Corinthia Hotel CSR Analysis

This assignment analyzes the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices of Corinthia Hotel. It emphasizes the importance of employee management within CSR frameworks and suggests strategies for improvement. The analysis highlights stakeholder involvement as crucial for developing effective business strategies and achieving competitive advantage. The report also explores the role of ethical considerations and environmental responsibility in shaping a successful CSR approach for Corinthia Hotel.

MANAGING SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PROJECT
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TITLE: CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ITS IMPORTANCE FOR SUSTAINABILITY
AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
TASK 1
P1 Devise project aim and objectives
The term corporate social responsibility is also referred as corporate citizenship and it
also involves incurring short- term costs that do not provide immediate financial benefit to the
company (Brown, 2013). However, it plays crucial role promoting social and environmental
change. CSR policy functions as a self- regulatory mechanism in which a business monitors and
ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards and national and
international norms (Cheng, Ioannou and Serafeim, 2014). From generalised views, corporate
social responsibility refers to development of several measures that are related to environmental
protection and social responsibilities. Henceforth, considering the same, the present research has
been made on Corinthia hotel which operates the business in London as a small scale hotel
entity. Considering the same, researcher has discussed importance of corporate social
responsibility and how it aids in meeting business aim and objectives.
Aim
The main aim of subsequent research work is to analyse the significance of corporate
social responsibility and how it aids business entities to attain competitive advantage and. In
order to specify the research work, researcher has been emphasizing on Corinthia hotel which
operates in London.
Objectives
 To identify the importance of corporate social responsibility
 To ascertain the ways through which corporate social responsibility of the business can
be attained To analyse the role of corporate social responsibility on business services
Research question
 Why corporate social responsibility is essential for business entities?
 Which methods can be used to meet the corporate social responsibilities of business?
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P2 Produce project management plan that covers aspects of cost, scope, time, quality and many
other thing for the chosen project
Task Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors
Defining research project 94 days Tues
2/27/17
Fri 7/6/17
Planning 24 days Mon
2/27/17
Thu
3/30/17
Selection of the research topic 10 days Mon
2/27/17
Fri 3/10/17
Identifying problem statement 6 days Wed
3/13/17
Sat 3/20/17 3
Identifying timings so as to
allocate the resources
8 days Tue 3/21/17 Thu 3/30/17 4
Implementation of the plan 61 days Fri 3/31/17 Fri 6/23/17
Completing the section of
literature review
16 days Fri 3/31/17 Fri 4/21/17 5
Selecting methods and techniques
under research methodology
section
18 days Sat 4/24/17 Mon
5/17/17
7
Calculating the costs 7 days Thu 5/18/17 Fri 5/26/17 8
Data analysis and interpretation 20 days Mon
5/29/17
Fri 6/23/17 9
Evaluating results and findings 11 days Mon
5/29/17
Mon
6/12/17
9
Project closer 18 days Tue
6/13/17
Thu 7/6/17
Specifying conclusion and
recommendations
9 days Tue 6/13/17 Fri 6/23/17 11
Final documentation of results 7 days Tues
6/26/17
Mon 7/4/17 13
Submitting the final report 2 days Thu 7/5/17 Fri 7/6/17 14
According to the determined plan, researcher needs to carry out all these activities so that
the major requirements of the scheduled plan could be met. All the stages mentioned in the plan
will be performed according to the required tasks (Korschun, Bhattacharya and Swain, 2014).
The project manager has been preparing specific budget for the same so that accordingly
resources of the business could be utilized in proper manner. The entire plan will be
communicated to all the respective team members so that they can conduct all the activities in
effective manner. All the steps mentioned in the plan will be suitably monitored so that areas of
development can be identified (Vaioleti, 2016).
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Scope: The scope of this research project remains in the quality of information which is
gained. The growing demand of companies to reach sustainability has caused certain changes in
strategies and functioning. Work based orientation is achieved when good quality services are
provided to the customers. This depicts scope of this research project.
