Open Access

Kathrina Hirsch

• Today’s globalized world is situated in a difficult stage of egoism and inequality. The unfair distribution of income leads to a huge amount of people around the world who are suffering from poverty and the spread of deadly infections while others steadily increase their wealth. The coexistence of wealth and poverty becomes particularly obvious in the transnational business operations of multinational enterprises which import raw materials from resource-rich countries or locate production plants in countries with a low level of education and income. Using the example of South Africa, this paper shows the impact that history can have on a country’s economic, social and political situation and the reasons for the need of a collaboration of companies, government and society to solve the country’s problems. By establishing a subsidiary at a specific location, a company starts to bear responsibility for the local community. People often refer to this correlation as Corporate Social Responsibility. This paper clarifies the concept and extent of Corporate Social Responsibility by explaining some well-established definitions and theories. The practical part of the paper consists of a comparison between the activities of multinational enterprises in industrialized and developing countries. Concerning their social responsibility, companies in industrialized countries tend to focus on the avoidance of environmental pollution, sustainable utilization of resources and prevention of the discrimination of minorities in the labor market. In South Africa the most important and necessary fields of activity are the rapid spread of HIV due to insufficient medical care, steadily increasing social inequality, deficient level of education and the lack of possibilities of professional development. The last section of the paper compares the activities of different industrial sectors regarding Corporate Social Responsibility using the example of selected companies which operate in South Africa.