ABSTRACT
South Africa and the United States are amongst the most unequal societies in the World with Gini coefficients of 63 and 41.1 respectively. Unlike the United States and most of the developed world, South Africa’s problem is compounded by multiculturalism that embraces 11 official languages and value orientations. South Africa is characterised as being a ‘dualistic’ values country consisting of both individualist and collectivist/communitarian value systems. However, since 1995, there has been a large expansion of the Black political elite and middle class. This significant sector of the South African population has tended to espouse individualistic values generally favoured by capitalistic economies while eschewing traditional, collectivist values or embracing emergent hybrid value sets. The underlying dichotomy of South African values has posed problems for organisations regarding CSR emphasis. Should Black-owned South African organisations spend CSR resources on uplifting communities through a collectivist orientation that satisfies the poor majority, or show their CSR commitment to the advancement of the burgeoning individualist-oriented Black middle class? Using a comparative multiple case study and secondary data analyses, the chapter aims to describe CSR outputs of Black-owned SMEs and to explain these in terms of individualist, communitarian, and hybrid value systems.