Time: Overall time taken for completing and executing this research has to be determined
through the Gantt Chart. When specific time limit is provided then there is less chance of not
achieving set objectives and goals.
Cost: Certain type of investments are required for meeting cost requirements. This
investment can be through personal savings and well planned expenditures.
Quality: The information produced in this research has to have high quality and this is
ensured through use of authentic sources. Furthermore, quality of the research is maintained
through effective time management.
Communication: The team that is conducting the research is quite important when
considering accomplishing of aim and objectives. It is important to set a proper medium through
which effective communication can be developed. Mails, newsletters, group discussions and
meetings help in achieving this aspect.
Risk: The dangers or threats which retain the research from proper completion are known
as risks. The major risk associated with this project is loss of information to an external source.
Furthermore, lack of proper skills and knowledge is another threat which exists currently.
Resources: Certain elements are required for fulfilling respective needs of the research.
These are known as resources. The resources required for this research include employees,
money, resources for information and competent subjects.
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P3 Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart
As per the objectives which have been defined for this research project, the above time
line is produced. The Gantt Chart helps in gaining insight regarding the day when specific
activities have to be performed.
TASK 2
P4 Carry out research by applying quantitative and qualitative methods which are appropriate in
meeting project aim and objectives
Qualitative analysis is the scientific study of data that can be observed, but cannot be
measured (Leary, 2016). It is also concerned with cataloguing the quality of research what is
studied. However, Qualitative analysis requires proper analysis of the situation in which details
about each and every aspect of the subject matter is analysed on the basis of theoretical aspects.
In this context, survey has been carried out so that researcher can analyse how well Corinthia
hotel is meeting all its corporate roles and responsibilities (Tai and Chuang, 2014). Thus, in the
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below section, Questionnaire has been included which is being given to the employees of
Corinthia hotel.
In order to prepare a research study, it is crucial for the investigator to emphasize on
several tools and methods (Neuman, 2016). This is also essential in terms of meeting research
aim and objectives. Research technique always enhances validity and feasibility of the study and
at the same it is helpful in meeting research aspects. Thus, the methods which are being used in
the present research work are discussed as follows.
Research approach: Research approach plays crucial role in a study and it also aids the
researcher to test the validity of the assumptions which exist in the research work. The categories
of research approach are deductive and inductive and in the present research study, investigator
has selected inductive approach (Mackey and Gass, 2015). The main aim of using this approach
is that it involves the search for pattern from observation and at the same time, it also develops
explanation by considering a series of hypothesis. Furthermore, the approach aims to generate
meanings from the data set collected for the purpose of identifying patterns and relationships to
build a theory.
Research design: It can be described as a general plan which helps in analysing what
needs to be includes to answer the research questions. It is split into two categories such as
exploratory and conclusive and in the present research work, investigator has selected
exploratory design (Taylor, Bogdan and DeVault, 2015). It is being selected as it aims to explore
specific aspects of the research area and it does not aim to provide final and conclusive answers
to research questions. Thus, it also allows the researcher to even change the direction of the study
to a certain extent while carrying out it.
Research philosophy: Research philosophy includes variety of dimensions and it also
aids in carrying out the research work in the best feasible manner (Glesne, 2015). The basic
categories of research philosophy are Interpretivism, Realism, Pragmatism and Positivism and in
the present research work, investigator has selected Interpretivism philosophy. Interpretivism has
been selected because that involves researchers to interpret the elements of the study and it also
integrates human interest into a study. Researcher has used this approach since these studies
usually focus on meaning and it may also employ multiple methods in order to reflect several
aspects of the research issue (Silverman, 2016).
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Data collection: The most important section of research study is data collection where in
researcher emphasizes on diverse sources to grab relevant and accurate data. The categories of
data collection are primary and secondary and in the subsequent study, researcher has selected
both the techniques (Flick, 2015). Under secondary source, books, journals and articles are being
reviewed which helped the researcher is collecting valid and accurate data about the subject
matter. Moreover, in this respect researcher has also focused on primary source under which
employees of Corinthia hotel are being selected so that they can give quality advice to researcher
regarding the subject matter. Thus, it can be said that both the methods are quite useful in terms
of enhancing validity and accuracy of the research work (Smith, 2015).
