Social impact assessment : a case study of the Durban-based Clothing Bank

Abstract

This study asks the research question: How do corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives contribute to change in the lives of individuals who have graduated from The Clothing Bank based in Durban? Given the main research question, the purpose of this qualitative case study is to assess the social impact of corporate social responsibility initiatives by using the most significant change (Dart and Davis 2005) as an evaluation technique. The study is framed by Amartya Sen’s (1999) capability approach and uses and adapts its five instrumental freedoms as guiding domains to measure the impact of CSR initiatives. These identified five freedoms are social participation, economic well-being, social opportunities, access to knowledge and protective security. This study addresses issues of human development and social change by highlighting development relations between corporates in the clothing sector and community. The initiative between the Durban-based Clothing Bank project and its corporate retail partners is used as an example to achieve the aim of this study. The most significant change evaluation technique is used to collect data through a four-step process to elicit stories of significant change and most significant change story to evaluate social impact. The sampling strategy used is the non-probability, criterion sampling technique in which 10 individuals who have graduated from the TCB project are purposively selected. This study uses the thematic analysis method to analyse data. The findings from the study reveal that the joint willingness of the study participants, as beneficiaries of CSR initiatives together with the Durban-based Clothing Bank project and its corporate retail partners have the potential to contribute to the emergence of positive changes in the lives of the project beneficiaries. It is advised that corporate entities identify, assess, and manage the significant social impact that such entities have on community-based projects such as TCB project. It was established that this partnership encourages empowerment and the creation of sustainable livelihoods and communities.