The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility Practices on Customer Retention in Hospitality Industry

This research proposal aims to analyze the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices on customer retention in the hospitality industry, specifically focusing on the Hilton Group of Hotels in Australia. The study will examine the relationship between CSR practices and customer perception, loyalty, and satisfaction. The research methodology will include a review of literature, framework development, and ethical considerations.

Running head: RESEARCH PAPER
RESEARCH PAPER
Name of the Student
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Author Note

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Executive Summary
The corporate social responsibility is considered to be an essential part of the organization and
with respect to this, it has become important for the different hospitality firms to ensure that they
are successfully able to take into consideration the various practices which will go a long way in
assisting the firm to undertake long term success. Although it is believed that the corporate social
responsibility practices generally have a strong impact on the overall profitability of the firm,
however, they are also believed to have a strong impact on the overall customer satisfaction and
retention of the organization. The hospitality industry is a highly volatile and customer oriented
industry, for which it becomes considerably important for them, to maintain differentiation in the
form of their different services and the CSR practices incurred in an organization. The research
proposal aims to present an analysis and find whether the CSR practices in an organization have
an impact on the customer retention with special reference to the hospitality industry and
specifically the hotel named Hilton Group of Hotels in Australia. The background of the study
will be provided, which will be followed by the review of literature and the framework. Lastly,
the research methodology will be provided which will lay down the different research methods
and overall ethical considerations considering the paper.

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Table of Contents
1. TITLE..........................................................................................................................................4
2. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE........................................................................................4
Background..................................................................................................................................4
Introduction..............................................................................................................................4
Problem Statement.......................................................................................................................8
About the Hilton Group of Hotels in Australia...........................................................................9
Discipline.................................................................................................................................9
Review of Literature..................................................................................................................10
Introduction............................................................................................................................10
Corporate social responsibility..............................................................................................10
Factors affecting corporate social responsibility Practices....................................................11
Customer retention.................................................................................................................14
Factors affecting Customer retention.....................................................................................15
Theoretical framework...............................................................................................................18
Critical analysis.........................................................................................................................18
3. RESEARCH QUESTION(S).....................................................................................................19
Research Questions....................................................................................................................19
Research Objectives...................................................................................................................19
4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY..............................................................................................20

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Resources being used.................................................................................................................20
Research Method.......................................................................................................................21
Research Philosophy..................................................................................................................21
Justification of the research philosophy................................................................................21
Research Approach....................................................................................................................22
Justification of the chosen research approach.......................................................................22
Research design.........................................................................................................................22
Justification for the chosen research design..........................................................................23
Data collection...........................................................................................................................23
Sampling and survey strategy....................................................................................................23
Survey Strategy......................................................................................................................24
Data analysis..............................................................................................................................25
Reliability and Validity..............................................................................................................25
Ethical consideration.................................................................................................................25
5. PLAN OF WORK & TIME SCHEDULE.................................................................................26
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY......................................................................................................................28

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1. TITLE
The title of the paper can be stated to be as follows:
The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility Practices on Customer Retention in Hospitality
Industry: A case study of Hilton Group of Hotels, Australia.
Through the given approach, the paper aims to find out the effects of the different
corporate social responsibility practices which are adopted by the Hilton Group of Hotels on the
retention rate of the customers and guests who visit the hotel. The Corporate social responsibility
tends to form an essential part of the organization and through this initiative, various
organizations aim to contribute to the welfare of the society. Hence, in line of this, it can be
mentioned that, this corporate social responsibility practice tends to impact the overall perception
of the customers towards the organization and in addition to this, also impacts the customer
perception in the firm. Hence, through this research topic, the main aim is to find the impact of
the Corporate Social responsibility practices on the Customer retention of the different hotels in
the Hospitality industry, with special reference to the case of the Hilton Group of Hotels in
Australia.
2. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE
Background
Introduction
According to Belal (2016) , there exists a general perception in today`s global business
environment that, the business has an increasing participative role to play in the society and the
main aim of the different hotels go beyond the simple profit making perspective. The Corporate
social responsibility as a concept has evolved and developed considerably from the last few days

