A Study of Corporate Social Responsibility's Impact on Business

This report examines the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on the business activities, brand image, and performance of Tesco. It begins with an introduction outlining the importance of CSR in today's market and its effects on attracting customers, enhancing sales, and improving financial performance. The research questions focus on the impacts of CSR, its effects on brand image and business activities, and its influence on internal and external stakeholders. The aim is to analyze how CSR impacts these areas, specifically within the retail sector. The objectives include evaluating the significance of CSR activities, analyzing the relationship between organizational responsibilities, responsible leadership, and CSR, and assessing the impact of CSR on brand image, performance, and business activities. The potential impacts of the dissertation include increased awareness of CSR among retail organizations and insights into how CSR policies differ. The theoretical framework explores the effects of CSR on brand image, performance, and business activities, the relationship between organizational responsibilities, responsible leadership, and CSR, and the ways in which CSR impacts internal and external stakeholders, supported by references to existing literature.

RESEARCH METHOD

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Working title....................................................................................................................................1
What is the dissertation about and why is it important?..................................................................1
Research Question, Aim and Objectives.........................................................................................2
What are the potential impacts of the dissertation?.........................................................................3
What is the theoretical framework for the dissertation? Or Literature review................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

Working title
The main working title of this research proposal is ‘A study to analyse ways in which
Corporate social responsibility impact business activities, brand image and performance of an
organization. A case study of Tesco Organization.’ This title will clearly help readers to
understand what this dissertation is about and what theories and context this dissertation will
capture.
What is the dissertation about and why is it important?
This topic is about importance of corporate social responsibility for organizations and
ways in which it can impact overall business activities a brand image of an organization Olthuis
and van den Oever, (2020). Today corporate social responsibility has become one of the most
important factors which is required to be focused upon by organization because it can not only
impact overall brand image of organizations but it can also impact their overall performance and
business activities drastically. Due to this, today it has become extremely important for
organizations to focus upon being committed towards their corporate social responsibility. This
topic is important because focusing upon corporate social responsibility can directly help
organizations to sustain within competitive market in which they operate (Ramesh and et. al.,
2019). This dissertation will be focusing upon analysis of corporate social responsibility of Tesco
organization in order to identify and analyse ways in which it can impact their organization in
both positive and negative manner. This topic will further help readers in understanding ways in
which focusing upon fulfilling organizational CSR responsibility can help a company to attract a
greater number of customers, enhance sales of their products and services and can further
influence their market and financial performance (Lee and Lee, 2018). This topic is important to
be discussed and researched because many companies do not focus upon doing business ethically
and neglect negative impact of their business upon environment and upon society. Due to this,
their brand image in front of their customers get impacted because nowadays people are
becoming more and more aware of their surroundings and prefer companies that operate or do
business ethically and sustainably so that their negative impact upon environment and society
can be reduced (Srivastava, 2019). As a result, it becomes important for organizations to focus
upon CSR so that loyalty and satisfaction level of customers is not impacted and their
performance can be maintained.
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In retail industry it is extremely important for organizations to maintain positive brand
image in front of their customers because only on the basis of their marketing and brand image
customers get attracted to products and services offered by organization which can further
impact overall sales and financial performance of company (Bianchi, Bruno and Sarabia-
Sanchez, 2019). If an organization has negative brand image or people known that their products
and service have drastic effect upon environment a society then loyalty of such customers
reduced towards company and they opt for products and services of organizations that
manufacture, produce and sell products and services that are environment friendly. Not only this,
customers also prefer engaging with organizations that focus upon organizations that are
employee and customer oriented and think of benefit of both customers and employees. This
dissertation is also important because today most of the organizations are unaware about
relationship between organization’s stakeholders and corporate social responsibility. In order to
collect evidence or this research primary data collection method will be chosen in which a
questionnaire will be developed and a survey will be conducted and then in order to evaluate
results qualitative data analysis method will be chosen. Other than primary data collection
method, secondary data will also be collected for building a base for the researcher and for
development of potential framework for this project.
