Towards corporate sustainability: Equitable wealth allocation to all participating stakeholders

Abstract

In the corporate and academic worlds, issues regarding corporate sustainability have become much pronounced. To sustain future business activities, corporations are advised to adhere to good corporate governance where they have to focus on social and environmental elements, apart from their economic aspirations. This is a new phenomenon in business as many corporations tend to focus their attention on the allocation of corporate wealth mainly to shareholders through the maxim of “maximisation of shareholders’ wealth”. The aim of this study is to empirically research on the current practices that corporations deploy and report the results in a scientific manner. Although at a transitional stage, the results indicate that corporations in Africa attend to issues of corporate sustainability through allocation of their wealth to many stakeholders that are involved in the wealth creation. To understand the interconnectedness and interdependence of different stakeholders that determine sustainability of any business, a conceptual framework of stakeholder relationships and networks has been developed. The study contributes towards new knowledge about corporate sustainability issues that involve companies in Africa. Key words: Africa, corporate sustainability, governance, Malawi, resource allocation, South Africa, stakeholders, Ubuntu.