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and it is with respect to this, that it can be understood that instead of just looking after the
different investors and the customers of the company, the firm will also be required to cater to
the needs of the larger society as well as community. This further highlights the importance of
the environmental aspect and focuses on the triple bottom line approach of enhancing the profit,
planet as well as people.
The hospitality industry is one of the most popular industries present in the globe and has
a large economical footprint both in terms of the employment as well as the revenue as earned by
the organization (Chernev & Blair, 2015). Moreover, the industry also makes consistent use of
the different natural resources like water, food and energy and also hence tends to engage in the
practices which tend to minimize the impact of the hotel or the business on the environment.
Certain examples of these initiatives can be stated to be the practices like increasing the fuel
efficiency in the airlines, reduction of the food waste as incurred in the restaurants, efforts to
save water and electricity as incurred in the hotels. In addition to this, in addition to look after the
different environmental concerns, the industry also aims to embrace and resolve the different
social issues like community development, encouragement of diversity in the workforce,
progressed employment policies and practices (Belal, 2016). Several hotels around the world
have bought about tremendous improvement in the entire procedure and certain examples of
these activities are undertaken by the Marriott International, Kempton Hotels, Hilton Worldwide
and the Wyndham Worldwide. In addition to this, the companies have also been able to win the
award for the Best Place to work in.
According to Crane, Matten & Spence (2019), the engagement by the different
companies in the different Corporate Social responsibility activities and practices can be
considered to voluntary and the extent to which the organization will undertake considerable

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initiatives for this outweighs the cost or the financial returns that a firm will earn on its different
activities. The nature of the hotel industry can render considerable outcomes for the overall
welfare of the society. In addition to this, these initiatives as taken by the different hotels as
present can improve the overall brand awareness as well as the loyalty for the customers.
Moreover, as the services provided by the organization are intangible, they are generally
evaluated based on the quality of the service which is provided by them (Hopkins, 2016). Hence,
the overall goodwill of the hotel tends to improve by the social initiatives which are undertaken
by the organization. Moreover, it also renders and gives way to practices which tend to transform
the brand image of the hotel, creating differentiation as well as creating a sustainable advantage
in a highly competitive industry. In addition to this, the different social initiatives as taken by
the organization will also increase the willingness of the consumer to pay premium prices and
hence, this helps any hotel to survive the seasonal demand and poor economic cycles. The new
generation of the customers are greatly inclined towards the environmental sustainability and are
socially very conscious. Moreover, several studies have also found that, the different customers
are now willing to pay a surge price of 15% or more if the hotel is engaging in sustainable
activities and are making use of the organic ingredients.
Apart from the consumer perspective, the Corporate Social responsibility practices which
are incurred in by the different organizations tend to attract as well as motivate the different
employees as well. The main reason, why this might be stated is because, the different
employees are willing to work with a company with a good image as well as reputation which
will help them to progress faster in their career and also offer diversity practices which shall
allow them to work effectively (Hopkins, 2016). The benefits of the employee engagement can
be extensively reaped in by the different hotels and they can experience a considerable growth as

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well as profitable activities. Hence, it can be considerably understood that the corporate social
responsibility initiatives have become an integral component of the high performance work
system.
Hence, the engagement in the corporate social responsibility activities need to be engaged
in not only with a focus on the return on investment of the organization but also to create a
positive change in the entire society. Additionally, the companies make use of the Corporate
Social responsibility as a mere marketing tool and engages in the green washing of the different
customers who are then attracted towards the firm. However, these activities often lead to
different consequences like backlash and loss of credibility. Moreover, the communication of
the corporate social responsibility initiatives are considered to be effective part of the
organization and the different stakeholders like the consumers, employees and related
stakeholders need to be aware of the different corporate social responsibility activities of the
firm.
Hence, in line of this, it can be rightfully understood that, the different organizations
often tend to engage in the publishing of various Corporate Social Responsibility reports which
will allow them to maintain transparency in front of the different customers. Therefore, in line
with this, it is important for the different firms to understand that the Corporate Social
Responsibility activities tend to be aligned with the overall competencies as well as the different
strategies of the firm. In addition to this, it also becomes considerably important for the
organization to gain exposure to the different stakeholders and opportunities which will be able
to impress the customers and hence, they may turn out to be more loyal than their current
scenario (Crane, Matten & Spence, 2019). This reserve of good activities may bring about
goodwill for the firm and help the hotel in dealing with the different negative activities. For this

