Corporate Social Responsibility Report

This report discusses the Corporate Social Responsibility program of Marks and Spencer. It covers the goals and objectives, ethical considerations, value creation, organisational strategies, and communication plan. The report aims to reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainable practices.

Corporate Social
Responsibility Report

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Corporate responsibility program goals and objectives...................................................................2
Ethical consideration........................................................................................................................2
Value Creation.................................................................................................................................4
Organisational strategies..................................................................................................................5
Communication Plan........................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8

Introduction
The corporate social responsibility is defined as concept of management in which
organisation coordinates the social and environmental problems in their day to day business
functions as well as interactions with various stakeholders. The main aim of Corporate Social
Responsibility is to give back values to the society members by considering participations in the
philanthropic movements so that less harm is caused to the environment. The application of
suitable CSR strategies supports the company in attaining positive response from various
external stakeholders such as government bodies and community members. For this report, the
Marks and Spencer company is taken into consideration. The company is recognised as the
famous multinational retailer brand which deals in various products ranging from selling clothes,
home products, beauty as well as food products. The company was founded in the year 1884 and
is headquartered in Paddington, London, UK. The brand strategy of organisation supports it to
attract the large number of customers in most effective manner. In relation to this, the firm find
new ways to connect with third party brands which includes wholesale to strategic acquisition
along with investments and exclusive collaborations. The vision of marks and spencer company
is to achieve sustainable competitive advantage which causes less harm to the mother nature.
Apart from this, the mission of the firm is to formulate qualitative and cost effective products
that are consumable by every society members(Kim and et.al. (2019)). This program will focus
on reducing the carbon emissions as global warming is increasing day by day due to high carbon
dioxide emissions by large commercial industries. The global warming is also posing threat to
human life by negatively altering climatic conditions into tsunami, earthquakes and many more.
The Marks and Spencer needs to address this problem for gaining favourable response from
various stakeholders present in external and internal business environment.
In order to attain sustainable competitive advantage, the firm will adopt environmental
and sustainable practises by investing more on using the renewable energy sources as well as
encourage the workers to come to office by walking or with their own bike. In addition to this,
the company will also promote online learning program for their workers which will cause
reductions in paper use as well as energy. This will allow the organisation in gaining large
number of customers in most effective manner. The report will frame goals and objectives
corporate responsibility program along with define ethical considerations. In addition to this, it
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will also include value creation, organisational strategies as well as also formulate
communication plan(Halkos, & Nomikos, (2021)).
Corporate responsibility program goals and objectives
Goals and objectives Purpose Time duration
To increase the use of
renewable energy resources by
50%.
This will allow the Marks and
Spencer company in reducing
the dependence on non-
renewable sources which are
considered as main reason for
high carbon emissions(El
Ghoul and et.al. (2019)). It
will help the firm to
considerably reduce its carbon
footprints.
The company will achieve this
goal within 8 months of time
duration.
The next goal of the firm is to
purchase electric vehicles in
order to cut down pollution
level.
This objective will help the
firm in gaining positive
response from legal bodies as
well as critical stakeholders
like customers and suppliers.
The company will attain this
objective within the period of
6 months.
The other objective is to give
online training sessions to the
new and existent workers by
using digital platforms or
collaboration tools.
It will help the company to
reduce usage of paperwork and
documentation process in the
most effective manner. This
will help the firm in save time
which in turn will allow
employees to learn more skills.
The firm will achieve this goal
within the time duration of 3
months.
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Ethical consideration
The ethical consideration is represented as standards of society which tells what tells the
difference between right and wrong behaviour while making business plans and policies. The
ethical values in the company effectively shapes the actions and opinion of the company
employees(Bhattacharyya, (2019)). In context to Marks and spencer firm, there are various
ethical issues which can come across in the CSR goal attaining behaviour of the organisation. It
also helps the organisation to identify as well as analyse the impact of ethical issue on its
corporate social responsibility achieving goals and objectives. The below are the given ethical
issues that can impact the strategies of the Marks and Spencer firm are:
Unethical leadership:
The wrong and unethical leadership style by managers of company can negatively affect
the activities for fulfilling corporate social responsibility goals and objectives. This can
demotivate the staff members to perform well and make them less productive which can cause
delays in attaining goals. So, the manager needs to adopt ethical leadership so that manager can
establish positive relationship with their staff members which can result in timely completion of
CSR goals.
Toxic workplace culture:
The toxic work culture can be described as negative work culture within company in
which lower level of workers face disrespectful behaviour or bullied by their senior managers. In
this type of culture, the lower line managers are not given opportunities to participate in day to
day decision making process for making business strategies. In order to achieve CSR goals, the
firm should promote healthy work environment which promotes staff members to discuss their
opinions in proper manner(Nguyen, Kecskés & Mansi, (2020)).