Research Question, Aim and Objectives
The main research questions that this dissertation will be answering are: what are the
main impacts of corporate social responsibility that are faced by organization? Does CSR impact
brand image, performance and business activities of an organization or not? Both of these
research questions will help readers in understanding what this dissertation will be focusing upon
in order to be addressed. Other than this, this dissertation will further answer: how CSR impact
internal and external stakeholders of organization?
The main of this dissertation that will be achieved is “To analyse ways in which
Corporate social responsibility impact business activities, brand image and performance of an
organization. A case study of Tesco Organization”. Achievement of this aim will help readers in
understanding importance of corporate social responsibility for retail organizations like Tesco
and what can happen if Tesco does not focus upon CSR and do not focus upon CSR activities.
Other than this aim, this dissertation will also focus upon ways in which organizational
responsibilities and responsible leadership can help organizations like Tesco to enhance their
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CSR level and attract a greater number of customers for enhancement of their overall
performance.
Main objectives that will be achieved from this dissertation are: to evaluate importance of
CSR activities for retail sector organizations. To analyse relationship between organizational
responsibilities, responsible leadership and corporate social responsibility. To analyse impact of
corporate social responsibility upon brand image, performance, and business activities. Other
than this, another objective that will be achieved is ‘to evaluate ways in which CSR impact
internal and external stakeholders of an organization’.
What are the potential impacts of the dissertation?
The main potential impact of this dissertation will be seen upon all retail sector
organizations as this dissertation will help organizations in this sector to understand different
ways in which focusing upon CSR can help organization to achieve success, enhance customer
base and sales, and will further help them in increasing satisfaction level and loyalty of
customers. Completion of this dissertation will help organizations to understand ways in which
focusing upon organizational responsibilities and being responsible leader can help an
organization operate ethically and can further help them in enhancing their CSR level (Kádeková
and et. al., 2020). This dissertation will have a potential impact of reducing lack of awareness
about corporate social responsibility among retail sector organizations because today more than
40 percent organizations are still not aware of their CSR responsibilities and ways in which
adoption of CSR policies and activities can help them in boosting and expanding their business
(Chubchuwong, 2019). This dissertation will further help retail sector organizations to
understand how CSR activities and policies differ from organization to organization. Not only
this, it will further impact current business activities of organization in many different ways
(Rhou and Singal, 2020). This dissertation will potentially impact main business activities of
retail sector organization and will further help them in bringing necessary changes within their
main activities in such a manner that organization can operate ethically, sustainably and legally.
What is the theoretical framework for the dissertation? Or Literature review
Impact of corporate social responsibility upon brand image, performance, and business activities
As per the view of Manzoor and et. al., (2019) corporate social responsibility has drastic
impact upon brand image, performance, and business activities of an organization. CSR helps an
organization to set positive perception of brand which further helps them in attracting a greater
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number of customers (Kim and et. al., 2018). It further helps firms in operating sustainably and
reducing negative impact of product and services upon society and environment which further
help organization in establishing positive image in front of their stakeholders (Lopatta, Jaeschke
and Chen, 2017). It is important for firms to do so because today most of the customers prefer
organization that are environmentally and socially responsible. Lim and Greenwood, (2017)
further explains that in order to fulfil main CSR goals and objectives, an organization need to
bring changes within their current business activities. Like Tesco has focused upon not using
plastic for packaging has brought changes within their business activities (Hetze, 2016).
Relationship between organizational responsibilities, responsible leadership and corporate social
responsibility
According to the view of Singh and Misra, (2021) there is a strong relationship between
organizational responsibilities and responsible leadership as both of them help an organization to
achieve their corporate social responsibility goals and objectives. Every organization has some
responsibilities towards their stakeholders including their employees, customers, government etc.
It is important for organization to fulfil their roles and responsibilities towards their stakeholders
and this can only be done with the help of responsible leadership (Lane and Devin, 2018).