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reason, it can be rightfully mentioned that, for the customer centric and highly competitive
industries like the hospitality industry, it becomes considerably important, to retain and earn the
goodwill which will serve the customers at both the good and the bad times (Belal, 2016).
Therefore, in line of this, the research proposal will lay down the different aspects of the
research paper. It will present a research methodology which will assist in understanding the
research approach which will be adopted for the study. This will then be followed by the timeline
of the research and the planning chart will help in understanding the overall format of the study
and outline the procedure in which the dissertation shall be adopted.
Problem Statement
The primary reason why the particular topic has been chosen and why the impact of the
different Corporate social responsibility initiatives on the customer retention of the different
hotels will be understood is because, although there has been a considerable research present in
the domain of the Corporate social responsibility and its impact on the overall profitability of the
organization, there does not exist much research on impact of these initiatives on the customer
aspect (Crowther & Seifi, 2018). Hence, this research paper for which the research proposal is
being presented will focus on the impact of the different corporate social responsibility activities
which are adopted by the different firms as present in the Hospitality industry. The special focus
of the research paper will be on the Hilton Group of Hotels as present in Australia. The paper
will analyze the different factors affecting the corporate social responsibility and find its impact
on the customer retention in the hotel. The manner in which the customers are influenced by the
corporate social responsibility will be rightfully understood which will then be followed by an
understanding of the manner in which these two aspects are related to one another.

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About the Hilton Group of Hotels in Australia
The Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. can be understood to be one of the largest group of
hotels found around the globe and is an American multinational hospitality company which tends
to manage as well as franchise a broad portfolio of hotels as well as resorts. The firm is
headquartered in Virginia and as per the data of 2018, the portfolio comprises of more than 5500
properties and over 894000 rooms in 1109 different countries around the globe. The company
has 15 popular brands in the different market segments which are located in the different
countries as per the lifestyle and living standards of the country. It was in the year, 2013 that the
Hilton became a public company and raised an estimated sum of $2.35 billion in its second IPO
(Hilton.com ,2019). The hotel group was found by Conrad Hilton in Texas in the year 1919 and
currently has its headquarters in the Beverly Hills of California until 2009 after which it was
relocated to Virginia.
Apart from its efficient operations, the Hotel is believed to be ranked in the 2012 happiest
companies around the globe and is a paradise for the different employees working in the
company. The job reviews on various websites compliment the firm on characteristics like the
work life balance, company culture, the reputation and the relationship with the employees.
Discipline
The line of discipline which this study represents can be related to Corporate Social
Responsibility and International Management. The particular discipline seeks to identify and
analyze the manner in which the different organizations tend to perform and the different
corporate social responsibility activities and how does that have an impact on the overall
management of the organization. In addition to this, this discipline also tends to talk about the

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manner in which the different CSR activities tend to have an impact on the International
management.
Review of Literature
Introduction
The given section on the Review of Literature will be divided into various section with
each section concentrating on the domain of Corporate Social Responsibility and Customer
retention in the Hospitality industry. Various journals and related books will be made use of in
order to ensure that, a varied information is covered under the particular section.
Corporate social responsibility
The corporate social responsibility can be defined as a self-regulating business model
which goes a long way in assisting the firm to become socially accountable to itself, the
stakeholders and the general public at large. By practicing the corporate social responsibility, a
firm is able to become conscious of the impact which it has on the society and creates awareness
among the firms. The firm is a social entity and tends to have an impact on various aspects of the
society like economic, social and environmental and hence, in line of this, it becomes important
for the business to take considerable initiatives to improve upon the same. It is for this reason
that all the businesses should undertake initiatives to enhance the society and the environment to
compensate for their negative contribution to them (Crowther & Seifi, 2018). The corporate
social responsibility can be rightfully defined as a business approach which contributes to the
overall sustainable development by the delivery of the economic, social as well as the
environmental benefits for the different stakeholders of the firm or the hotel in this case, at large.
As agreed by, it has to be understood, that the Corporate Social Responsibility Practices are
carried out differently for every company and each country as well. As the concept of the

