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An academic at Nottingham University Business School has been invited to join the panel of judges for the first ever award to recognise socially-responsible firms in East Africa.
Dr Judy Muthuri, a lecturer in corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the School’s International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility, will join a prestigious panel of experts to shortlist and decide the winner of the East African CSR Awards.
Dr Muthuri said: “I am delighted to be part of this noble initiative. I believe the CSR awards will not only promote best practice but also help stimulate the awareness on the importance of CSR for business sustainability, and the role businesses can play in Africa’s growth and development.”
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The awards are the first of their kind celebrating excellence in corporate social responsibility in firms in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. They will showcase and reward companies that are going beyond mere compliance with legal requirements to place social and environmental values at the core of their business development strategies.
East African businesses have been able to vie for success in four categories: Best Workplace Practice; Most Ethical and Responsible Business Practice for Supply Chains; Environmental Excellence; Most Sustainable & Scalable Community Investment.
Dr Muthuri joins a prestigious panel of judges that also features Jane Nelson, Director of CSR Initiatives at Harvard Business School, Keli Kiilu, Vice Chairman of East African Business Council and Steve Kenzie, Programme Manager for Responsible Business, International Business Leaders Forum and UK Focal Point for UN Global Compact.
The awards have been organised by africapractice, a strategic communications and corporate citizenship consultancy which offers a sustainability service aimed at providing advice to companies on how to achieve a win-win situation from corporate social responsibility activity. The awards are partnered by the East African Business Council, a body of corporate and private sector associations in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
The winners of the awards, which aim to promote outstanding and innovative corporate contributions to East Africa's sustainable development, will be announced during the 20th World Economic Forum on Africa being held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from May 5–7.
The World Economic Forum is an independent international organisation committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry.
The 20th World Economic Forum on Africa will examine the role that the continent will play in the recovery following the economic crisis and how leaders are using the current climate as an opportunity to redesign a sustainable roadmap for Africa’s future in the new global economy.
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Notes to editors
: Nottingham University Business School is one of the UK’s leading centres for management education and ranks among the world’s leading business schools in the Economist MBA Top 100 and the Aspen Institute’s ‘Beyond Grey Pinstripes’ Top 100, where it ranks 1st in the UK, 3rd in Europe, and 23rd globally for integrating social, environmental, and ethical issues into management education and research.
In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), 70 per cent of the School’s research was rated as either ‘internationally excellent’ or ‘world-leading,’ ranking it 6th in the UK.
The Business School has pioneered entrepreneurship teaching and research at Nottingham and The University won the 2008 Times Higher Entrepreneurial University of the Year award.
The University of Nottingham is ranked in the UK's Top 10 and the World's Top 100 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong (SJTU) and the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings.
More than 90 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is of international quality, according to RAE 2008, with almost 60 per cent of all research defined as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’. Research Fortnight analysis of RAE 2008 ranks the University 7th in the UK by research power. In 27 subject areas, the University features in the UK Top Ten, with 14 of those in the Top Five.
The University provides innovative and top quality teaching, undertakes world-changing research, and attracts talented staff and students from 150 nations. Described by The Times as Britain's “only truly global university”, it has invested continuously in award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. Twice since 2003 its research and teaching academics have won Nobel Prizes. The University has won the Queen's Award for Enterprise in both 2006 (International Trade) and 2007 (Innovation — School of Pharmacy), and was named ‘Entrepreneurial University of the Year’ at the Times Higher Education Awards 2008.
Nottingham was designated as a Science City in 2005 in recognition of its rich scientific heritage, industrial base and role as a leading research centre. Nottingham has since embarked on a wide range of business, property, knowledge transfer and educational initiatives (www.science-city.co.uk) in order to build on its growing reputation as an international centre of scientific excellence. The University of Nottingham is a partner in Nottingham: the Science City.