Responsible leadership help an organization to operate in a transparent manner in legal and
ethical manner. If a firm wants to achieve their corporate social responsibility goals and
objectives then they need to focus upon fulfilling their main organizational responsibilities with
the help of responsible leadership (Phiri, Mantzari and Gleadle, 2019).
Ways in which CSR impact internal and external stakeholders of an organization
As per the view of Petrenko and et. al., (2016) author further explains that, CSR helps an
organization in explaining responsibility of firm towards all of their stakeholders. Corporate
social responsibility does impact internal and external stakeholders because it helps a firm in
fulfilling their responsibility towards their stakeholders as per their needs and requirements. Like
developing products that emit less carbon dioxide helps external stakeholder like government in
achieving their main objective of reducing carbon foot print (Perez and del Bosque, 2016). Other
than this, developing health and social care policies further help employees to maintain their
overall mental and physical health. This relationship clearly helps in understanding that CSR
does impact all stakeholders of an organization.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bianchi, E., Bruno, J.M. and Sarabia-Sanchez, F.J., 2019. The impact of perceived CSR on
corporate reputation and purchase intention. European Journal of Management and
Business Economics.
Chubchuwong, M., 2019. The impact of CSR satisfaction on destination loyalty: A study of
MICE travelers in Thailand. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research. 24(2). pp.168-
179.
Hetze, K., 2016. Effects on the (CSR) reputation: CSR reporting discussed in the light of
signalling and stakeholder perception theories. Corporate reputation review. 19(3).
pp.281-296.
Kádeková, Z., and et. al., 2020. CSR Activities and their impact on brand value in food
enterprises in Slovakia based on foreign participation. Sustainability. 12(12). p.4856.
Kim, J., and et. al., 2018. How CSR impact meaning of work and dysfunctional customer
behavior. Journal of Service Theory and Practice.
Lane, A.B. and Devin, B., 2018. Operationalizing stakeholder engagement in CSR: A process
approach. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management. 25(3).
pp.267-280.
Lee, J. and Lee, Y., 2018. Effects of multi-brand company’s CSR activities on purchase intention
through a mediating role of corporate image and brand image. Journal of Fashion
Marketing and Management: An International Journal.
Lim, J.S. and Greenwood, C.A., 2017. Communicating corporate social responsibility (CSR):
Stakeholder responsiveness and engagement strategy to achieve CSR goals. Public
Relations Review. 43(4). pp.768-776.
Lopatta, K., Jaeschke, R. and Chen, C., 2017. Stakeholder engagement and corporate social
responsibility (CSR) performance: International evidence. Corporate Social
Responsibility and Environmental Management. 24(3). pp.199-209.
Manzoor, F., and et. al., 2019. The impact of transformational leadership on job performance and
CSR as mediator in SMEs. Sustainability. 11(2). p.436.
Olthuis, B.R. and van den Oever, K.F., 2020. The board of directors and CSR: How does
ideological diversity on the board impact CSR?. Journal of Cleaner Production. 251.
p.119532.
Perez, A. and del Bosque, I.R., 2016. The stakeholder management theory of CSR. International
Journal of Bank Marketing.
Petrenko, O.V., and et. al., 2016. Corporate social responsibility or CEO narcissism? CSR
motivations and organizational performance. Strategic Management Journal. 37(2).
pp.262-279.
Phiri, O., Mantzari, E. and Gleadle, P., 2019. Stakeholder interactions and corporate social
responsibility (CSR) practices. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal.
Ramesh, K., and et. al., 2019. Consumer's response to CSR activities: Mediating role of brand
image and brand attitude. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental
Management. 26(2). pp.377-387.
Rhou, Y. and Singal, M., 2020. A review of the business case for CSR in the hospitality
industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 84. p.102330.
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Singh, K. and Misra, M., 2021. Linking Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and
Organizational Performance: the moderating effect of corporate reputation. European
Research on Management and Business Economics.s 27(1). p.100139.
Srivastava, G., 2019. Impact of CSR on company’s reputation and brand image. Global Journal
of Enterprise Information System. 11(1). pp.8-13.
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