Understanding the response of large South African companies to HIV/AIDS

Abstract

This paper provides a framework analysing the response of South African companies to HIV/AIDS. Drawing on three case studies of companies, each with over 20 000 South African-based employees, we identify six 'drivers' that influence corporate behaviour regarding HIV/AIDS: legal requirements, voluntary regulation, business costs, social pressures, visibility of the disease, and individuals within companies.We suggest that costs calculations, while possibly underestimating indirect and macro-implications, are not key in driving company responses to HIV/AIDS.The law and voluntary regulation have influenced, but not determined, the response of companies to HIV/AIDS. Social pressures on companies are of importance, but the scale and complexity of need in South Africa has seen the deflecting of this driver. Of greater reference in determining responses has been the social pressure of other companies' responses.The general visibility of the AIDS epidemic is also a significant factor in explaining companies' responses to HIV/AIDS. Moreover, the visibility of HIV/AIDS within companies has influenced the responses of often relatively weak, internal agents who have been attempting to drive companies' HIV/AIDS programmes.We conclude that external drivers -legal requirements, economic performance, and social pressures -have framed corporate responses to HIV/AIDS to a degree, but have generally been weak. Moreover, there has been relatively little synergy between these external drivers and the internal drivers -voluntary regulation, visibility, and company HIV/AIDS 'champions' -that could propel companies into pro-active, bold responses to HIV/AIDS. Keywords: companies, HIV response, South Africa. RÉSUMÉCette communication met à disposition un cadre qui analyse la réponse des sociétés sud-africaines au VIH/SIDA. En tirant sur trois études de cas de ces sociétés, chacune ayant 20 000 employés vivant en Afrique du Sud, nous identifions six conducteurs qui influencent le comportement de corporation par rapport au VIH/SIDA: des dispositions réglementaires, un règlement volontaire, des coûts d'affaires, des pressions sociales, une visibilité de la maladie et des individus au sein des sociétés.Nous suggérons que les calculs de coûts, entre temps les implications indirectes et macros sont peut-être sousestimées, ne sont pas prioritaires pour diriger les réponses des sociétés au VIH/SIDA. La loi et le règlement volontaire ont influencé, et non pas déterminé, la réponse des sociétés. Les pressions sociales sur les sociétés ont plus d'importance, mais l'ampleur et la complexité du besoin en Afrique du Sud a détourné ce conducteur. La pression sociale des réponses des autres sociétés fut une référence importante qui a déterminé la réponse. La visibilité générale de l'épidémie du SIDA est également un facteur important dans l'explication des réponses de sociétés au VIH/SIDA. D'autant plus que la visibilité du VIH/SIDA au sein des sociétés a influencé les réponses des agents, souvent relativement faibles, qui ont essayé de diriger...

Social and environmental accounting as symbolic and substantive means of legitimation: The case of HIV/AIDS reporting in South Africa

“…Among the world's developing regions, Sub-Saharan Africa lies at the epicentre of the AIDS epidemic 8 and prevalence levels in the region are particularly high (Dickinson & Stevens, 2005). In the case of SA, there is an agreed estimate that the number of people living with HIV stands at about 5.7 million (UNAIDS, 2010) relative to a population of about 49 million (i.e., about 12%).…”

“…Thereafter, the salience of HIV/AIDS-affected stakeholders was enhanced; their demands became legitimate, and the crisis was perceived as a clear danger to the country. In fact, the interventions contained within the King II report and the increased involvements of SABCOHA were strong indicators that a change in orientation was required (Dickinson & Stevens, 2005). The above-mentioned pressures translated into an increase in the disclosures, reflecting substantive features, such as a greater use of quantitative and/or monetary information in the disclosures (combined proportion of companies increasing from 28% in 2003 to 56% in 2006).…”

“…In sum, while corporate SA failed to make any serious efforts to care for its affected workforce, or reduce the spread of the AIDS virus among its workers, government inaction proved to be an effective shield against corporate failings. Crucially, this afforded SA corporations the opportunity to avoid greater public scrutiny and criticism, and hence a loss of legitimacy (Dickinson & Stevens, 2005).…”

Hope: A new approach to understanding structural factors in HIV acquisition

“…Over the last decade, the term 'driver' has increasingly been used in the HIV/AIDS policy research community and even in the wider infectious disease community (Adimora et al, 2006;Beyrer, 2007;Chen et al, 2006;Curtis & Aunger, 2011;Dickinson & Stevens, 2005;Gillespie, Kadiyala, & Greener, 2007;Leendertz et al, 2006;Liverani et al, 2013;Moreno, 2006;Morisky, Nguyen, Ang, & Tiglao, 2005;Orenstein, 2006;Polley, 2005;Renton, Gzirishvilli, Gotsadze, & Godinho, 2006;Sopheab, Fylkesnes, Vun, & O'Farrell, 2006;Sumartojo, 2000;Sunmola, 2005;Walsh, Breuer, Sanz, Morgan, & Doran-Sheehy, 2007;Williams, 2005). Attempts at defining these 'drivers' appear most recently in a series of publications (Auerbach, Parkhurst, & Cáceres, 2011;Gupta, Parkhurst, Ogden, Aggleton, & Mahal, 2008;Kippax, Stephenson, Parker, & Aggleton, 2013;Parkhurst, 2013).…”

Business and Governance in South Africa

“…The South African government has neither adopted a comprehensive approach to fight HIV/AIDS on a general level, nor developed regulation to specifically govern the disease in the workplace (Dickinson and Stevens 2005). The 'Code of Good Practice on Key Aspects of HIV/AIDS and Employment,' the constitution and numerous other legislative measures are supposed to ensure that individuals with HIV infection are not discriminated against in the workplace.…”