Business doing well by doing good in the community: The case of Sedikong sa Lerato in South Africa

Abstract

Until quite recently, businesses the world over simply focused on profit maximization without really caring about the impact of their activities on society. In fact, such were the attitudes of most businesses that today‟s atrocities such as child labor and environmental degradation could easily pass as normal business practice. Of late however, society has been insisting that organizations conduct their activities in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. Heeding this call has led a small South African cooperative (called Sedikong sa Lerato) to adopt the triple bottom line (TBL) business practice. Applying the phenomenological approach through interviews and a focus group discussion, we probed how the TBL principle is being applied at the cooperative and the impact it is making in the surrounding community. The results show that Sedikong sa Lerato is positively impacting on the community whilst achieving its stated profitability goals leading to a win-win situation for the business and community. Based on this finding, we recommend that similar organizations replicate what Sedikong sa Lerato is doing hoping that the practice will assist such organizations to attain their goals while also benefitting their communities. That is, doing good to do well.