progression while the citizens or community benefit from the business activities of the organisation.

Therefore, the CSR is a corporate goodwill gesture within a community in which an entity continually shows its commitment to business by behaving ethically and contributing to economic development and improving the quality of life for the local community and society, at large.

The corporate world commitment to CSR is a clear behaviour of corporate citizenship by organisations. And the public relations departments of companies have to carry this burden of corporate citizenship for today's business players.

Zimbabwean companies can still carry the burden of corporate citizenship by appreciating CSR.

Krause (1977) offered two options of CSR in which organisations are caught up which are - no corporate charity or altruism and the entrepreneurial attitude.

The former does not prioritise organisational obligation to supporting communities with good-will gestures, while the latter reflects on the entrepreneurial attitude of business and its involvement with social, economic and political questions of the industry and society.

With the current economic wave sweeping across the country, it seems the Zimbabwean industry has warmed up to Krause's first option of "no corporate charity or altruism" where it side steps CSR.

The issue of CSR is fast becoming archaic and may be completely eradicated from the system due to the harsh economic environment which has seen rampant closure of companies including big corporate players like CAPS Holdings that used to cherish CSR.

The few surviving companies cannot prioritise CSR at the expense of survival and sustainability as they have wage and salary bills, as well as other operational costs to fulfil. But this is an opening window for the PR practice to highlight its relevance in industry.

Organisations can take this opportunity to use PR to invoke their corporate citizenship by reviving CSR.

PR can still take the country's industry back to the time when it used CSR to contribute towards employee health, educational advancement, transport, housing and improved livelihood.

PR can still remind the community of organisational social obligation using CSR to support the areas of health, welfare, civic and cultural programmes in the communities they operate. PR can still revive the good will gestures of such companies as Econet Wireless Zimbabwe using CSR through its Capernaum Trust and the Joshua Nkomo Scholarships for the vulnerable exceptional children.

PR can also take the corporate world back to the good old days where companies like Mimosa and Zimplats played a critical role in their communities fighting the HIV and AIDS pandemic using the special tool of CSR.

Some entities would go as far as constructing clinics, hospitals, schools, sinking boreholes and even donating food hampers to children and old people's homes.

While companies are now operating on shoe- string budgets it is not all gloom for organisations to exercise their corporate citizenship.

The PR tool of CSR is still in use in a few organisations like Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, Lafarge, Unki Mine and a number of wholesale and retail chain supermarkets which are still carrying out their corporate social responsibility.

Unki Mine and Mimosa are currently playing critical roles in the country's health sector adopting wards in hospitals and contributing to upgrading of health facilities.

Therefore, while industry is constrained, organisations can still be proactive by instituting the PR practice to invoke its CSR tool to co-exist and create an economic rapport with community, publics and society, at large.

 -allAfrica