AUTHORS:
Wole Adamolekun, Ph.D. and Rotimi Olatunji, Ph.D.
DATE
OF PUBLICATION: 2022
NO
OF PAGES: 309
PUBLISHER:
Malthouse Press Limited
PLACE
OF PUBLICATION: Lagos
FORWORD
BY: Yomi Badejo-Okunsanya
REVIEWER:
Raphael Olugbenga Abimbola, Ph.D.
PREAMBLE
The
culture of making corporate bodies like national and transnational
organisations to be socially responsible to their immediate environment and
various publics has gained prominence since the late 20th Century.
This is otherwise known as corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, the
term so called has limited social responsibility to only big national and
multinational organisations to the exclusion of individuals, groups, small and
medium scale organisations who also need to be socially responsible to their
publics. This is arguably the reason the authors of Social Responsibility
and Sustainable Development, Wole Adamolekun and Rotimi Olatunji decided to
approach the discipline from a broader perspective of including all and sundry
in the business of social responsibility in a cooperative manner for
sustainable development of the society in which they operate. This is
corroborated by Yomi Badejo-Okunsanya, a public relations, advertising and
marketing wizard and President, African Public Relations Association (APRA), in
his foreword to the book that “running businesses that recognize that the
social license that enables them to operate is sacrosanct and comes with
responsibility that protects the environment, the people while operating
profitably as the bedrock of a better society.”
THE
BOOK
True
to its purpose, Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development brings
to the fore the need to put the term in proper perspective with theoretical
underpinnings and practical case studies. The ten-chapter book approaches the
subject-matter from the Nigerian, African and global contexts. It particularly
underscores the African culture of ubuntu stressing the need to be our
brother’s keeper as a society thrives on cooperative efforts.
The
book opens with an exposé on social responsibility as African context on the
one hand and a western context on the other addressing the human rights,
labour, and environment angles to the discourse pointing out that social
responsibility practices in Africa are informal and largely undocumented, hence,
less attention of research light beamed on them to evaluate their impact and
contributions to the society. It then includes social responsibility,
stewardship, fiduciary, corporate social performance, stakeholder, corporate
citizenship, relationship, and multi-level theories as yardsticks for
articulating impactful social responsibility programmes and projects.
Other
aspects covered by the book include instances of social responsibility
practices in Nigeria, Africa and the world at large. The authors, however, did
not fail to interrogate the motives of organisations in carrying out CSR
activities especially in Nigeria and many African countries where the drive for
publicity, visibility, acceptance, and eventual profit outweighs the altruistic
motives of impacting their environment for sustainable development. In
contrast, the book presents global examples of CSR projects as salutary and
enduring legacies. The book draws the curtain on social responsibility in the
Covid-19 era with examples of how multinational pharmaceutical and health
organisations like Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZenica, Modena and
others gave humanity hope through CSR.
EVALUATION
The
authors: Wole Adamolekun and Rotimi Olatiunji, brought their expertise and
experience as private and public administrators, entrepreneurs, managers,
teachers and researchers in public relations and advertising to bear on the content
of the book. This has made a balance of theory and practice spiced with case
studies. A major contribution of the
authors to the subject-matter is the need for organisations, groups, and
individuals to situate their CSR activities against the backdrop of relevant
theories to ensure success and avoid failures. A chronological arrangement of
topics either contextually or geographically could have made an easier reading
for different categories of the target audience. Nevertheless, the authors have
been deliberate in their mode of presentation which captures key aspects of
social responsibility at both the micro and macro levels.
RECOMMENDATION
Social
Responsibility and Sustainable Development is
suitable for a wide range of audiences. It is a masterpiece for researchers and
academics as well as students who want to understand fresh and broader
perspectives on the subject-matter. It is a must read for public relations,
advertising, marketing and communication professionals, managers, and owners of
small and medium scale firms as well as conglomerates who want to build and
maintain mutually beneficial relationships with stakeholders for sustainable
development of our society.
Rapheal Olugbenga
ABIMBOLA, Ph.D.
Ag. Head, Department
of Mass Communication
Adekunle Ajasin
University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo Stae, Nigeria
gbegbib@gmail.com,
+234-803 3814 255
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