Corporate Social Responsibility: Case study of UH Bristol NHS Trust

This case study analyzes the CSR activities of UH Bristol NHS Trust, focusing on its objectives, impact on stakeholders, alignment with CSR strategy, and methods for engagement with stakeholders. The study shows how the company aligns its objectives with CSR policies, impacts internal and external stakeholders, and engages them in CSR strategies.

Running head: CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Corporate Social Responsibility: Case study of UH Bristol NHS Trust
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s note

1CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Executive Summary
The purposed of this assignment is to develop an understanding of the concept of Corporate
Social responsibility. There are three parts to the assignment which provides an holistic
perspective to the ways in which the strategies of CSR work in an organisation. This assignment
will focus on the case study of the CSR activities that are undertaken by UH Bristol. The
institutions have around 9000 employees that serve the patients with over a 100 kinds of services
in nine areas. The organisation has been operating in the medical industry form 1948, for the past
70 years the management has gathered goodwill and reputation among the stakeholders
associated with the company.

2CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Table of Contents
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................4
A.C. 1.1- Analysis of the objectives aligning it with the CSR strategies of the company..........4
A.C. 1.2 - The impact of a Corporate Social Responsibility strategy on internal and external
organisational stakeholders..........................................................................................................6
A.C. 1.3 - Organisation’s strategy aligned with a CSR strategy.................................................8
A.C. 1.4 - Corporate Social Responsibility strategy to support the internal and external
organisational objectives.............................................................................................................9
Task 2.............................................................................................................................................10
A.C. 2.1 - The organisational value chain aligned with the CSR strategy................................10
A.C. 2.2 - Methods for agreement and engagement with all stakeholders for the Corporate
Social Responsibility strategy....................................................................................................12
A.C. 2.3 - Devise an implementation plan for the Corporate Social Responsibility strategy...13
Task 3.............................................................................................................................................15
A.C. 3.1 - Internal reporting measurements that can evaluate the impact of the Corporate
Social Responsibility strategy....................................................................................................15
A.C. 3.2 - External reporting measurements that can evaluate the impact of the Corporate Social
Responsibility strategy...................................................................................................................16
A.C. 3.3 - Methods to refresh and reinforce the Corporate Social Responsibility strategy......17
Reference List:...............................................................................................................................19

3CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

4CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Task 1
A.C. 1.1- Analysis of the objectives aligning it with the CSR strategies of the company
The company is driven by values and principles which has been the foundation of all the
objectives of UH Bristol NHS Foundation Trust. Respect everyone, Accept change and
innovation, recognizing success and working as a team are the basic values that is followed
throughout company (Uhbristol.nhs.uk 2018).
The objectives of UH Bristol is as follows:
 To deliver high quality services with compassion and care
 To build a secure and modern environment for the clients
 To employee the best people and help them achieve their potential
 To encourage innovation through research and development and channelizing funds to
motivate change.
 To provide the people in the region of operation with services of high quality
(Uhbristol.nhs.uk 2018)
The values and principles that drive the company explains that the management of UH
Bristol complies with the concept of triple bottom line as the objectives that are discussed are
not only based on earning profits but is also directed towards the betterment of the future and
allow a sustainable development. The organisation is run with the help of a trust which is led
by a chairman and has executive as well as non-executive directors it is a part of NHS. As a
part of CSR the company has a list of charities and fundraising partners, the two main

5CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
charities that are associated with the company are “Above & Beyond” and “The Grand
Appeal” (Uhbristol.nhs.uk 2018). Above & beyond raises resources for Bristol city centre
hospitals, it is a local charity. The company invests around £3 million in projects in order to
improve the service quality of the patients. The Grand Appeal is exclusively for the children
charity the aim of the charity is to secure the lives and help in developing the livelihood of
children who are physically unwell at Bristol Children's Hospital. The charity has been
operating since 1995 (Uhbristol.nhs.uk 2018).
The company believes that sustainability is the responsibility the company has in
spending the public funds responsibly. The natural resources that are used by the organisation
should be also allocated and replenished. The company abides by the Public Services (Social
Value) Act (2012).
It is observed that the company aligns the objectives of the business with the CSR
policies that are taken by the company.
The objectives of the CSR policy of the company are as follows:
 To develop a sustainable future
 To reduce the environmental impact

6CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
 To ensure reduction of carbon footprint with the help of latest and innovative
technologies
Figure: Sustainable Development Management Plan (SDMP)
Source: (Uhbristol.nhs.uk 2018)
With the help of these objectives the company aligns the objectives that are discussed
above especially the challenge of providing the people with high quality services while
managing the resources carefully with minimum impact.
A.C. 1.2 - The impact of a Corporate Social Responsibility strategy on internal and
external organisational stakeholders
Internal stakeholder
The employees and the members of the trust are the internal stakeholders of the company.
They are responsible for running the organisation on a day to day basis. The CSR strategies
impact the internal stakeholders in a number of ways; people are appointed and are posted

7CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
aligning the strategies in order to carry out the decisions that have been taken. The employees
who are directly appointed to work upon the strategies are directly impacted by them and the
other work as a support to help these people achieve their objective. For the trust the CSR
activities not only help the society and the environment it also helps the company to gather
significant recognition and goodwill among the people (Wang et al. 2016).
The external stakeholders of the company are the patients, the society, the government,
shareholders etc.
The patients: Many people have been a part of the charity and have gained from the funds
that have been raised by the organisation. Treating medical condition can be expensive for a
number of people and the charities help people who lack monetary support by their own
(Korschun et al. 2014).
The government: UH Bristol with the strategies follow and support a number of Government
policies like the Public Services (Social Value) Act (2012), Climate Change Act etc
(Uhbristol.nhs.uk 2018). With the help of the government the company also enjoys liberty in
employing the strategies the companies have undertaken to ensure sustainability (Korschun et al.
2014).
The society and the environment are the main stakeholder in the CSR activities, whatever
decision or strategy that the company undertakes is based on the issues that the society is facing.
The company tries to fulfill their duty that it has towards the society and the environment with
the help of these strategies, the aim of the sustainability activities are to improve the livelihood
of the people as well as improve the service of the company provides the society.

8CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
A.C. 1.3 - Organisation’s strategy aligned with a CSR strategy
The organisation invests a significant amount of funds in the innovation of the process as
well as the service. Therefore, the research and development segment of the company are
encouraged to come up with new and improved ideas. This organisation strategy can be aligned
with the CSR strategy of the company in reduction of climatic impact. The company has come
up with new and innovative ways in which carbon footprint as well as wastes can be reduced.
The following figure explains that ways in which both business and society is impacted with the
CSR strategies and hence it is always aligned irrespective of the company (Korschun et al. 2014)
Figure: Dual Objectives of CSR
Source: (Keys et al. 2009)

9CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
A.C. 1.4 - Corporate Social Responsibility strategy to support the internal and external
organisational objectives
The company can invest in a once in a year program of a week with medical students
guided by experienced staff members in offering free treatment for the people in need. The
venture will allow the students and the doctors to go around the areas of operation and find
people who are in need.
This venture can be associated with one of the charities that raise funds for the company.
In this way the company can satisfy the objective of providing the people with better service and
also allowing the people to be a part of a greater cause (Clapp and Rowlands 2014).

10CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Task 2
A.C. 2.1 - The organisational value chain aligned with the CSR strategy
The primary activity of UH Bristol is as follows:
From the time a patient walks in to the hospital the area the primary activity of the
organisation begins with e diagnosis of the condition that he or she has been facing. Apart from
this the suppliers of the organisation like the medicine suppliers, devices and instrument
suppliers etc are part of the inbound logistics that are associated with the business. Innovation
plays an important role in the supply of items and help in achieving a high quality of service of
the people with the lowest possible use of natural resources (Asif et al. 2013).
Operations of the organisation can be divided in three segments: clinical services, research
and development as well as education. The services that are provided by the organisation are varied in
terms of the wide range of services that are provided by the staff members across nine areas of
operation (Uhbristol.nhs.uk 2018). There are more than 100 different clinical services that the
organisation offers the patients. With the help of this plethora of services the company can easily
align the CSR strategy of improving the livelihood of the society (Uhbristol.nhs.uk 2018). The
management of the organisation always tries to achieve the objectives of the business with the
help of innovation and in this case the CSR strategies are aligned with the objectives of the
business. The operations of the company are all based on the values that have been discussed
above (Clapp and Rowlands 2014).
The company actively uses social media and digital marketing platforms to market the
services and also to communicate the CSR activities that the company has been strategising.

11CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Secondary activities
All the above primary activities of the company are assisted with the help of the
secondary activities such as the infrastructure of the organisation. Apart from that the
management of the company considers the people associated with the organisation are the most
important part of running the institution successfully (Khan et al. 2013). The business model that
the company operates upon is not based on profit rather it is based on spending the public money
responsibly hence technology and development plays an important role in the support of the
primary activities, research and development leads to innovation which is an important part of
the CSR strategy of the company (Uhbristol.nhs.uk 2018).
Thus it can be said that the CSR strategies are aligned with the value chain of the
organisation. The management of the organisation assure that they are true to their commitment
towards the society and the environment. Following are some of the evidence that show the
performance of the sustainability with respect to the number of staff members (Korschun et al.
2014).
Figure: Organisational performance on sustainability
(Source: Uhbristol.nhs.uk 2018)

12CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
A.C. 2.2 - Methods for agreement and engagement with all stakeholders for the Corporate
Social Responsibility strategy
Internal stakeholder
The internal stakeholders are the people who are associated with the operations of the
institutions and hence they are directly associated and engaged with the CSR strategy. The
management is responsible for determining the importance of an area of concern and developing
a strategy that might positively impact the society or environment (Deng et al. 2013). The aim of
the company is to pay attention to the issue and aim to reduce the issues. The management is
responsible for developing the steps and organising the strategies as well (Deng et al. 2013).
The employees are responsible for carrying out the strategies that have been coined by
the management. There are people who take care of the implementation of the strategy
exclusively; the engagement of the employees in the CSR activities is significant as the process
of implementation of a strategy is based on the performance of the employees who are
responsible for carrying out the duties associated with the strategy (Andriof et al.2017). There
should also be scope for these stakeholders to participate in the decision making process in order
to efficiently employee the ideas (Deng et al. 2013).
External stakeholder
The patients are the clients who are one of the most important stakeholders of the
company, and the engagement of the patients and the family members of the patients are

13CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
essential to ensure some of the aims of the CSR strategies are achieved. Communication with the
patients in involving them to be a part of the CSR strategy is essential. As an external part of the
company the patients are unaware of the internal strategies hence a clear message regarding the
strategy and participation should be communicated with the people (Mason and Simmons 2014).
For example, one of the strategies that the company has undertaken is to reduce waste, the people
must be alerted to ensure there is no wastage in the products they use during their association
with the company (Mason and Simmons 2014).
Similarly with the government and the suppliers, the process of communication plays the
most important role in engaging the stakeholders in the CSR strategies; the role of the
stakeholders must be described (Flammer 2013).
A.C. 2.3 - Devise an implementation plan for the Corporate Social Responsibility strategy
Corporate social responsibility is the concept defines the responsibility that organisations
have towards the society and the people (McWilliams 2015). Price of profit has been the only
objective or motive for operation for the longest time, but that has changed over the past few
decades. In UK there are a several CSR standards that have been set for organisations operating
in the region. Depending on the industry and the scale of operations that regulations vary.

14CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Plan for the CSR strategy
Area of focus before planning  Recognizing the key stakeholders
 The issue that has to be targeted
with the help of the strategies
 Recognition of the resource
requirement and capability in order
to implement the strategy
Set the objectives for the strategy  The mission and vision of the
strategies that has to be undertaken
 The short term goals defined
aligning with the long-term Impact
 Aligning the objectives within the
legal jurisdictions.
Defining the areas of focus  Planning a communication
 Organizing meetings and
consultations with the stakeholders
 Aligning the internal and external
objective with the CSR strategies
 Budget of the strategy
 Monitoring and evaluation metric
Reporting  Formulation of the Sustainability
report to be added to the yearly
progress report of the company

15CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
 Metrics will be based on the target
that has been set as well as the target
that was met in the previous years
Achievement  Publication of the report (Morgeson
et al. 2013).
Task 3
A.C. 3.1 - Internal reporting measurements that can evaluate the impact of the Corporate
Social Responsibility strategy
Some of the measures that can be taken in order to understand the impact of the CSR strategies
are:
 The approach of measurement should be from the perspectives of the capabilities and
resources that can be allocated by the company for the strategies. Base on this aspect the
goals of the strategies can be set. Therefore the report must mention and internal
capability and resource that is required to undertake the plan (Suliman et al. 2016).
 Next step would be to prioritize the aspects that has to measure, it is not possible or it is
not rational to be able to accurately measure the impact of difference that the strategy has
imposed. Therefore focused should be on collection of data and establishing metrics
foundation. It is also essential for the company to stay streamlined in the process of
evaluating the impact of the strategies.

16CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
 Experts from the people field of the problem area can be consulted in order to understand
the impact better. An expert’s opinion on the topic will be insightful and will also help in
establishing the facts in a reliable way (Brower and Mahajan 2013).
 Collaboration with third parties will help in determining the output form a unbiased
perspective (Suliman et al. 2016)
A.C. 3.2 - External reporting measurements that can evaluate the impact of the Corporate
Social Responsibility strategy
The external report is published by the company in order to communicate and reach out to the
external stakeholders of the company in this case, the patients, the shareholders, the suppliers
and the government. The measurements that have been taken by the company are as follows:
 There are a number of tables and info-graphics that has been used in the sustainability
report to communicate easily with the external stakeholders.
 For the external shareholders the sustainability report is a sub part of the annual report,
the company releases an annual report in order to communicate with the stakeholders
regarding the progress of the company.
 Each and every aspect of the aim that the company had set to achieve is mentioned
separately in the report along with a Sustainable development management plan. There is
also an evaluation score of a third party organisation Good Corporate Citizenship (GCC).
The result that is published by the company acknowledges that the last evaluation was in
2015 and the score was 32 (Uhbristol.nhs.uk 2018).

17CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
 The company has also stated the baseline year in order to keep the readers of the report
informed which is since 2007 (Uhbristol.nhs.uk 2018). This is essential as the reader will
be able to evaluate the process accordingly.
 Comparative study of improvement shown in the info-graphics that has been used in the
report, this has provided any man with the least understanding of the aspects to determine
the impacts of the strategies (Wang et al. 2016). Apart from the charts the report also
describes the numeric values of the strategies for example, it has been stated that carbon
emissions from energy consumption has been reduced by 1822 tonnes (7%) from the last
year (Uhbristol.nhs.uk 2018).
 Each and every area of concern that is in the CSR goal of the company has been
separately stated in the report, which is a positive for the company as they can
acknowledge with data that every aspect has been targeted and the money has been
responsibly spent (Farooq et al. 2014)
A.C. 3.3 - Methods to refresh and reinforce the Corporate Social Responsibility strategy
In order to reinforce the CSR strategies, the company has to come up with short term
objectives that would lead to a long term impact. Setting short term objectives helps in
reinforcing the strategies that the company has taken (Epstein 2018). For example, the company
has the goal to achieve 32 percent reduction in carbon footprint till 2020, therefore the objective
should be able to help the company achieve this larger goal in small amounts.
Since the calculation that the company has shown is based on the data that the company
has achieved in the previous years there is a clear comparison in case the rate of change in the
difference is lower than what is anticipated the strategies should be refreshed in order to meet the
desired result.

18CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
In order to reinforce some the existing strategies there should be proper communication
regarding the old results and the new anticipation. Setting of objectives play an important role in
reinforcing the strategies thus the company has to ensure the metrics of evaluation are also
revising accordingly (Epstein 2018).
Encourage innovation: in order for a strategy to be refreshed a new approach is required
to be implemented, thus the budget of the strategy also needs to be revised. As mentioned above
the capability of the company is important measure while evaluating the internal report hence the
capabilities should be kept in mind (Farooq et al.2014)
In the process of refreshing the strategies the organisation must have a clear chain of
communication among the stakeholders who are impacted with the strategy, for example, if a
strategy includes a third party involvement, refreshing the strategy would mean change in the
dynamics in between the company and the third party. Therefore, it can be said that
communication plays an important role in the process (Kim et al. 2016).

19CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Reference List:
Andriof, J., Waddock, S., Husted, B. and Rahman, S.S., 2017. Unfolding stakeholder
engagement. In Unfolding stakeholder thinking (pp. 19-42). Routledge.
Asif, M., Searcy, C., Zutshi, A. and Fisscher, O.A., 2013. An integrated management systems
approach to corporate social responsibility. Journal of cleaner production, 56, pp.7-17.
Brower, J. and Mahajan, V., 2013. Driven to be good: A stakeholder theory perspective on the
drivers of corporate social performance. Journal of business ethics, 117(2), pp.313-331.
Clapp, J. and Rowlands, I.H., 2014. Corporate social responsibility. Essential concepts of global
environmental governance, 42.
Deng, X., Kang, J.K. and Low, B.S., 2013. Corporate social responsibility and stakeholder value
maximization: Evidence from mergers. Journal of financial Economics, 110(1), pp.87-109.
Epstein, M.J., 2018. Making sustainability work: Best practices in managing and measuring
corporate social, environmental and economic impacts. Routledge.
Farooq, O., Payaud, M., Merunka, D. and Valette-Florence, P., 2014. The impact of corporate
social responsibility on organizational commitment: Exploring multiple mediation
mechanisms. Journal of Business Ethics, 125(4), pp.563-580.
Flammer, C., 2013. Corporate social responsibility and shareholder reaction: The environmental
awareness of investors. Academy of Management Journal, 56(3), pp.758-781.
Keys, T., Malnight, T. and van der Graaf, K., 2009. Making the most of corporate social
responsibility. [online] McKinsey & Company. Available at:

20CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/leadership/making-the-most-of-corporate-social-
responsibility [Accessed 6 Aug. 2018].
Khan, A., Muttakin, M.B. and Siddiqui, J., 2013. Corporate governance and corporate social
responsibility disclosures: Evidence from an emerging economy. Journal of business
ethics, 114(2), pp.207-223.
Kim, J.S., Song, H.J. and Lee, C.K., 2016. Effects of corporate social responsibility and internal
marketing on organizational commitment and turnover intentions. International Journal of
Hospitality Management, 55, pp.25-32.
Korschun, D., Bhattacharya, C.B. and Swain, S.D., 2014. Corporate social responsibility,
customer orientation, and the job performance of frontline employees. Journal of
Marketing, 78(3), pp.20-37.
Korschun, D., Bhattacharya, C.B. and Swain, S.D., 2014. Corporate social responsibility,
customer orientation, and the job performance of frontline employees. Journal of
Marketing, 78(3), pp.20-37.
Mason, C. and Simmons, J., 2014. Embedding corporate social responsibility in corporate
governance: A stakeholder systems approach. Journal of Business Ethics, 119(1), pp.77-86.
McWilliams, A., 2015. Corporate social responsibility. Wiley encyclopedia of management,
pp.1-4.
Morgeson, F.P., Aguinis, H., Waldman, D.A. and Siegel, D.S., 2013. Extending corporate social
responsibility research to the human resource management and organizational behavior domains:
A look to the future. Personnel Psychology, 66(4), pp.805-824.

21CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Suliman, A.M., Al-Khatib, H.T. and Thomas, S.E., 2016. Corporate social
responsibility. Corporate Social Performance: Reflecting on the Past and Investing in the Future,
p.15.
Uhbristol.nhs.uk., 2018. University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust Annual Report and
Accounts 2016/17. [online] Uhbristol.nhs.uk. Available at:
http://www.uhbristol.nhs.uk/media/2947563/uh_bristol_nhs_ft_annual_report_2016-17_final.pdf
[Accessed 6 Aug. 2018].
Uhbristol.nhs.uk., 2018. University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, the major teaching
trust in South-West England. [online] Uhbristol.nhs.uk. Available at:
http://www.uhbristol.nhs.uk/about-us/who-we-are/ [Accessed 6 Aug. 2018].
Wang, H., Tong, L., Takeuchi, R. and George, G., 2016. Corporate social responsibility: An
overview and new research directions: Thematic issue on corporate social responsibility.
Wang, H., Tong, L., Takeuchi, R. and George, G., 2016. Corporate social responsibility: An
overview and new research directions: Thematic issue on corporate social responsibility.