Corporate Social Responsibilities of the Etisalat Group (Research Paper Sample)

ETISALAT COPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORT
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ABSTRACT
This is a report that is bound to shed information on the efforts of Etisalat to self regulate its activities by checking its fulfillment of ethical standards and international norms. The Etisalat has gone beyond complying with international norms and ethical standards and engaged in activities that are beyond the interests of the company (Louche 2010, P.37). The Etisalat corporate social responsibility activities have been aimed at making a positive impact on the environment and its stakeholders such as the consumers, human resources and investors. It has covered its legal and moral obligations as expected (Louche 2010, P.37).
Introduction
The Etisalat is a public type of business organization that was formed on the 5th of October 1976 as a joint stock company between the local partners and International Aeradio company. The local partners were mainly Ahmad Abdulkarim, Saleh Al Abdool and Eissa Al Suwaida. It is a telecommunication business that offers connectivity services such as training and consultancy services, SIM and smart card processing and payment services, data clearing services, cable television, facilities management, submarine cable services, data and cable transmission services. It is one of the two only network providers in United Arab Emirates. The other network provider is the Emirates Integrated Telecom (Oxford 2013, P.149).
In 1983, the government of the United Arab Emirates held 60 percent of its shares, whereas the remaining 40 percent were traded publicly. In 1991, the company was issued with rights to provide fixed and mobile telephone and internet services in the UAE and other countries. It was also issued with the right to give out licenses to interested parties for owning, importing and processing telecommunication tools in the country (Oxford 2013, P.149). This meant that the company has both regulatory and control powers in the telecommunication industry in the United Arab Emirates.
As of 2013, the company had 32.9 billion AED in revenue, 13.26 billion AED in net income, total assets worth 42.6 billion AED and forty two thousand employees based in the United Arab Emirates, the Middle East and Africa (Oxford 2013, P.149).
The Etisalat telecommunication company is a major internet hub in UAE, the Middle East and in Africa; it therefore provides connectivity services to other smaller internet companies. In 2014 it reported net revenues of 10.6 billion US dollars and net profits of 1.93 billion US dollars (Oxford 2013, P.149).
Literature Review
In the recent past, the efforts of the Etisalat Group’s strategies have been renovated to make sure that the attempts to maintain international standards and norms are well coordinated across every location and all operations. The Group has engaged in various operations related to the environmental impact, health care provision and education. The company has pledged its efforts to the United Nations Global impact (Mullerat 2011, P.3). These activities have resulted in increase of connectivity in its prospective markets, supplementing essential services like the healthcare and the education sector and also reduced the negative impacts of business operations on the environment.
The Etisalat Group has engaged with the local education ministries in UAE to supplement the education standards. The Ayaad program was initiated with the aim of aiding the youth to acquire services like electronic libraries and academic scholarships for students who are gifted (Oxford 2013, P.149). By working in conjunction with groups like Harvard University, the Etisalat Group has enrolled its human resources in high performance programs offered in those institutions. This has not only provided them with professional employees but also ensured that they have a pool of professional talent for its future sustained growth. The Ayaad program was formulated in 2012 (Oxford 2013, P.149).
The Etisalat Group has also ensured concentrated efforts in supplementing the health care services through the Etisalat’s Mobile Baby Program in Africa. This initiative is operational in many African countries like Nigeria, Tanzania and Egypt. Its main objective is to provide basic health care services for pregnant women in marginalized regions of Africa that do not have easy access to hospital services (Mullerat 2011, P.35). This initiative was formed in collaboration with Qualcomm Group, D-Tree international group and the Great Connections group. They formed a collective poster named the GSMA Pan-African mHealth Initiative (Oxford 2013, P.149).
The Etisalat Group has committed its efforts at ensuring a safe environment for business operations. This is through the Energy Star Initiative. This is a joint operation involving it and the Pacific Controls Group. Their main objective has been to cut down the green house gasses emitted from structures and vehicles in the United Arab Emirates (Balakrishnan 2011, P.56). Companies in UAE have been brought to the management of Energy Star Initiative and as a result, the green house emissions have been reduced significantly. Since the commencement of the initiated 9000 tons of greenhouse gases have been eliminated. The program has also been unveiled in other countries in the Middle East Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan.
In more recent times, the Group has pursued the use of alternative energy sources like water, solar and wind energy. They have encouraged firms to share towers in Egypt, Nigeria and Afghanistan. Various advantages may be accrued to these efforts such as reduction in environmental emission, providing the community with a safe environment to live in despite various business operations, cutting down expenditures by improving operating expenses and providing sustenance for the company’s services for the future (Balakrishnan 2011, P.56).
The Corporate Social Responsibility has enabled the Etisalat Group to increase connectivity in regions that require internet and telephone connectivity like Nigeria and Tanzania(Temporal 2011, P.12). The strategies have improved its human resources and conditions of the environment despite business operations. By providing platforms in the local markets for community development, improving technology and better networking, it aims to fasten social and economic growth.
To maintain social responsibility, the Etisalat has engaged various internal and external stakeholders. The best signifiers of these stakeholders have been recognized based on the best practice methodologies (Temporal 2011, P.12). These signifiers include the environmental stewardship, employee relations, customer experience, the involvement with society and community, the participation in public policy implementation, and implementation of human rights (Temporal 2011, P.13)
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The telecommunication industry is attributed to pollution. The Etisalat Group has ensured environmental stewardship in order to reduce the impact of their services and products. They have kept a keen eye on their products and services (Boermeester 2000,P.241). In the long term, this will ensure long term success for the company.
A key to ensuring their corporate social responsibility strategies are implemented in the present and the future they have ensured positive employee relations. They have engaged in activities that ensure they draw, teach and keep the best employees.
By working on positive customer experience, this company has made sure that the loop of information is closed. They get feedback from their consumers regarding the quality of their products and services (John, P.317). In this way, they have worked to implement corporate social responsibility.
The Etisalat Group works with local organizations on social projects. Therefore, the organization has a positive influence on the community. These community activities are however, strategically chosen to ensure, they go hand in hand with its business model and to instigate the right dialogue between the main stakeholders (Boermeester 2000,P.241).
By working on a national or international level, the company has ensured participation in public policies. These participations have impacts on its business model. Lastly, as a big company, this Group has made sure that it complies with human rights execution on all its stakeholders, including customers and human resources (Christensen 2010, P.38).
METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH
The Etisalat performs its business operations in more than 15 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. This calls for the need to communicate effectively with the stakeholders to maintain its corporate responsibility. Stakeholders are individuals who affect the business organization directly; they have an interest in the organization. These stakeholders include consumers, employees, investors, governments, legal and regulatory bodies, business partners, the media, industry peers, vendors, consultants, business partners, communities and competitors (Christensen 2010, P.38).
These stakeholders interact with the management on different platforms in order to enhance communication through communication, consultations and information disclosures. This is to create mutual trust, enhance accountability and create relationships between people and institutions affected by operations (Grayson 2013, P.194). Some of the interactions between stakeholders are enlisted below:
Engagements between the customers and the corporate through customer experience surveys. These surveys are administered in personal meetings, discussion forums, field visits, conference calls, development reviews, information propagation through printed reports, phone, SMS, corporate websites, workshops, business development activities, road shows and trade fairs (Oxford 2013, P.149). The consumer satisfa...