Impact of CSR on Business Performance: A Case Study of Woolworths Group in Australia

Running head: PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS
PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Content
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................2
1.2 Background to the report..................................................................................................2
1.3 Research Aim...................................................................................................................3
1.4 Research Questions and Objectives.................................................................................3
2.0 Literature Review.................................................................................................................3
2.1 Importance of CSR in business........................................................................................5
2.2 Relationship between the CSR and employee turnover...................................................5
2.3 Empirical evidence on CSR and CFP relationship..........................................................6
2.4 Gaps in the existing literature..........................................................................................6
3.0 Research Methods................................................................................................................7
3.1 Research Philosophy........................................................................................................7
3.2 Data Collection Techniques.............................................................................................7
3.3 Data Analysis...................................................................................................................7
4.0 Research Findings................................................................................................................8
4.1 Discussion......................................................................................................................11
5. Conclusion and Recommendation........................................................................................12
References................................................................................................................................14

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Topic: Impact of CSR on Business Performance
1. Introduction
This report is based on the impact of corporate social activities of organizations on
business performance. The major purpose of the report is to investigate how CSR activities
influence the business performance. Both large and medium size firms tend to contribute to
social development as their responsibility but such activities often act as a significant tool as
well to enhance brand image both in domestic and global market. Thus, to understand how
the implementation of CSR initiatives help brands to enhance business performance and
positively reflect on the brand image, this report considers the business operation and CSR
initiatives of Woolworths Australia, which is a supermarket chain located across many large
cities in Australia. To meet the purpose of the report, this report presents a detailed
background and the findings of existing papers. A clear presentation of research techniques
used to perform the report has also been discussed. A secondary data analysis has been
performed collecting data from annual report, CSR reports, company’s blogs and other
reliable secondary resources.
1.2 Background to the report
Multiple scholarly papers have investigated corporate social responsibilities and its
impact on business performance but their outcome largely vary. Even though the social
drawbacks have been debated for decades and just in the recent time they have entered the
mainstream management studies as the significant areas of examination. Boulouta and Pitelis
(2014) mentioned that social initiatives are the heart of a business as well as social endeavour
could be consistent with the business objectives for gaining profits. This should also express
the values of serving the society as the soul of the business. A growing phenomena of studies
on CSR in the social welfare has demonstrated that some firms have positively responded to
the above stated concerns by gathering more resources to CSR. However, the major flaws in

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the existing studies are such as many inadequately controlled variables, lack of explanations
about the particular growth areas caused by CSR. For example, it can be mentioned that CSR
can be a proactive business strategy and an effective marketing tool to generate and hold
competitive advantages. Therefore, the importance of performing a study on the impact of
CSR on business performance lies in the exploration of areas in business that are and can be
affected by CSR activities. When investigating the impact, particularly focuses on how CSR
activities influence operational performance, financial performance, create platform for
gaining competitive advantages and other core areas of Woolworths Group in Australia.
1.3 Research Aim
This report aims to examine the impact of Corporate Social Responsibilities on business
performance of Woolworths Group in Australia.
1.4 Research Questions and Objectives
Research Questions
 What are the potential impacts of CSR activities on business performance?
Research Objectives
 To critically analyse the importance of CSR in business
 To investigate the impact of CSR on business performance
 To provide suitable suggestions to plan for CSR to enhance business performance
2.0 Literature Review
Social development and profitability of the company build a relationship in the present days
which forms significant subjects of academic papers and research in the context of social
responsibility. Tingchi Liu et al., (2014) mentioned that CSR better explains possible
obligation of business to develop and protect social welfare and this is also helpful in future