RAVINDER RENA, Polytechnic of Namibia
Email: ravinder_rena@rediffmail.com

Poor Internet connectivity is one of the pertinent issues in the digital divide between developing and industrialized countries, hampering the transition to the global information society. Recent emergence of national and regional research and education data communication networks in parts of the developing world have shown large benefits arising from collaboration amongst tertiary education institutes. Africa is currently the most under-served continent in terms of the information and communication technologies. Hence the collaboration amongst tertiary education institutes in Africa is imperative to make them key players in the enhancement of information and communication technologies for society. An attempt is made in this article to delve the recent trends that emerged from the higher educational institutes in Africa. The paper also highlights the key role of tertiary education and Internet that can induce social and economic developments.

MARTIN DANIEL SIYARANAMUAL, Padjadjaran University
Email: siyaranamual.martin@gmail.com

This paper provides a general insight into the economic feasibility and desirability of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), in order to explain why some firms voluntarily overcomply with social matters. In this paper, the author defines CSR as the activity in which firms make an explicit pair between the sales of private goods and the provision of public good. Furthermore, consumers are divided into two different categories: responsible consumers and non-responsible consumers. The results show that CSR activity could be considered as a firm's strategy to internalize the externality, and thus, it would not be contradicted with profit maximization. Moreover, this could be an alternative way for the provision of public good, especially in the event of government failure on this front.

NICOLA MISANI, Bocconi University - Department of Management

This paper tries to explain why many socially-responsible firms appear to converge on a standard set of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices instead of striving to differentiate themselves from rivals and achieve competitive advantage. Three explanations of this convergence are presented: herd behaviour, institutional isomorphism, and strategic cooperation. The different empirical predictions of these theories are laid down. The resulting framework is used to analyse a recent self-regulatory scheme launched by the steel industry, in which knowledge-sharing was used to stimulate poor performers to curb carbon dioxide emissions.

The main finding is that social practices of firms are very often driven by pressures to conform, instead of pressures to perform. Even firms that want to be innovative may be forced by stakeholder requests to adopt passive and imitative behaviour. The paper suggests that there are two types of CSR - convergent and divergent - and that firms need to establish which type of CSR best fits their needs before they address the issues raised by stakeholders. While the literature on CSR focuses on the relationship between stakeholders and single firms, the paper tries to add to this literature by analysing the relationship between stakeholders and industries. The paper also contributes to the debate on the financial benefits of CSR by arguing that in industries where the convergent type of CSR is dominant researchers should not expect above-average returns for socially-responsible firms.