CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF BUSINESS FIRMS IN NIGERIA
ABSTRACT
        This research project is a very crucial study for business firms operating in Nigeria and more specifically, Guinness Nigeria Plc.  The study was motivated by the necessity to establish the extent of corporate social responsiveness of Guinness Nigeria Plc to its host community in Benin City. To solve the research problem, both primary and secondary data were collected.  The research instrument used in collecting the data was questionnaires. The respondents comprised of staff of Guinness Nigeria Plc and members of the host community in Benin City. In organizing and presenting the data collected, tables and percentages were used.  The various hypotheses were tested using the chi-square.
    Data analysis and interpretation gave the following findings:
(i)    Guinness Nigeria Plc is a socially responsible organization.
(ii)    The performance of social responsibility would lead to profit in the long-run for Guinness Nigeria Plc.
(iii)    It was also revealed that the host community does demand for social responsiveness from Guinness Nigeria Plc and
(iv)    The performance of social responsibility can boost the image and reputation of Guinness Nigeria.
    Based on the findings, the researcher recommends that:
(i)    The Government should review existing laws, policies and regulations governing operations of business firms to ensure that they operate in a socially responsible manner.
(ii)    There is the need to re-orientate Chief Executives and top management team in firms to pursue policies, decisions and actions that are desirable by the society.
(iii)    Organisations should set up social responsiveness unit or division charged with the duty of alerting the firm of their social responsibility.  The head of such unit or division should be directly responsible to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).  This will create a more effective and efficient social responsibility performance.
(iv)    The Government should re-adjust taxation laws in the country so that expenditure on all forms of social responsibility could be classified as deductible expenses during the process of tax computation and not just part of social responsibility and finally,
(v)    The Government should set up a body or an agency that will audit the social responsibility performance of organizations and reward socially responsible ones and sanctioning socially irresponsible ones.
    The conclusion of the study is that Guinness Nigeria Plc is a socially responsible organisation and the performance of social responsibility has helped to boost the image and reputation of Guinness Nigeria Plc but there is still need for further improvement in its social responsiveness effort.
TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction    ..    ..    ..    ..    ..        
1.2    Statement of the research problem    ..    ..    ..    ..
1.3    Objective of the study    ..    ..    ..    ..    ..    
1.4    Statement of research hypothesis    ..    ..    ..
1.5    Scope of study     ..    ..    ..    ..    ..
1.6    Significance of the study    ..    ..    ..    ..    
        References     ..    ..    ..    ..    
CHAPTER TWO – Literature Review
Introduction    ..    ..    ..    ..    ..    
Literature Review on Variables     ..    ..    ..
Conceptual Framework     ..    ..    ..    
Review of Previous Studies    ..    ..    ..    ..
Theoretical Framework    ..    ..    ..    
Approaches to Social Responsibility    ..    ..    ..
Factors Affecting Social Responsibility    ..    ..
Corporate Social Responsibility And Organizational Stakeholders    
Social Audit    ..    ..    ..    ..    ..    
Externalities And Dealing With Social Costs    ..    ..    
CHAPTER THREE – Research Methodology
    Research design    ..    ..    ..    
Sources of data    ..    ..    ..    ..    
Population of study    ..    ..    ..    ..    
Sample size    ..    ..    ..    ..    ..    ..    
Sampling technique    ..    ..    ..    ..    ..
Research instrument    ..    ..    ..    ..    
Questionnaire administration and response rate    ..    
Method of treatment and analysis    ..    ..
CHAPTER FOUR – Presentation and Analysis of Data
    Introduction    ..    ..    ..    ..    ..
    Presentation of data    ..    ..    ..    ..    ..    
    Analysis of data (hypothesis testing)    ..    ..    ..
CHAPTER FIVE – Summary of Findings, Recommendation and Conclusion
    Introduction    ..    ..    ..    ..    ..
    Summary of Findings    ..    ..    ..    ..
    Recommendation    ..    ..    ..    ..    
5.4    Conclusion    ..    ..    ..    ..    ..    ..
    BIBLIOGRAPHY    ..    ..    ..    ..    
        Appendix     ..    ..    ..    ..    ..
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF STUDY
For the past few decades, probably, no issue has attracted and received more attention by business organizations, politicians, government and the public in general than the issue of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and what the social responsibility of business is. Every business or firm is linked with different interest groups which form the stake holders of the business or firm.  These stake holders or interest group contribute to the growth and survival of the business and hence expect to be compensated.
For many years, managers and theorist have talked about an organisation responsibility to society (Stoner et al 1995:97).  But opinions about what social responsibility of business firms is vary among experts and authorities.  However, corporate social responsibility focuses on what an organization does that affects the society in which it exist (Stoner et al, 1995:97).
There are many reasons why it is important for managers and organizations to act ethically and to do everything possible to avoid harming stakeholders (Jones et al, 2000:160).  Several advantages are argued to result when manager and firms behave in a socially responsible manner.  First, it has been opined that if all organization in a society are socially responsible, the quality of life as a whole would be better.  Second, employees and the public benefit directly because firms (rather than the government) bear some of the cost of helping employees.  Indeed, several management experts have argued that the manner business or firms behave toward their workers determines many of a society’s values and norms and the ethics of its citizens.  It has been opined that if all firms adopted a caring approach and agreed that their responsibility is to promote the interests of their workers, a climate of caring would pervade the wider society.