Data analysis: Data analysis section involves evaluation of data on the basis of specific
analysis technique. There are basically two major techniques through which data can be analysed
such as Quantitative and Qualitative and in the present case, researcher has selected Qualitative
research design (Panneerselvam, 2014). Apart from this, researcher has also evaluated the data
on the basis of charts, pie charts and tables which also helped in making the analysis more
precise and comprehensive.
Ethical consideration: At the time of preparing research work, it is crucial for the
researcher to focus on all the ethical dimensions. This is also essential in terms of amending
value of research work. Under research ethics, investigator is required to protect the information
in the best possible manner. Further, identity of the participants should not be disclosed among
any unauthorized person as that might hamper the suitability of research work (Blumberg,
Cooper and Schindler, 2014). Data is also protected in authorised database so that only
associated person can access it. At the same time, prior engaging the particamts in the research
study, researcher has acquired consent from them in terms of maintaining legal and ethical
aspects.
Population Size: The number of people amongst whom certain individuals will be
selected for the research is determined by the population size. Company has about 200
employees and the subset of this number shall be considered as the population size.
Sample size: The random sampling method has been used for conducting this research.
Amongst the huge population size, 20 employees are considered for the research.
Sampling Method: There are different types of sampling methods which are broadly
categorised under probabilistic and non-probabilistic. In completion of this research,
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probabilistic sampling has been selected and simple random samples are selected. The
employees of the company are considered so that their viewpoints will facilitate primary
research.
TASK 3
P5 Analyse research and data using appropriate tools and techniques for the chosen project
For conducting the primary research on Corinthia Hotel, there are certain specific tools
and techniques applied. These include measures of central tendency i.e. mean, median and mode.
Further, thematic analysis has been used for gaining insight regarding the response of employees.
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Theme 1: Company is paying attention towards Corporate Social Responsibilities
Criteria Number of respondents
Yes (1) 11
No (2) 5
Do not know (3) 4
11
5
4
Company's attention towards CSR
Yes No Do not know
From the above analytical data, response from 20 employees was gathered; who were
asked about their agreement, whether the company is paying attention towards Corporate Social
Responsibilities. Amongst these 20, 11 agreed positively that organisation depicts some kind of
concern when corporate social responsibilities are considered. On the other hand, 5 disagreed
from this fact and 4 of them did not know the actual intentions of their company. It depicts that
majority employees of Corinthia Hotel agree that company pays attention towards corporate
social responsibilities.
Column1
Mean 1.35
Standard Error 0.131289
Median 1
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Mode 1
Standard Deviation 0.587143
Sample Variance 0.344737
Kurtosis 1.636428
Skewness 1.521145
Range 2
Minimum 1
Maximum 3
Sum 27
Count 20
Confidence Level(95.0%) 0.274791
As per the data obtained after application of statistical tools, it is realised that majority of
the response is yes when employees were asked about company’s attention towards CSR. This is
depicted from the values of mean being 1.35 and median and mode being 1. Here, 1 indicates
agreement i.e. Yes and 2 is used for the response for No. On the other hand, 3 is used for Do not
know. This implies that Corinthia Hotel is quite serious when it comes to corporate social
responsibility.
Theme 2: According to you, the major aspect of corporate social responsibility is?
Criteria Number of respondents
Stakeholder involvement 7
Concern on environment 8
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Focus on legal and ethical dimensions 3
All the above 2
7
8
3
2
Major aspect of CSR
Stakeholder involvement Concern on environment
Focus on legal and ethical dimensions All of the above
The above interpreted data depicts that out of 20 employees, 7 consider that stakeholder
involvement is an important aspect of corporate social responsibility. On the other hand, 8 people
agreed that CSR is more related to environmental concerns and 3 people stated that legal and
ethical dimensions form the major aspects of CSR. But 2 of 20 employees agreed with all the
provided facts.