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corporate social responsibility is a relatively large concept, it tends to vary and comprise of
various topics like the human rights, corporate governance, health and safety of the different
members of the society, the environmental effects, contribution made to the economic
development and the working conditions of the different employees. The main aim of the
corporate social responsibility always lies towards ensuring sustainability (De Grosbois, 2016).
Various companies as present, have made certain remarkable efforts which have enabled them to
excel in the field of the corporate social responsibility but the reasons why a company may carry
out the different CSR activities may be considered to be different for every company. This can
be stated because, each company may have a different motive and a reason to engage in the CSR.
These are often known as the Factors which have an impact on the Corporate Social
Responsibility Practices. Each firm is largely governed by its set of factors and with respect to
this, it needs to be largely understood that, the understanding of these different factors is very
crucial to the overall purpose of the given study.
Factors affecting corporate social responsibility Practices
As mentioned earlier, according to De Grosbois (2016), there comprises of different
Factors which tend to have an impact on the different Corporate social responsibility practices
and the intention on a w3hole. The different factors shall be discussed in the following section
and in addition to this, they will also be categorized into external as well as internal sections.
The financial positioning of the firm
The Financial positioning of the firm is a great determinant of the fact whether a
company chooses to opt for the Corporate Social Responsibility or not. This is because, the
corporate social responsibility requires a considerable amount of investment from the side of the
firm and any firm which is not stable, will not be able to invest into the Corporate social

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responsibility practices. Hence, as agreed by Farrington et al. (2017), any firm which is
performing well financially will have a larger inclination towards engaging in the different
Corporate Social Responsibility activities instead of those firms which are not performing quite
well financially. Moreover, the different firms who are financially sound tend to invest the right
funds which may not only fulfill their overall organizational goals but may also allow them to
perform well in front of the different consumers and may reflect their positive image in front of
the different consumers.
The Service offering of the firm
The service offering as made by the firm comprises of another factor which may
influence the overall corporate social responsibility practices which are generally followed by the
firm. This is because, the nature of the operations determine the line of work which the company
can engage in as a corporate responsibility practice (Kang et al., 2015). In addition to this, the
service offering of the firm can also be largely related to the financial standing of the firm in the
long run. According to Flammer (2015), the service offering as made by the firm has the
capacity to attract the consumers and align them with the corporate Social responsibility
practices of the firm (Kang, Germann & Grewal, 2016). It is for this reason, that the different
hotels often engage in electricity and water conservation as they are the ones who engage in the
dealings related to water and electricity and hence, they can be understood to be the entities who
can lead to practices which can be contribute towards the conservation of the environment (Kim,
Song & Lee, 2016).
The Image of the firm in the market

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The overall image of the firm of the firm or the goodwill of the firm can also be
understood to be an important aspect which tends to have a strong impact on the overall
operations of the organization. If the firm has a positive image in the market, in front of its
customers and has a considerably large brand name then it will be required to engage in the
activities which will be largely beneficial for the overall operations of the society (Kim et al.,
2018). This is because, the consumer expect a certain level of performance from the firm with
which they are engaged and in addition to this, the consumers are also interested in
understanding the overall contribution f their favorite firms and brands in the society (Grayson &
Hodges, 2017). For this reason, if the firm has a good brand image then, it is required to engage
into larger and better corporate social responsibility policies as these will assist the firm in
ensuring long term success and also assist the firm in building the image of the firm.
The socio-economical aspects
The socio-economic aspects which a firm needs to consider can be defined as the Values,
attitudes and the concerns of one`s target customers and their economic abilities to afford the
particular service (Grayson & Hodges, 2017). In order to ensure that the overall performance,
popularity and the image of the firm increases in the eyes of the customer, the organization needs
to ensure that they look out for the values, attitudes and the concerns of the target market which
will then allow them to come up with the ways which will then go a long way in assisting the
firm to come up with those corporate social responsibility practices which may align with the
different needs of the customers. Moreover, the social aspects also determine the overall focus of
the society with respect to which communities will benefit.
Legal and ethical aspects

