Effectiveness of Corporate Social Responsibility by Firms

Running head: DISSERTATION
Effectiveness of Corporate Social Responsibility by Firms
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Acknowledgement
Thank you to all of those who have helped listened and encouraged me throughout this study. I
am indebted to my supervisor ......................... whose guidance, advice and patience have
been immeasurable. My sincere thanks to all members of the............... [Mention your
university/college name], both staff and students, whose continuous support have made this
thesis possible.
I would like to thank all of the participants in the study: students, teachers and Local Education
Authorities, for the time and help given throughout. Without their participation, this research
would not have been possible. In this context, I am also thankful to them, whose research work
helped me to execute this paper well.
Finally, I thank my family, without whom this thesis would not have been started or completed!
Your encouragement and support have never faltered; thank you.

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Abstract
The aim of the research is to understand and examine the strategies adopted by the firms about
the effective implementation of the CSR practices in the society. Furthermore, aim of the
research is to understand organizational relationship with its stakeholders, this includes:
shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, community, society, and government and its
responsibility towards the sustainability of the environment. Issues have been identified in terms
of investigating how business organizations threat their stakeholders, communities and the
society in which they operate. The issues related to corporate social responsibility are more
because CSR covers broad spectrum that is required for benefitting the society.
Interpretivism philosophy has been used followed by deductive approach, descriptive research
strategy and semi-structured interview process. Based on the aforementioned selected
methodologies, non-probability sampling technique has been used that helped in selecting 8
senior lecturers and managers in organizations specializing on corporate social responsibility and
sustainability practices in London. Therefore, primary data collection process and qualitative
data analysis technique has been used for understanding and examining the strategies adopted by
the firms for implementing CSR practices effectively in the society.
It can be said from the data analysis that the participants support the idea and concept of
corporate social responsibility and thinks that it should be included and considered as an integral
part of every business organizations. The participants are well aware of the CSR activities
undertaken by well-known multinational companies such as Coco-Cola, Pepsi Co, Microsoft,
Google and Amazon.

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................6
1.0 Overview...........................................................................................................................6
1.1 Problem statement.................................................................................................................7
1.2 Research aim..........................................................................................................................8
1.3 Research objectives...............................................................................................................8
1.4 Research questions.................................................................................................................8
1.5 Research rationale..................................................................................................................9
1.6 Structure of the dissertation...................................................................................................9
1.7 Summary..............................................................................................................................10
Chapter 2: Literature review..........................................................................................................11
2.0 Overview..............................................................................................................................11
2.1 Conceptual framework.........................................................................................................11
2.2 Concept of corporate social responsibility..........................................................................12
2.3 Types of corporate social responsibility..............................................................................14
2.4 Corporate social responsibility effectiveness of different companies.................................16
2.4.1 Microsoft.......................................................................................................................17
2.4.2 Google...........................................................................................................................17
2.4.3 Amazon.........................................................................................................................18

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2.4.4 PepsiCo.........................................................................................................................19
2.4.5 Coca-Cola.....................................................................................................................20
2.5 Challenges of corporate social responsibility......................................................................21
2.6 Benefits of corporate social responsibility..........................................................................22
2.7 Summary..............................................................................................................................22
Chapter 3: Research methodology.................................................................................................24
3.0 Overview..............................................................................................................................24
3.1 Research outline...................................................................................................................24
3.2 Research philosophy............................................................................................................24
3.3 Research approach...............................................................................................................26
3.4 Research design...................................................................................................................26
3.5 Research strategy.................................................................................................................28
3.6 Sampling technique and sample size...................................................................................30
3.7 Data collection process........................................................................................................32
3.8 Data analysis process...........................................................................................................34
3.9 Trustworthiness....................................................................................................................34
3.10 Accessibility issues............................................................................................................34
3.11 Ethical considerations........................................................................................................35
3.12 Summary............................................................................................................................35
Chapter 4: Research findings and analysis....................................................................................37

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4.0 Overview..............................................................................................................................37
4.1 Findings and analysis...........................................................................................................37
4.2 Summary..............................................................................................................................42
Chapter 5: Conclusion...................................................................................................................44
5.0 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................44
5.1 Linking with objectives.......................................................................................................44
5.3 Recommendations................................................................................................................46
5.4 Research limitations.............................................................................................................47
5.5 Future scope of the study.....................................................................................................47
References......................................................................................................................................48
Appendix 1.....................................................................................................................................54
Survey questionnaire.................................................................................................................54

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Chapter 1: Introduction
1.0 Overview
Companies have acknowledged that they enjoy greater prestige, status and reputation through
the recognition that capitalism would be highly successful when it is dutiful towards the larger
society. According to McIntosh (2015) companies need to be concerned about their customers,
the producers and the larger environment and the communities within which it operates. The
enormous size and the global reach of the companies are signifying that they need to demonstrate
their responsibility with the aim of influencing the society. In the recent times, the spate of
corporate scandals and the multiple risks undertaken by some companies have galvanized the
discussion about the ethical considerations and value-driven practise and business. This led
momentum to the discussion regarding the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and the
imperative for ethical practises (Kansal, Joshi and Batra 2014).
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the ethical practises in business have been
recognized as the driving factor for assessing the financial performance of the company and in
encouraging the company for being robust and motivated regarding their organization. The thrust
of corporate social responsibility is that it emphasizes on the issues related to the multiple
concerns between the stakeholders of the organization, the firm and its environment. In other
words, corporate social responsibility can be understood as the responsibility of the organizations
to conduct in an ethical manner that would contribute to the economic development of the
company in improving the lifestyle and quality of life of the people who belong to the
marginalized sections of the society (Thomas 2007). This community driven orientation of CSR

7DISSERTATION
has made it quite pertinent for the companies to establish their reputation and at the same time
gain competitive advantage.
Corporate social responsibility is a business approach that aim towards contributing for the
sustainable development by the business organizations in terms of delivering economic, social
and environmental benefits to all the stakeholders. According to Cheng, Ioannou and Serafeim
(2014), corporate social responsibility is a decision undertaken by the business organizations
with the aim of benefitting all aspects of the society, the environment and community with the
decisions and activities undertaken by the firms. The business organizations have agreed that
they enjoy greater status, prestige and reputation through the recognition of undertaking dutiful
activities towards the society. As mentioned by Grayson and Hodges (2017), corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) and the ethical practices in business have been recognized as the driving
factor for assessing the financial performance of the company and in encouraging the company
for being robust and motivated regarding their organization.
1.1 Problem statement
Issues have been identified in terms of investigating how business organizations threat
their stakeholders, communities and the society in which they operate. This is because having
such a deep understanding and the long-term planning of the organizations in terms of
approaches and policies towards corporate social responsibility is difficult to understand (Crane,
Matten and Spence 2019). The different corporate social responsibility issues witnessed by the
business organizations include working conditions, human rights, preventing corruption,
corporate governance, gender equality and the environment. The issues related to corporate
social responsibility are more because CSR covers broad spectrum that is required for benefitting
the society (Hopkins 2016).