Theme 3: Corporate Social Responsibility aids in providing competitive advantage to the
company
Criteria Number of respondents
Yes (1) 15
No (2) 4
Do not know (3) 1
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15
4
1
Gaining competitive advantage through CSR
Yes No Do not know
The contribution of CSR in providing competitive advantage can be analysed by the
above graphical representation. It depicts that according to 15 employees, CSR aids competitive
advantage while 4 people disagreed with this fact and 1 individual did not know what the
appropriate answer is. As a result, it has been figured out that out of 20 employees majority of
them agree with this fact.
Column1
Mean 1.3
Standard Error 0.127733
Median 1
Mode 1
Standard Deviation 0.571241
Sample Variance 0.326316
Kurtosis 2.86099
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Skewness 1.844693
Range 2
Minimum 1
Maximum 3
Sum 26
Count 20
Confidence Level (95.0%) 0.267349
The above table depicts that there majority of response acquired when employees were
asked about their agreement of CSR providing competitive advantage. The mean value is 1.3
which is near to 1 i.e. coded yes. This depicts that Corinthia Hotel has maximum values of Yes
as the response and employees show complete agreement for the respective fact.
Theme 4: CSR activities helps in enhancing business performance and productivity aspects
Criteria Number of respondents
Yes 8
No 6
Always 6
Do not know 0
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8.2
6
6
Enhancement of business performance and productivity
Yes No Always Do not know
This pie chart depicts the statistics which were acquired when 20 employees were asked
about their opinion, whether CSR activities helped in stimulating business performance and
productivity. 8 employees agreed with this fact while 6 stated that this is a universal fact. On the
other hand, 6 people disagreed. It is evaluated that there is a significant agreement on the matter
that Corinthia Hotel can increase its productivity and enhance performance if CSR activities are
adapted.
Theme 5: CSR activities helps in persuading more number of customers
Criteria Number of respondents
Yes 13
No 5
Do not know 2
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13
5
2
Increase in customers through CSR
Yes No Do not know
The above depicted graphical representation denotes response of 20 employees when
they were questioned whether number of customers could be increased through CSR activities. It
was realised that 13 individuals admitted that customers can be persuaded more if CSR is
inculcated by company while 5 stated that they do not agree with this notion. On the contrary, 2
people were in a confused state. But the majority of responses were in favour of the situation.
Column1
Mean 1.45
Standard Error 0.153469
Median 1
Mode 1
Standard Deviation 0.686333
Sample Variance 0.471053
Kurtosis 0.541598
Skewness 1.283371
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Range 2
Minimum 1
Maximum 3
Sum 29
Count 20
Confidence Level(95.0%) 0.321214
From the above data, it is quite clear that the values of mean, median and mode are 1.45,
1 and 1 respectively. The value of mean indicates that majority of responses were yes. This also
depicts that employees agree with the fact that CSR activities do help in persuading consumers
which results in increasing market share.
Theme 6 Stakeholder involvement is essential under corporate social responsibility
Criteria Responses
Yes 12
No 1
Always 5
Sometimes 2
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At the time of asking this question, 12 employees said that stakeholder involvement is
essential under CSR practices; however 5 said there involvement should always be there in
company’s dimensions, 2 marked for sometimes and remaining 1 marked for no. Therefore, on
the basis of collected response, it can be said that stakeholder involvement is crucial because
they play active role in company’s work practices and other dimensions. This is also crucial in
terms of enhancing financial feasibility of the business entity.
Theme 7 Ethical aspects play crucial role in the concept of corporate social responsibility
Criteria Responses
Yes 13
No 1
Always 6
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While acquiring the responses, 13 employees said that ethical aspects play crucial role in
the concept of corporate social responsibility, 6 said it is always necessary and remaining 1
marked for no. Thus, it can be said that under the major requirements of CSR, business entity
needs to focus on all the ethical dimensions so that success and prosperity facets can be
managed. Apart from this, it is also crucial for the business entity to focus on delivering quality
associated services to the clients so that the main aim of the project can be attained.