Discrimination and harassment:
This ethical issue deals with discrimination of employees on the basis of cast, race,
gender, religion, ethnicity as well as age. For bringing motivation among staff members to attain
goals of CSR, the firm should adopt equal opportunity program by recruiting diverse workforce,
enforcing policies as well as training. This will make the healthy business environment where all
are respectful to each other when implementing the goals of corporate social responsibility.
Privacy issues:
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The development in digital technologies as well as usage of electronic surveillance can
pose a privacy concerns both for the clients and workers alike. This can leak the confidential
information of staff members that can be unethically used by hackers for satisfying their personal
selfish objectives. In addition to this, the privacy problem can also impose threat of loosing huge
amount of financial capitals if hackers take advantage of any loopholes on network. For
minimising it, the company needs to hire skilled and experienced IT professionals and ethical
hackers that can protect the strategies of CSR plans from a leakage(Mao, (2019)).
Value Creation
The term value creation to various stakeholders is critical for the company to achieve
long term goals in most effective manner. For offering value, the firm needs to make favourable
changes in its internal infrastructure, capabilities as well as relationships that can enable the
organisation in attaining desires of different stakeholders like customers, employees and many
more. The value creation is reflected by intangible assets like brands, ideas, people as well as
adoption of innovative practises. In context to Marks and Spencer organisation, the formation
corporate social responsibility plan can allow the organisation in creating a positive value for
stakeholders like customer, employees, shareholders and many more. The following explanation
describes about how CSR initiatives can benefit the various stakeholders of the firm:
For the Employees:
The adoption of CSR planning puts direct influence on employee engagement levels
which in return support organisations in improving outcome in effective manner. It motivates the
employee to express their feelings and opinion which makes them more connected with
achieving objectives of the company(Al Mubarak, Hamed & Al Mubarak, (2018)). In addition to
this, it can also allow the workers to show their whole selves at doing business tasks. Moreover,
the CSR initiative by Marks and Spencer company can also enhance more trust and
communication between managers and staff members which may build a stronger coordination
between them.
For the Company itself:
The CSR activities can support the Marks and Spencer organisation in improving
companies reputation in the minds of different stakeholders. By making CSR planning it can
make itself a socially responsible organisation which helps local as well as international
communities. This can assist the company in gaining better business results by promoting
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employee retention, reducing absenteeism as well as improving profit levels. It also leads the
firm in minimising the environmental impacts in considerable manner.
For the Shareholders:
The Corporate social responsibility program can assist the firm in boosting the credibility
as well as good public image in the market. It provides an opportunity for the investors as well as
venture capitalists by receiving more profits once the firm achieve its CSR objectives or after
creating a positive sustainable impact. Hence, it cab make the shareholders of the firm more
connected with the activities of the organisation(Qiu and et.al. (2021)).
For the Society:
The local community member are considered as key component for the company. The
CSR initiatives can provide various advantages to the society members such as higher
employment opportunities, enhanced standard of living as well as empowerment of minority
communities as well as women.
For the Customer:
The customer are recognised as King for any company. The CSR initiatives can support
the customers to get most return of the investments they have made in purchasing products of
Marks and Spencer firm. In addition to this, the customer can understand and learn about the
cause with the help of CSR program launched by the organisation. This motivates customer to
follow sustainable practises in order to protect the mother nature.
Organisational strategies
The company strategy is termed as long term plan that reflects how the firm can allocate
its resources so that business tasks can achieved in most appropriate manner. In context to Marks
and Spencer organisation, the effective business strategies can allow it to achieve the targets of
CSR program by providing optimised infrastructure as well as resources. There are some
relevant business strategies out of which the firm can adopt in order to attain targets of CSR
initiatives in proper manner. These are:
Management and leadership strategies
The adoption of suitable leadership styles can allow Marks and Spencer company to
make managers in improving the performance level of staff members by giving them right to
influence decision making process and giving recognition for their great efforts(Cui, Jo & Na,
(2018)). For achieving the objectives of CSR program, it has been recommended that Marks and
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Spencer firm should adopt Democratic style of leadership which can help the employees to gain
feedback of their performance in effective manner. In addition to this, it can also allow
employees to feel more engaged with the CSR goals by giving them right to participate in
company's decision making activity.
Structure and Business organisation strategies
The organisational structure provides a specific hierarchy within the company. It
represents job of each employees as well as how it fits within the internal business environment.
In context to Marks and Spencer, the proper organisation structure can support the firm in
attaining CSR objectives as it will support the firm in shaping internal structure in such way
where everyone have suitable power and responsibilities(Yuan and et.al. (2019)). It has been
recommended that the company must adopt Divisional or Multidimensional structure. In this, the
firm can structure its leadership teams exclusively for achieving the goals of the Corporate social
responsibility project. This will benefit it to provide necessary resources so that activity tasks can
be attained in more effective manner.