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The legal as well as ethical aspects also tend to determine the overall choice of the
corporate social responsibility which are to be followed by the organization. These legal, ethical
and political environmental aspects relate to the business laws as well as the ethical
responsibilities which are to be met by the business and the manner in which the business will be
required to meet the overall standards as well as regulations of the communities (Kang et
al. ,2015).
Customer retention
The customer retention can be understood to be process by which a certain customer
becomes a regular of the organization. It also refers to the different activities as well as actions
which the different companies and organizations like to undertake in order to ensure that they are
able to reduce the number of customer defections (Degbey, 2015). The primary reason why the
different organizations get involved in different customer retention, loyalty as well as the brand
loyalty programs may be primarily contributed to the fact that the different consumers form an
essential part of the organization and helps the firm to prosper in the long run. The procedure of
customer retention begins when the consumer first comes in contact with the firm and continues
throughout the entire lifecycle of the consumer in the organization. Although customer
acquisition is considered to be a relevant part of the organization and is an effective way to
increase the overall revenue of the firm , the customer retention forms a rather crucial part of the
organization and makes it easier for the firm to perform considerably well with respect to this
(Degbey, 2015). When the consumer is required to deal with the customers with whom they are
already related to then, it becomes considerably easier for them to build the relationship and
increase the overall profitability of the firm.

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Hence, in line of this, it becomes considerably better for the different organizational
members to shift their focus to retention of the customers as it is easier to capitalize on their
experiences with the firm. Moreover, the process of customer retention can be understood to be a
sustainable process and ensures a considerable and sustainable growth. This proof is largely
justified with numbers and as per Degbey (2015), when the firm improves upon the customer
retention by 5% then, it leads to an increase in the profits of the firm by 25% to 90%.
Factors affecting Customer retention
A customer has its own reasons to remain associated with a firm or not to remain
associated with an organization. In line of this, it can be mentioned that, there are several factors
which tend to have an influence on the choice of the customer to retain with the firm. These
factors may be largely associated to the organizations at large. Some of these factors affecting
the customer retention can be stated to be as follows:
Value offered by the firm
It is important for the organization to make an offering to the different consumers which
they will be able to value. When the customers are expected to gain a fair deal then they will be
dedicated to remain associated with the firm for a longer time frame (Magatef & Tomalieh,
2015). In addition to this, the organization will also be able to ensure that, its offerings can be
relied upon and the customers turn out to be loyal to the firm and hence, retain themselves with
the firm for a long time frame. Moreover, delivering value is good, but a firm will also be
required to demonstrate the value which is being delivered by them in the form of an annual
reporting or other related notices.
The workplace culture of the organization

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The workplace culture forms an essential aspect of the organization. The culture also
tends to determine the overall values which are possessed by the firm. The culture of a firm
reflects their beliefs with respect to the community and the general society on the whole. Hence,
it is believed that a firm with a good work culture will largely contribute towards the society and
will be more inclined more towards the corporate social responsibility activities which will then
ensure that, the society benefits from this (Suh & Alhaery, 2016).
The communication medium of the firm
The communication forms a relevant part of the organization and with respect to this, it
becomes considerably important for the firm to communicate with the different stakeholders on a
regular basis. This means that, only when the firm will be successfully able to communicate with
the different stakeholders regarding their corporate social responsibility practices, that they will
be able to become popular in the eyes of the customer (Magatef & Tomalieh, 2015). Hence, the
firms who fail to maintain a good communication medium with the customers as it can be
understood to be the only way through which the firm will be able to reach out to the customers
and let them know about their offerings, their different activities, their values and their overall
culture.
Overall customer satisfaction
The customer satisfaction tends to come up from and roots from the comparison between
the different expectations of the customers and their experiences with the firm. According to Al-
Tit (2015), if the customer has had a positive experience with the different organizational
aspects, then it is expected that they will remain associated with the firm for a longer time frame.
Hence, the entire concept of customer satisfaction is based on the customer expectations and the

