Public perception of corporate social responsibility of AngloGold Ashanti in Obuasi Municipality, Ghana

Ernest Mensah Abraham, Valentina Asor, Florence Torviawu, Helen Yeboah and Frank Laryea

Social Responsibility Journal, 2018, vol. 14, issue 3, 485-500

Abstract: Purpose - This paper aims to ascertain how knowledge of corporate social responsibility (CSR) by community members influenced their perception of Anglo Gold Ashanti (AGA) and its reputation. Design/methodology/approach - The study used a qualitative approach using the phenomenology design. The population of the study was the residents of the Obuasi Municipality and a sample size of 20 was used. Purposive sampling was used to select both the sample frame and the respondents for the interview. An interview guide was used to carry out the in-depth interviews. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview notes. Findings - The study found out that the CSR carried out by AGA was mainly for philanthropic or ethical purposes. The CSR of AGA was perceived to be very important for the Obuasi Municipality, except that it has not been done to the satisfaction of the community members. There was a gap between the perception of the community members about AGA’s CSR and the observed CSR activities of AGA. Research limitations/implications - The findings are based on people’s experiences and may differ in another geographic area even within the same country. People’s experiences may be different from reality. Practical implications - Detailed background study is required to understand the expectations of communities where mining firms operate. Social implications - It is important for companies to appreciate the fact that communities in Africa have high expectations from entities doing business because there are real needs in communities. Originality/value - Poor CSR practices will jeopardise the relationship between the firm and the community.

Keywords: Corporate social responsibility; Public perception; AngloGold Ashanti (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:srjpps:srj-08-2016-0149

DOI: 10.1108/SRJ-08-2016-0149

Access Statistics for this article

Social Responsibility Journal is currently edited by Prof David Crowther

More articles in Social Responsibility Journal from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().