Theme 8 Under corporate responsibility, company should contribute in changing
environmental prospects
Criteria Responses
Yes 18
No 2
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While asking this question, 18 respondents said that under corporate social responsibility,
company should contribute in changing environmental aspects. They further also added that
business must make several improvements in the policies and practices so that necessary
adjustments can be made in hotel’s corporate and social responsibility. Thus, it can also be said
that necessary changes in environment can assist the company to get more support and concern
from society and other associated business clients. In this respect, use of plastic bags can also be
banned simultaneously.
Theme 9 Corporate social responsibility aids in enhancing number of business clients
Criteria Responses
Yes 12
No 3
Sometimes 5
At the time of asking this question, 12 participants said that corporate social
responsibility assists in enhancing number of business clients and this can greatly assist in
enhancing market potential of the respective hotel entity. Further, in this respect 5 said that
sometimes CSR policies assists in enhancing ratio of business clients whereas remaining 3
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marked for no. Therefore, on the basis of collected responses it is evident that corporate social
responsibility aids the hotel entity to get more attention from other business parties.
Theme 10 Contributing in environmental protection can assist the hotel to raise its
corporate responsibilities
Criteria Responses
Through contributing in environmental
protection
8
Through involving stakeholder in decision
making process
7
Through focusing on legal aspects 5
At the time of collecting responses from the employees, 8 participants said that
contribution in environmental aspects can assist the hotel entity to raise its corporate
responsibilities. On the other hand, 7 said that involvement of stakeholders in decision making
process is crucial and remaining 5 marked on emphasis on legal aspects. Therefore, according to
the responses, somewhere, it can be said that equivalent focus should be laid on all the areas of
concern.
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P6 Communicate appropriate recommendations as a result of research and data analysis to draw
conclusion
According to the specified plan, it is vital for Corinthia hotel to focus on various things
through which corporate responsibilities of the business can be accomplished. This is also vital
in terms of enhancing growth and success facets. Thus, as per the analysed data, it can be said
that Corinthia hotel must focus on following areas of improvements for appropriate management
of business services.
 At the time of implementing corporate social responsibility, it is crucial for Corinthia
hotel to make a subsequent plan as that will also aid in conducting all the practices in
effectual manner. At the same time, it is also helpful in segregating business operations
according to the requirements (McWilliams, 2014).
 Every business is required to show concern towards environmental facets; hence for such
purpose Corinthia hotel must develop diverse strategies and policies. In this respect, it is
crucial for the business entities to ban the use of plastic bags and should start using carry
and poly bags.
 Corinthia hotel must also shows greater concern towards social development so that
large number of customers can be persuaded towards the products and services. It is an
apparent fact that when a company gives much emphasis on social aspects, it always get
much attention from external bodies (Carroll, 2015).
 Employee engagement is also essential in this context wherein Corinthia hotel must
involve all the employees in decision making process so that they can also put their
valuable contribution in organizational development. At the same time, manager of
Corinthia hotel must also determine different possibilities through which success and
prosperity dimensions could be encouraged.
 In a few ways, Corinthia hotel could also play the role of social actor as through that
only, concern can be depicted towards social values. This can also aid Corinthia hotel to
get huge attention from other business clients (Brown, 2013).
 It is the prime duty of every business entity to get feedback from the employees so that
necessary changes can be implemented accordingly. Thus, in the realm of corporate
social responsibility, Corinthia hotel must integrate employee feedback aspects.
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 There must be proper involvement of all the stakeholders in company’s decision making
process and this is also useful in terms of safeguarding their interest level. Corinthia
hotel must ensure that proper initiation is being given to all the stakeholders in every
domain. This is also crucial in terms of underpinning financial capability of business.
