CSR Impact Analysis: Corinthia Hotel, London - Business Project

This project investigates the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) for Corinthia Hotel in London, focusing on its impact on sustainability and competitive advantage. The project begins by defining aims and objectives, emphasizing the role of CSR in achieving business goals. A detailed project management plan is developed, including cost, scope, time, and quality considerations, along with a Gantt chart for task scheduling. The research employs both qualitative and quantitative methods, including surveys administered to Corinthia Hotel employees. The research design includes inductive approach, exploratory design, and interpretivism philosophy. Data collection methods include both primary (employee surveys) and secondary sources (literature review). The project uses various tools and techniques for data analysis, including measures of central tendency and thematic analysis. Ethical considerations, such as data protection and informed consent, are also addressed. The findings from the employee surveys indicate that a majority of employees believe that the company is paying attention to CSR. The project provides a comprehensive analysis of CSR, including project management, data collection, and analysis, offering valuable insights into the importance of CSR for business success.

MANAGING SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PROJECT
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TITLE: CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ITS IMPORTANCE FOR SUSTAINABILITY
AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
TASK 1
P1 Devise project aim and objectives
The term corporate social responsibility is also referred as corporate citizenship and it
also involves incurring short- term costs that do not provide immediate financial benefit to the
company (Brown, 2013). However, it plays crucial role promoting social and environmental
change. CSR policy functions as a self- regulatory mechanism in which a business monitors and
ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards and national and
international norms (Cheng, Ioannou and Serafeim, 2014). From generalised views, corporate
social responsibility refers to development of several measures that are related to environmental
protection and social responsibilities. Henceforth, considering the same, the present research has
been made on Corinthia hotel which operates the business in London as a small scale hotel
entity. Considering the same, researcher has discussed importance of corporate social
responsibility and how it aids in meeting business aim and objectives.
Aim
The main aim of subsequent research work is to analyse the significance of corporate
social responsibility and how it aids business entities to attain competitive advantage and. In
order to specify the research work, researcher has been emphasizing on Corinthia hotel which
operates in London.
Objectives
 To identify the importance of corporate social responsibility
 To ascertain the ways through which corporate social responsibility of the business can
be attained To analyse the role of corporate social responsibility on business services
Research question
 Why corporate social responsibility is essential for business entities?
 Which methods can be used to meet the corporate social responsibilities of business?
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P2 Produce project management plan that covers aspects of cost, scope, time, quality and many
other thing for the chosen project
Task Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors
Defining research project 94 days Tues
2/27/17
Fri 7/6/17
Planning 24 days Mon
2/27/17
Thu
3/30/17
Selection of the research topic 10 days Mon
2/27/17
Fri 3/10/17
Identifying problem statement 6 days Wed
3/13/17
Sat 3/20/17 3
Identifying timings so as to
allocate the resources
8 days Tue 3/21/17 Thu 3/30/17 4
Implementation of the plan 61 days Fri 3/31/17 Fri 6/23/17
Completing the section of
literature review
16 days Fri 3/31/17 Fri 4/21/17 5
Selecting methods and techniques
under research methodology
section
18 days Sat 4/24/17 Mon
5/17/17
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Calculating the costs 7 days Thu 5/18/17 Fri 5/26/17 8
Data analysis and interpretation 20 days Mon
5/29/17
Fri 6/23/17 9
Evaluating results and findings 11 days Mon
5/29/17
Mon
6/12/17
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Project closer 18 days Tue
6/13/17
Thu 7/6/17
Specifying conclusion and
recommendations
9 days Tue 6/13/17 Fri 6/23/17 11
Final documentation of results 7 days Tues
6/26/17
Mon 7/4/17 13
Submitting the final report 2 days Thu 7/5/17 Fri 7/6/17 14
According to the determined plan, researcher needs to carry out all these activities so that
the major requirements of the scheduled plan could be met. All the stages mentioned in the plan
will be performed according to the required tasks (Korschun, Bhattacharya and Swain, 2014).
The project manager has been preparing specific budget for the same so that accordingly
resources of the business could be utilized in proper manner. The entire plan will be
communicated to all the respective team members so that they can conduct all the activities in
effective manner. All the steps mentioned in the plan will be suitably monitored so that areas of
development can be identified (Vaioleti, 2016).
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Scope: The scope of this research project remains in the quality of information which is
gained. The growing demand of companies to reach sustainability has caused certain changes in
strategies and functioning. Work based orientation is achieved when good quality services are
provided to the customers. This depicts scope of this research project.
Time: Overall time taken for completing and executing this research has to be determined
through the Gantt Chart. When specific time limit is provided then there is less chance of not
achieving set objectives and goals.
Cost: Certain type of investments are required for meeting cost requirements. This
investment can be through personal savings and well planned expenditures.
Quality: The information produced in this research has to have high quality and this is
ensured through use of authentic sources. Furthermore, quality of the research is maintained
through effective time management.
Communication: The team that is conducting the research is quite important when
considering accomplishing of aim and objectives. It is important to set a proper medium through
which effective communication can be developed. Mails, newsletters, group discussions and
meetings help in achieving this aspect.
Risk: The dangers or threats which retain the research from proper completion are known
as risks. The major risk associated with this project is loss of information to an external source.
Furthermore, lack of proper skills and knowledge is another threat which exists currently.
Resources: Certain elements are required for fulfilling respective needs of the research.
These are known as resources. The resources required for this research include employees,
money, resources for information and competent subjects.
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P3 Produce a work breakdown structure and a Gantt chart
As per the objectives which have been defined for this research project, the above time
line is produced. The Gantt Chart helps in gaining insight regarding the day when specific
activities have to be performed.