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different values. If their perception is satisfied, they remain with the firm (Wang et al., 2016).
Moreover, customer satisfaction also comes from the fact whether the firm is engaging in
activities which are beneficial or not. In case, any hotel, engages in good Corporate social
responsibility practices then, this tends to provide a sense of satisfaction to the different
customers and develops the belief that they are associated themselves with a good company with
high moral values and a good corporate social base structure (Al-Tit, 2015). Hence, it is for this
purpose, that the customer satisfaction is considered to be one of the primary elements for the
retention of the customers in the long run. Their relationship is believed to be straightforward
and determines their overall equation.
Price
The factor of price can be understood to be another factor for the different customers
while their decision making to retain with the firm or not (Saeidi et al., 2015). There exists
considerable competition in the hospitality sector and with respect to this, companies often use
the pricing as a mechanism through which they can engage in differentiation because, the budget
constraints form an essential part of the organization and the firm is largely required to make the
product available at a cheap price. However, in the case of the hotels and the corporate social
responsibility practices, it is required to be understood that, the customers when considering the
contribution of the hotel to the environment, may not take into consideration the aspect of price.
This is because, the consumers have become considerably conscious and it is with respect to this
that, they are often ready to pay a higher price in return of a service which will be beneficial to
the society. Hence, the pricing as a factor has a greater role to play in deciding the customer
retention of the different customers (Schrempf-Stirling, Palazzo & Phillips, 2016). The price
matching can also be made use of to encourage the repetitive purchase behavior. This is because,

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it reflects a commitment to protect the different customers as present and in addition to this, it
also focuses to meet the overall expectations of the consumers.

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Theoretical framework
Critical analysis
Therefore, from the given analysis, it can be rightfully observed that the corporate social
responsibility can be understood to have an impact on the customer retention of the firm. This is
because, as stated by Khan (2016), the different customers are largely inclined towards the
image of the firm and when any firm engages in the practices relating to the corporate social
responsibility, then they are able to improve the image and thereby tend to increase the customer
retention in the long run. Moreover, the different customers are also highly inclined towards the
values which firm reflects. Hence, in line of this, it can be understood that, any organization
looking out for success needs to present their offerings and their activities in a manner such that
the different customers would appreciate the different initiatives as undertaken by the firm.
However, in the contrast of this Kim et al (2018), argues that, the customer retention is not
dependent on the corporate social responsibility activities and is largely related to the personal
Corporate Social
Responsibility
Financial Position
Service offerings
Image of the firm
Socio-economic
Aspects
Ethical and Legal
aspects
Customer
Retention

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choice and decision making of the customers. However, even though there are various critiques
of this concept, authors like Kim, Kim & Mattila (2017), have found a positive correlation
between the different corporate social responsibility as undertaken by the firm and the customer
retention and relationship with the firm.
3. RESEARCH QUESTION(S)
Research Questions
1. Which corporate social responsibility practices have the largest impact on the customer
retention in the hospitality industry?
2. What is the relationship between the corporate social responsibility practices which are
undertaken by the Hilton Group of Hotels in Australia and the customer retention?
3. To what extent the Corporate Social responsibility practices tend to effect the customer
retention in the hospitality industry with respect to the Hilton Group of Hotels in
Australia?
4. What recommendations can be provided to Hilton Group of Hotels in Australia to enable
them to improve their overall customer retention?
Research Objectives
The research objectives of the dissertation can be stated to be as follows:
1. To understand the extent to which the Corporate Social Responsibility practices have an
impact on the customer retention in the hospitality industry with respect to the Hilton
Group of Hotels in Australia.

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2. To evaluate the extent to which the Corporate Social responsibility practices tend to
effect the customer retention in the hospitality industry with respect to the Hilton Group
of Hotels in Australia.
3. To find the relationship between the corporate social responsibility practices which are
undertaken by the Hilton Group of Hotels in Australia and the customer retention
4. To provide certain recommendations to the Hilton Group of Hotels in Australia with
respect to improvement in the Customer retention practices which shall help them to
engage in long term success.
Hence, from the given research questions it can be rightfully understood that, the main
objective of the research is to find out the relationship between the social responsibility practices
and the customer retention. As the research is primarily focused on the Hospitality industry with
special focus on the Hilton Group of Hotels in Australia, through these research questions, the
study will help the hotel in understanding the impact of corporate social responsibility practices
on their customer retention and thereby recommend how to improve the particular scenario.
4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Resources being used
The different resources which will be used for the purpose of the study can be largely
stated to be the resources like various Journals, books, research papers and other related
newspaper websites through which the different activities as undertaken by the Hilton Group of

