Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on International Corporations as Exemplified by Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment in the Republic of South Africa

Master's Thesis from the year 2014 in the subject Law - Miscellaneous grade: Summa Cum Laude University of Vienna language: English abstract: This Master's thesis examines the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on international corporations. Therefore it extensively investigates this voluntarily concept which focuses on the commitment to social environmental and economic responsibility from different angles. At first the paper analyses the conceptual development as well as the different understandings of CSR and its demarcation from related terms. It describes in detail the common principles and guidelines underlying the concept of CSR as a legal basis and furthermore it expands explicitly the main dimensions of CSR.The present study primarily aims to give an overview of the pros and cons of CSR and the impact of its implementation on international corporations. In the absence of an unanimously agreement the discussion regarding this issue is still going on between corporations interest groups states and business institutions all over the world.Finally this Master's thesis particularly examines the approach to CSR in the Republic of South Africa as a currently significant emerging market. Due to the nation's challenging historical background its government launched a programme namely the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and in further development the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) to redress the inequalities of apartheid. The study describes the development of these programmes and analyses the main issues of B-BBEE such as content enforceability and future amendments.