CSR Challenges and Business Objectives: M&S Case Study

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) with a specific focus on Marks and Spencer (M&S). The introduction defines CSR as a regulatory compliance mechanism and highlights the essay's aim to explore CSR's role in achieving M&S's business objectives. The essay delves into the challenges of CSR, including stakeholder resistance due to financial resource allocation and time investment, difficulties in measuring CSR performance, and issues of transparency. It then examines how CSR contributes to business goals, such as improving brand loyalty, attracting media attention, reducing regulatory burdens, lowering employee turnover, encouraging employee development, and increasing customer engagement. The conclusion summarizes the advantages of CSR, including enhanced brand presence, awareness, and loyalty, while also emphasizing its impact on company profitability and employee retention. The essay is supported by references to relevant academic sources.

Personal and Professional
Development

Table of Content
 Introduction
 Challenges of Corporate Social Responsibility
 Corporate Social Responsibility role in achieving Business objectives
 Conclusion
 References

INTRODUCTION
 Corporate social responsibility is a regulatory compliance over
corporate organizations that involve conducting operations to
initiate any suitable social cause.
 This report is based on the case study of Marks and Spencer (M&S)
in respect to operating corporate social responsibility (CSR)
functions.
 Henceforth, this report will project about the role of CSR functions
in achieving overall business objectives of M&S.

Challenges of Corporate Social
Responsibility
 Stakeholder Resistance
 CSR is a social cause operate by corporate organisations.
 Company management in M&S face resistance from its stakeholders like
shareholders and investors for operating CSR functions as it requires outflow of
company's financial resources.
 CSR operations also seek time to conduct operations.
 As CSR operations require investment of time and money the management face
resistance from its shareholders and investors for operating CSR functions.
 Measurement of CSR performance
 Among all challenges associated with conducting CSR operations to measure
the effect of company's CSR operations is also a major challenge company face.

Cont..
 There is not effective measures are available to monitor the CSR activities and
its implications over the development of the society.
Lack of Transparency
 Lack of transparency is also an issue company face in operating CSR functions.
 Company management in M&S also not follow a suitable criterion to monitor
CSR operations.
 Stakeholders like shareholders and investors also witness the corruption in the
organisation on the name of CSR functions.
 To maintain a transparent CSR operation is a huge challenge that also causes to
resistance from company's shareholders and investors.

Corporate Social Responsibility role in
achieving Business objectives
 Improve Brand Loyalty
 CSR is a legislative requirement of the corporate organisations but it
drives the corporate houses towards social development causes like
plantation, water harvesting and other associated social responsibilities.
 For an effective implementation of CSR operations company management
also seek support from general people that can be a part of initiatives to
make it more impactful.
 As CSR drives the company management to engage with general people
which also improves the trust and loyalty of people in the brand.
 Management of M&S conducts CSR operations every year and company
management also try to focus over engaging with maximum potential
customer's by involving them in CSR operations

Cont..
 Attract media attraction
 Successful implementation of CSR operations of the company also gain media attention.
 The aim of CSR Legislation is to protect the social reforms and resources as the corporate
organisations utilize the social resources in order to achieve over all business objectives.
 Effective implementation of CSR functions drives the company management to engage with
an impactful social change in the betterment of the society.
 Reduce regulatory burden
 CSR operations also support the company management of M&S to reduce governmental
regulations.
 Management of M&S is efficiently engaged with CSR activities of the company that has also
caused to social changes in the society like waste management and other associated reforms.
 Impactful contributions of M&S under CSR operations also enabled the company
management to address governmental supports like easy accessibility of licence and other
benefits.

Cont..
 Reduces Employee turnover
 Company's involvement in CSR operations drives the company management to address better
employee turnover rate.
 Effective CSR operations also denoted the fact that company sustain an effective corporate culture.
 Applications of CSR operations also denotes about the ethical values associated with the corporate
organisation.
 All human resources wish to be a part of such organisations who sustain good ethical values and
also an effective work culture.
 Encourages employee development
 CSR operations involve multiple activities such as social interactions with people and society,
times and work management and other associated features that contribute in overall employee and
personality development.
 Company management also get to teach new skills to its employees that can guides the employees

Cont..
 Increase customer engagement
 Productive CSR operations of the M&S like waste management has
enabled the company management to achieve attention of target customers
of the company in upcoming projects and activities of the company.
 CSR also enable company management to have a regular interaction with
company's target customer's by involving general people in company's CSR
activities that drives the company management to convey and project
company's products to its target customers.
 Marketing perspectives involve in CSR operations enable the company
management of M&S to take competitive advantages in the retail market.
 Successful activities conducted the social responsibilities improves the
brand presence of company across the world that also drives the company
management to engage with potential retail customer across the world.

CONCLUSION
 This report has concluded about various advantages of
corporate social responsibility like improved brand
presence, brand awareness, brand loyalty and other
associated advantages company management entertain out
of CSR operations.
 Report has also specified abut the impact of CSR operations
over increasing company's profitability in the target market.
 CSR operations also guides the company management to
reduce its employee turnover as well.

REFERENCES
 Cramer, J., 2017. Corporate Social Responsibility and Globalisation:
an action plan for business. Routledge.
 Liao, L., Lin, T.P. and Zhang, Y., 2018. Corporate board and corporate
social responsibility assurance: Evidence from China. Journal of
Business Ethics.150(1). pp.211-225.
 Moon, J. and Knudsen, J.S., 2018, July. Corporate social responsibility
and government. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol.
2018, No. 1, p. 12777). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of
Management.
 Rodriguez-Fernandez, M., 2016. Social responsibility and financial
performance: The role of good corporate governance. BRQ Business
Research Quarterly.19(2). pp.137-151.