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Hotels will be undertaken. In addition to this, the annual reports of the Hilton Group of Hotels in
Australia shall also be analyzed.
Research Method
The research method which will be made use of in the following dissertation will be
described in the following section. The particular section will be divided into different parts with
each section, descripting the method being adopted for the particular research and advantages as
well as the disadvantages shall be given for each method. Additionally, justification for the
method being chosen shall also be provided.
Research Philosophy
The research philosophy is rightfully said to be the reason for which the research is
conducted and accumulates the various beliefs as well as the assumptions which need to be
fulfilled before the data collection procedure. For the particular research paper, the research
philosophy which will be adopted for the purpose of the study can be stated to be the Positivist
research approach. In this kind of a research approach, the factual data is collected and the entire
study is based on scientific data (Kumar, 2019). The main advantages of the particular research
approach can be stated to be that, it is based on scientific data and factual information which
makes the research more authentic. However, another disadvantage of the research philosophy
can be stated to be the fact that in certain areas of research, the right kind of data which is
required for the purpose of the study is not always available.
Justification of the research philosophy
The particular research philosophy of the positivism will be chosen for the particular
paper is because, it will assist in finding out the reason why the Corporate Social Responsibility
practices will impact the customer retention and support this with the help of a data.

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Research Approach
The research approach which will be chosen for the purpose of the study can be stated to
be the deductive research approach. In this kind of a research approach, the study usually begins
with a hypothesis and ends with the general emphases based on causality (Fletcher, 2017). For
this reason, the study will be largely inclined towards the quantitative approach. Hence, in this,
the researcher will be actualizing as well interpreting the data and then the hypothesis will be
worked upon (Kumar, 2019). Along with this, various models as well as frameworks shall be
studied and analyzed to understand the observations and these shall be presented in the end in the
form of a discussion. The primary advantage of this is that it makes use of a hypothesis which is
then explained with the help of a discussion. However, the main disadvantage of the approach is
that it does not take into consideration the qualitative approach.
Justification of the chosen research approach
The primary reason why the deductive research approach will be chosen is because, the
primary analysis will be conducted and this approach will help in deducing the factors and also
test the impact of the Corporate Social Responsibility activities on the customer retention as
present in the organization at large.
Research design
According to Quinlan, Babin Carr and Griffin (2019), it is important for the research
paper to have a well-defined design which shall assist in finding out the hypothesis result and
also help in testing the different assumptions which will be made for the paper. The research
design which will be used for the purpose of the particular dissertation can be stated to be rather
descriptive in nature (Silverman, 2016). The research design will assist in identifying the impact

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of the Corporate Social Responsibility practices on the employee retention at the Hilton Group of
Hotels. The main advantage of the particular research design is that, it helps in undertaking
deeper analysis of the research topic whereas a primary disadvantage is that, it ignores the
practical assumptions.
Justification for the chosen research design
Hence, the descriptive research design will assist in understanding and identifying the
relationship between the corporate social responsibility practices which are undertaken by the
Hilton Group of Hotels in Australia and the customer retention. As this research design will be
explanatory in nature and a cause and effect relationship will be identified between the two
variables.
Data collection
The data collection forms an essential part of the study. For the purpose of the paper, the
primary data collection method shall be made use of. The reason why the primary data collection
method is understood to be an approach which will be suitable for this kind of a research can be
because, the sampling method will be chosen for the purpose of the analysis and using the
sample, the research will be gaining information on the various reasons why the different
Corporate Social Responsibility practices attract the different customers as present (Quinlan,
Babin Carr & Griffin, 2019). The main disadvantage of the primary method of data collection is
that it may succumb to the biasness of the researcher as present and may not turn out to be
authentic in nature. However, in line of this, it can be largely understood that although it may not
be authentic, it does focus on the scope of a new research domain. Hence, the particular method
will be used.