For business to operate within an environment, they must take into consideration in their every action, those elements of the surroundings which are essential to them and to others.  Business and managers know that they must interact with, and live within an existing environment.  This implies that they must consider every element in their environment that is important to their success and important to other stakeholders who may be affected by their actions.  This is a must do, since the growth and survival of their business relies upon the successful interaction with the important elements of their environment (McOliver and Yomere, 1999:161).
Corporate establishments or businesses should not only be responsive to their employees, shareholders and few of other stakeholders, but also their host community (or communities) and the society at large.  Their host community (or communities) should feel the firm’s positive impact, such as in the area of provision of social amenities and creation of job opportunities.
It has been contended that the adoption of a robust corporate social responsibility strategy and implementation of the same by business firms will help to address critical national challenges including wide spread poverty, inadequate infrastructures, corruption, inadequate job opportunities and the resultant social unrest.  A case in point is the unending youth restiveness in the Niger Delta of Nigeria.
It is in view of the constant recurring and unending disputes between business firms and their host communities that motivated this research work.
STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
Business and organizations operating in Nigeria are often accused of not being socially responsible to their host communities and the public in general.  Thus, this study is geared towards taking a critical look at business firms operating in Nigeria, their level of social responsiveness and the impact which they have on the socio-economic development of the country.  This study will also look into the activities that culminate in the social responsibilities of business in Nigeria.
In addition, this research study intends to ask the following questions:
Are corporate firms in Nigeria socially responsible to their host communities?
Is the public aware of the activities that form the corporate social responsibility of business in Nigeria?
Are there benefits to companies for being socially responsibility?
What are the factors that impede businesses or organizations in carrying out social responsibility?
Are there laws and regulations binding business to perform social responsibilities?
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main objective of this study is to ascertain the level of corporate social responsiveness of business or firms in Nigeria.  Other objectives are:
To find out the level of awareness of the public towards the activities that form corporate social responsibility in Nigeria;
To ascertain the benefits of corporate social responsibility to business firms in Nigeria;
To find out the constraints that limits businesses in carrying out their social responsibilities;
To find out, if there are laws and regulations binding business firms to perform social responsibilities.
STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
According to Agbonifoh and Yomere (1999:42), hypothesis is “a tentative answer to research question.  It is often stated in the form of a relationship between dependent and independent variable.”
In trying to facilitate an objective study, the following hypotheses will be formulated to be tested and analyzed:
(i)    Ho:     Guinness Nigeria Plc is not socially responsible.
    HI:    Guinness Nigeria Plc if socially responsible.
(ii)    Ho:    The host community does not demand for social responsiveness from Guinness Nigeria Plc.    
    HI:    The host community does demand for social responsiveness from Guinness Nigeria Plc.
(iii)    Ho:    The performance of social responsibility will not lead to profit in the long run for Guinness Nigeria Plc.
    HI:    The performance of social responsibility will lead to profit in the long run for Guinness Nigeria Plc.
(iv)    Ho:    The performance of social responsibility cannot boost the reputation of Guinness Nigeria Plc.
    HI:    The performance of social responsibility can boost the reputation of Guinness Nigeria Plc.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
In order to facilitate a thorough and objective research, the scope of this study will be restricted to the corporate social responsiveness of Guinness Nigeria Plc and the host community will be Benin City.  The period of study will be 2010 to 2011.
1.5    SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This research study will be carried out, having in mind that no organization will embark on a project that is of no benefit to it, because no firm wants to waste its scarce resources.  In this regard, this study will be of benefit to business and the society at large as follows:
It is expected that this study will benefit businesses by helping managers know how best to cope with the social responsibility demand of communities;
This study will also be useful to organizations by helping them know the advantages that accrue to being regarded as a socially responsible firm;
The study will help to reveal how best business and host communities can balance their interest and co-exist peacefully.
LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The subject matter of this study is constrained by the available limited time which would not allow for a more comprehensive work. Also this work is constrained by the following factors; limited number of published texts on the subject matter, lack of adequate finance, distance from source of data which makes it impossible to get some relevant data and lukewarm attitude of some officials towards researchers. In the course of data collection more, there may be some personal judgment which may not be absolutely correct. Finally, possible mistakes of the different writers whose work were consulted might be reflected.  
REFERENCES
Agbonifoh, B.A. and Yomere, G.O. (1999), Research Methodology in Social Sciences and Education, Benin City: Centrepiece Consultants Nigeria Limited.
Jones, G. R; George, J.M and Hill, C.W.L (2000) Contemporary Management, 2nd Edition, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Mc Oliver, F. O. and Yomere, G. O. “The Concept of Business Social Responsibility” in Inegbenebor, A. U and Osaze, E. B.     (1999) Introduction to Business, Lagos: Malthouse Press Limited.
Nickels, W. G, McHugh, J. M and McHugh, S. M. (1999), Understanding Business Fifth Edition, Boston: Irwin/Mc Graw-Hill.
Stoner, J. A. F, Freeman, R. E. and Gilbert Jr. D. R. (1995), Management, Sixth Edition, New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India Private Ltd.