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Corporate Social Responsibility before CSR, Practices at the Company Aluminium du Cameroun, 1950s-1970s

Pezet, Anne ; Loison, Marie-Claire (1979-…) ; Berrier-Lucas, Céline

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a relatively recent phenomenon for companies and their stakeholders. However, we cannot ignore its historical roots. Many companies, especially in industry, developed social and environmental policies and practices a long time ago. These practical and historical dimensions still remain absent from the academic literature on CSR. In this paper, we set out to study a case over an extended period—from 1950s until 1970s—in order to understand how ... manufacturers took into account the various economic, social and environmental aspects of their activity, when they made an investment and subsequently ran an aluminium production site. The case of the company Alucam, implanted in Cameroon, shows how manufacturers integrated the Triple Bottom Line well before the ‘invention’ of CSR. Since i ts creation in 1957, this plant designed to produce primary aluminium has systematically applied a policy that simultaneously integrated the economic, environmental and social impacts of its activity. However, such visible permanency masks important changes in the way that CSR has been applied over time. This case study provides a better understanding of the process of building CSR in the aluminium industry. With that goal in mind, our methodology is historical. Research was mainly carried out by means of studying the Alucam archives. Such empirical research, highlighting the reality of the practices implemented in companies, constitutes an original contribution to the history of CSR.

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