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Sampling and survey strategy
For the purpose of the given research paper, the sampling method which will be made use
of can be defined as the Simple Random Probability Sampling method. In this kind of a
probability sampling method, the sample is chosen on a simple basis which provides the largest
convenience to the researcher. This is popularly known as the subset of individuals which are
generally chosen from a larger set (Taylor, Bogdan & DeVault, 2015). Each of the participants
are chosen randomly and by chance in a manner such that each of the different individuals have
the same probability for being chosen. The main advantage of the particular method is that, the
different participants are easily available and the main disadvantage of the method is that the
right audience may not be chosen for the purpose of the study.
Survey Strategy
The sampling of the given research paper will be carried out using the Simple Random
Probability Method with the help of which a sample size of 100 respondents shall be chosen. The
aim will be to collect data which shall be unbiased in nature. The main respondents can be stated
to be those customers who are regular at the Hilton Group of Hotels. These respondents will be
asked a wide variety of questions with respect to the different corporate social responsibility
practices which are undertaken by the hotel and why the customers are choosing the restaurant.
Through this procedure, the different factors influencing the different customers to stay within
the firm will be discussed and analyzed accordingly. The medium which shall be made use of in
order to collect the responses can be stated to be the Google form and in order to make the
quantitative analysis, the Likert Method Scale shall be made use of. There will exist a total of 20
questions in the survey and the answers will be set in the format of the Likert Scale method. The
survey will be divided into different topics and each of the topics will be divided accordingly so

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as to ensure that, all the research objectives are achieved accordingly. This will then be followed
by the representation of the information in the form of graphs, charts and other representation
methods. This shall go a long way in bringing about consistency in the paper and helps to draw
conclusion about the research question.
Data analysis
The data analysis method which will be made use of in the particular research paper can
be stated to be the quantitative research analysis method. This means when the data will be
collected, it will be analyzed with the help of the statistical analysis like tools of correlation,
regression and related tools. Based on this, further recommendations will be provided for the
organization. The medium which will be made use of will be the Microsoft excel and it will also
be presented graphically to portray the responses in the right manner and also to ensure that an
overall beneficial scenario can be selected for the organization at large.
Reliability and Validity
The different data responses which will be collected from the customers will be quite
respondent in nature. As stated previously the data will be collected from 100 respondents and as
these respondents will be collected on a random basis, and hence, the data can be stated to be
highly authentic. Moreover, the respondents will be explained the purpose of the research and are
therefore expected to be given reliable answers.
Ethical consideration
The research will be based on the strict ethical guidelines and will see that the privacy
and personal rights of the different participants are given utmost importance. Moreover, the
information obtained will simply be utilized for the meeting the research objectives and hence,

27RESEARCH PAPER
the environment chosen for the survey shall also be peaceful and calm whereby the consent of
the respondents will be treated equally in terms of gender, class, income or related qualifications.
5. PLAN OF WORK & TIME SCHEDULE
In order to ensure that the dissertation and the related outcome is able to come pout
effectively, it becomes considerably important for the research to plan accordingly. This means
that, planning forms an essential aspect of the research paper and in line of this, the following
plans have been formed. The plan is divided into various parts and each of the parts have been
divided into a certain timescale. Through this, the researcher will benefit in the following
manner:
 The researcher will be successfully able to keep a track of the different activities which
he is required to undertake. In addition to this, he will also be able to track the time frame
required for each step.
 In addition to this, the researcher will also be able to ensure that they do not miss out on
any step. Once this is ensured, the researcher will be successfully able to attain their
overall target and complete their research on time.
 Forming a planning chart and a timeline ensures that, all the necessary steps are covered
in a dissertation and that adjustments with respect to the steps can be made as per the
convenience of the author of the paper.
Activity Months
M
May
M
June
M
Jul
y
M
August
M
Septembe
r
M
October
M
Novem
ber
Finalizing the topic 

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Collecting data from secondary sources 
Forming a layout of the research work 
Conducting Literature review 
Corporate social responsibility 
Customer retention 
Theoretical Framework 
Critical Analysis 
Forming the research plan 
Selecting appropriate research
methodologies
 
Research philosophy 
Research Approach 
Research Design 
Data collection 
Sampling 
Survey strategy formulation and
application

Collecting data from other sources 
Analysis of collected data sets 
Interpretation of collected data sets 
Concluding the Study 
Designing a rough draft  
Submitting the Final Work 

29RESEARCH PAPER
Hence, from the given section it can be rightfully understood that, the given plan has
been formed for a period of six months. The table represents a guideline for the six months and
the different steps and components of the plan have been laid down and divided into the different
time scales. In addition to this, adequate time frame has been kept for each activity which will
help in ensuring success in the long run and achievement of the overall objectives of the research
which has been outlined in the given section.
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