Priscilla Musariwa graduated Cum laude for her Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management Sciences under the Faculty of Management Sciences at the 2023 Durban University of Technology (DUT) Spring Graduation. The graduation ceremony took place at the Olive Convention Centre (OCC) during the morning session on Monday,18 September 2023.
“I am so excited about this graduation, already it has made a difference in my life,” she said.
Dr Musariwa spoke of her dissertation, titled: Monitoring and Evaluation of Corporate Social Responsibility in Zimbabwe, Case of the mining industry.
She explained more on it saying that Zimbabwe, like any other developing country, invests funds in supporting the upliftment of communities and in social programmes that enhances community development.
“The increasing rate of unemployment and low skills level poses a threat to sustainable development in the region. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) provide organisations the leverage and platform they need to make a difference in local and global communities,” she added.
Dr Musariwa examined monitoring and evaluation as a strategy that can be used to support a strategic shift towards impactful CSR. “This assists management to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of CSR programmes. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Priscilla’s research found that mining companies are involved in CSR programmes, however, lack efficient monitoring and evaluation guidelines when implementing CSR,” relayed Dr Musariwa.
Based on these findings, she developed a monitoring and evaluation framework to assist and guide CSR managers on strategies that may be applied to overcome challenges associated with monitoring and evaluation of CSR programmes in the Zimbabwean mining industry.
For Dr Musariwa, one of her obstacles she faced whilst conducting research was the lack of obtaining information from the companies that she looked at for her research. She said they were sceptical at first to give her the information but through perseverance she managed to completed her research.
Going forward, Dr Musariwa is ready to find her space in the academic world.
Priscilla Musariwa
Waheeda Peters