 Interest of employees as well as customers should be given much importance so that they
can be retained for longer time span (Cheng, Ioannou and Serafeim, 2014). Hence,
Corinthia hotel must consider the value of delivering quality services to the clients as
that will also enhance market potential and opportunities of long term sustainability.
 Further, in terms of improvement, Corinthia hotel is also required to give appropriate
benefits to the employees so that they can assist the hotel to get more opportunities of
success and prosperity. Apart from employee motivation, Corinthia hotel should also
emphasize on proper communication aspects.
 Customers of Corinthia hotel can be retained through providing them several sorts of
benefits and schemes (Korschun, Bhattacharya and Swain, 2014). Thus, according to that
it is essential for Corinthia hotel to emphasize on customer relationship management so
that better services could be delivered to them.
As per the findings of this report, it is inferred that employees of Corinithia Hotel
consider corporate social responsibility as one of the prime factors associated with competitive
advantage. There are certain recommendations produced through this research for enabling the
application of CSR in daily activities. These include generic use of resources and providing
services in such a way that there is no negative impact over environment and stakeholders. On
the other hand, there has to be a uniform policy which shall assess the needs for improvement
with context of current functioning. Furthermore, the data analysis depicts that stakeholder
involvement is important part of the corporate social responsibility aspects. Hence, there is a
requirement for the Hotel authorities to include CSR with stakeholder involvement. This can be
done through use of appropriate feedbacks and regular customer response.
TASK 4
P7 Value of undertaking a research to meet stated objectives and own learning and performance
Therefore, summing up the entire research work, it can be said that Corinthia hotel also
need to focus on employee management as that also comes under the basic essentiality of CSR
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practices. In order to meet the aim and objective, it is crucial for Corinthia hotel to strengthen all
the practices as that will also assist in deriving long term competitiveness and sustainability. The
study helped me a lot in analysing how business entities can meet their roles and responsibilities.
Thus, I would like to suggest a few things to Corinthia hotel such as the hotel should bring
quality products and services so that customer interest can be acquired on higher extent. The
above mentioned plan is highly suitable in terms of raising company’s standards and through this
competitive advantage can also be attained. I also came to realize that at the time of developing
business strategies, Corinthia hotel must involve all the stakeholders in diverse purpose.
At the time of conducting the research procedure, I have gone through with several
sources and this also enhanced the feasibility and reliability of research work. Further, while
collecting the data, I ensured that I should focus only on relevant and accurate sources so that the
value of my study could be enhanced. Afterwards, completing the study; but prior submitting it, I
ensured to review it so that on my end I can make necessary changes in the entire plan. This
research has been helpful in enhancing knowledge regarding corporate social responsibility and
its inclusion in the business of Corinthia Hotel. Furthermore, I have gained an experience which
is replenishing in the field of research. I am now able to conduct a primary research with
qualitative aspects at a small scale.
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APPENDIX
Questionnaire
Name -
Age -
Gender -
Designation –
Q1. Do you agree that your company is paying attention towards Corporate Social
Responsibilities?
 Yes
 No
 Do not know
Q2. According to you, the major aspect of corporate social responsibility is?
 Stakeholder involvement
 Concern on environment
 Focus on legal and ethical dimensions
 All the above
Q3. Do you agree that Corporate Social Responsibility aids in providing competitive advantage
to the company?
 Yes
 No
 Do not know
Q4. Do you think that CSR activities helps in enhancing business performance and productivity
aspects?
 Yes
 No
 Always
 Do not know
Q5. Do you agree that CSR activities helps in persuading more number of customers?
 Yes
 No
 Do not know
Q6. Do you think that stakeholder involvement is essential under corporate social responsibility?
 Yes
 No
 Always
 Sometimes
Q7. Do you agree that ethical aspects play crucial role in the concept of corporate social
responsibility?
 Yes
 No
 Always
Q8. Under corporate responsibility, do you think that you should contribute in changing
environmental prospects?
 Yes
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