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These times are very troubled ones. Not only do wars and political unrest seem to prevail in different regions of the world, but, corruption and fraud have reached an incredible dimension, too. It seems that societies have, to a large extent, lost values in which they had formerly believed in. These issues may be the background why at the moment Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a voluntary commitment is discussed in public that intensively. However, one gets the impression that this rather often seems to be superficial. Therefore, it is time to do some in-depth research to identify whether there is real substance behind these discussions or not. Latin America is a big continent with a greater number of countries which are running through difficult times as to corruption and fraud. Consequently, the author studied the policy of the central employers association Consejo Empresarial de America Latina (CEAL) with respect to the role of CSR. On the basis of statements, news and results of studies being regularly published, conclusions were drawn to which extent social and environmental aspects, along the line of ISO 26000, are playing a relevant role.
In order to avoid a too narrow view of the issue, a holistic approach concerning the generalsituation of Latin America has been selected using parameters such as economic growth, increase of population, poverty, inequality, and the global responsibility for environment. Furthermore, apart from the central organization CEAL, regional and national institutions with a specific mission for spreading and implementing CSR and two communal projects were analyzed as well. The conclusion of the paper is that there are some CSR "lighthouses" but an urgent need exists to spread the idea of CSR more intensively across the continent. Corresponding recommendations about how to increase the relevance of CSR in Latin America are given at the end of the paper.
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the start-up scene in sub-Saharan Africa. "Silicon Savannah" is today widely used to describe the thriving IT industry in and around Nairobi. Kenya's geographical advantage, its favorable economic reforms, and mature start-up ecosystem makes it stands out positively. Since a lot of hype exists around the start-up scene many investors are drawn to it, but in reality very few start-ups are investment-ready. The increasing start-up requirements and needs force incubators to diversify their offer. In contrast, to traditional incubators, an Innovation Hub (Hub) is characterized based on the concept of open innovation and collaboration. A Hub nurtures an enabling environment where a community of entrepreneurs can grow. At the same time, it serves as a nexus point for the local start-up community, investors, academia, technology companies and the wider private sector. It aims to create a structure where people serendipitously interact with others that they would not typically meet. Considering the great interest for and the large amounts of money invested in Hubs by governments, universities, private companies and other interested parties, not only researchers have been raising the question of the actual benefit of Hubs. This research study aims to investigate to what extent the support offered by the Hubs is tackling the challenges faced by start-ups in Nairobi, Kenya. The analysis can serve as a basis for identifying strength and weaknesses in the Hub models.