Organisational culture strategies
The organisational culture is defined as action of leaders in cultivating as well as taking
care of businesses, stakeholders and workers. It can also be termed as regular behaviours of
workers and managers of the firm. In relation to Marks and Spencer firm, it has been
recommended that the company follow the Adhocracy type of culture. This will support the
company in making their business culture more flexible where the workers can freely describe
their opinions related to achieving tasks of CSR program in proper manner. It will also create a
dynamic culture where the employees are motivated to complete CSR achieving tasks in
appropriate manner(Belas and et.al. (2021)).
Stakeholders and other within the company
The stakeholders of the firm such as shareholders, customer and many more are
considered essential for the effective completion of CSR objectives. In context to Marks and
Spencer firm, it has been recommended that the company should practise Descriptive approach
of stakeholder's theory. This will help the organisation to consider the interest of various group
of stakeholders while developing action plan for attaining CSR objectives. It will help the firm in
developing most accurate model by weighing and balancing stakeholder's interest as perfectly as
possible.
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Communication Plan
The usage of effective communicational techniques can support the Marks and Spencer
company to properly send the relevant informations about the Corporate Social Responsibility
program to the internal as well as external audiences.
In order to connect with the internal audiences the company can adopt following
strategies which are explained below:
Email:
Marks and Spencer company can communicate relevant information about CSR
objectives by using E-mail technologies(Byun & Oh, (2018)). This application will help the
organisation to transfer confidential information directly to the employees in cost effective
manner.
Video conferencing applications:
The company can also practise this tool for connecting with employees who are working
in remote areas or any part of the world. This medium is considered as most effective when
communicating with employees in the face to face manner. This will support the firm to maintain
smooth conversations with workers leading to timely achievement of CSR tasks.
In order to communicate with external audiences, the company can adopt below
mentioned tool:
Digital tools:
The firm can properly send their message of CSR with external audiences by using
electronic communication tools such as websites, social media platforms and other. This will
help the firm to attract large number of external stakeholder by making creative and immersive
posts regarding CSR activities. In addition to this, the company can also analyse the reactions of
stakeholders by reading their feedbacks or by taking poll.
Newspaper and fliers:
The Marks and Spencer company can also communicate with external stakeholders by
posting relevant informations about CSR programs on the columns of famous newspaper. This
will help the organisation in gaining attention of more and more newspaper readers of country.
Apart from this, the company can also supply fliers or small posters where the information about
CSR will be clearly defined to the stakeholders present in external environment(Naqvi and et.al.
(2021)).
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Hence, it can be concluded that Marks and Spencer company can adopt above
communication strategies in order to transfer the CSR message effectively to internal as well as
external stakeholders.
References
Books and Journal
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Kim and et.al. (2019). Do long-term institutional investors promote corporate social
responsibility activities?. Journal of Banking & Finance, 101, 256-269.
El Ghoul and et.al. (2019). New evidence on the role of the media in corporate social
responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics, 154(4), 1051-1079.
Halkos, G., & Nomikos, S. (2021). Corporate social responsibility: Trends in global reporting
initiative standards. Economic Analysis and Policy, 69, 106-117.
Bhattacharyya, S. S. (2019). Development of international corporate social responsibility
framework and typology. Social Responsibility Journal.
Nguyen, P. A., Kecskés, A., & Mansi, S. (2020). Does corporate social responsibility create
shareholder value? The importance of long-term investors. Journal of Banking &
Finance, 112, 105217.
Mao, C. W. (2019). Effect of corporate social responsibility on corporate tax avoidance:
evidence from a matching approach. Quality & Quantity, 53(1), 49-67.
Al Mubarak, Z., Hamed, A. B., & Al Mubarak, M. (2018). Impact of corporate social
responsibility on bank’s corporate image. Social Responsibility Journal.
Qiu and et.al. (2021). Can corporate social responsibility protect firm value during the COVID-
19 pandemic?. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 93, 102759.
Cui, J., Jo, H., & Na, H. (2018). Does corporate social responsibility affect information
asymmetry?. Journal of business ethics, 148(3), 549-572.
Yuan and et.al. (2019). CEO ability and corporate social responsibility. Journal of Business
Ethics, 157(2), 391-411.
Belas and et.al. (2021). Corporate social responsibility and sustainability issues of small‐and
medium‐sized enterprises. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental
Management, 28(2), 721-730.
Byun, S. K., & Oh, J. M. (2018). Local corporate social responsibility, media coverage, and
shareholder value. Journal of Banking & Finance, 87, 68-86.
Naqvi and et.al. (2021). Corporate social responsibility performance and information asymmetry:
The moderating role of analyst coverage. Corporate Social Responsibility and
Environmental Management, 28(6), 1549-1563.
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