TASK 2
P4 Carry out research by applying quantitative and qualitative methods which are appropriate in
meeting project aim and objectives
Qualitative analysis is the scientific study of data that can be observed, but cannot be
measured (Leary, 2016). It is also concerned with cataloguing the quality of research what is
studied. However, Qualitative analysis requires proper analysis of the situation in which details
about each and every aspect of the subject matter is analysed on the basis of theoretical aspects.
In this context, survey has been carried out so that researcher can analyse how well Corinthia
hotel is meeting all its corporate roles and responsibilities (Tai and Chuang, 2014). Thus, in the
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below section, Questionnaire has been included which is being given to the employees of
Corinthia hotel.
In order to prepare a research study, it is crucial for the investigator to emphasize on
several tools and methods (Neuman, 2016). This is also essential in terms of meeting research
aim and objectives. Research technique always enhances validity and feasibility of the study and
at the same it is helpful in meeting research aspects. Thus, the methods which are being used in
the present research work are discussed as follows.
Research approach: Research approach plays crucial role in a study and it also aids the
researcher to test the validity of the assumptions which exist in the research work. The categories
of research approach are deductive and inductive and in the present research study, investigator
has selected inductive approach (Mackey and Gass, 2015). The main aim of using this approach
is that it involves the search for pattern from observation and at the same time, it also develops
explanation by considering a series of hypothesis. Furthermore, the approach aims to generate
meanings from the data set collected for the purpose of identifying patterns and relationships to
build a theory.
Research design: It can be described as a general plan which helps in analysing what
needs to be includes to answer the research questions. It is split into two categories such as
exploratory and conclusive and in the present research work, investigator has selected
exploratory design (Taylor, Bogdan and DeVault, 2015). It is being selected as it aims to explore
specific aspects of the research area and it does not aim to provide final and conclusive answers
to research questions. Thus, it also allows the researcher to even change the direction of the study
to a certain extent while carrying out it.
Research philosophy: Research philosophy includes variety of dimensions and it also
aids in carrying out the research work in the best feasible manner (Glesne, 2015). The basic
categories of research philosophy are Interpretivism, Realism, Pragmatism and Positivism and in
the present research work, investigator has selected Interpretivism philosophy. Interpretivism has
been selected because that involves researchers to interpret the elements of the study and it also
integrates human interest into a study. Researcher has used this approach since these studies
usually focus on meaning and it may also employ multiple methods in order to reflect several
aspects of the research issue (Silverman, 2016).
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Data collection: The most important section of research study is data collection where in
researcher emphasizes on diverse sources to grab relevant and accurate data. The categories of
data collection are primary and secondary and in the subsequent study, researcher has selected
both the techniques (Flick, 2015). Under secondary source, books, journals and articles are being
reviewed which helped the researcher is collecting valid and accurate data about the subject
matter. Moreover, in this respect researcher has also focused on primary source under which
employees of Corinthia hotel are being selected so that they can give quality advice to researcher
regarding the subject matter. Thus, it can be said that both the methods are quite useful in terms
of enhancing validity and accuracy of the research work (Smith, 2015).
Data analysis: Data analysis section involves evaluation of data on the basis of specific
analysis technique. There are basically two major techniques through which data can be analysed
such as Quantitative and Qualitative and in the present case, researcher has selected Qualitative
research design (Panneerselvam, 2014). Apart from this, researcher has also evaluated the data
on the basis of charts, pie charts and tables which also helped in making the analysis more
precise and comprehensive.
Ethical consideration: At the time of preparing research work, it is crucial for the
researcher to focus on all the ethical dimensions. This is also essential in terms of amending
value of research work. Under research ethics, investigator is required to protect the information
in the best possible manner. Further, identity of the participants should not be disclosed among
any unauthorized person as that might hamper the suitability of research work (Blumberg,
Cooper and Schindler, 2014). Data is also protected in authorised database so that only
associated person can access it. At the same time, prior engaging the particamts in the research
study, researcher has acquired consent from them in terms of maintaining legal and ethical
aspects.
Population Size: The number of people amongst whom certain individuals will be
selected for the research is determined by the population size. Company has about 200
employees and the subset of this number shall be considered as the population size.
Sample size: The random sampling method has been used for conducting this research.
Amongst the huge population size, 20 employees are considered for the research.
Sampling Method: There are different types of sampling methods which are broadly
categorised under probabilistic and non-probabilistic. In completion of this research,
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probabilistic sampling has been selected and simple random samples are selected. The
employees of the company are considered so that their viewpoints will facilitate primary
research.
TASK 3
P5 Analyse research and data using appropriate tools and techniques for the chosen project
For conducting the primary research on Corinthia Hotel, there are certain specific tools
and techniques applied. These include measures of central tendency i.e. mean, median and mode.
Further, thematic analysis has been used for gaining insight regarding the response of employees.
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Theme 1: Company is paying attention towards Corporate Social Responsibilities
Criteria Number of respondents
Yes (1) 11
No (2) 5
Do not know (3) 4
11
5
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Company's attention towards CSR
Yes No Do not know
From the above analytical data, response from 20 employees was gathered; who were
asked about their agreement, whether the company is paying attention towards Corporate Social
Responsibilities. Amongst these 20, 11 agreed positively that organisation depicts some kind of
concern when corporate social responsibilities are considered. On the other hand, 5 disagreed
from this fact and 4 of them did not know the actual intentions of their company. It depicts that
majority employees of Corinthia Hotel agree that company pays attention towards corporate
social responsibilities.
Column1
Mean 1.35
Standard Error 0.131289
Median 1
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Mode 1
Standard Deviation 0.587143
Sample Variance 0.344737
Kurtosis 1.636428
Skewness 1.521145
Range 2
Minimum 1
Maximum 3
Sum 27
Count 20
Confidence Level(95.0%) 0.274791
As per the data obtained after application of statistical tools, it is realised that majority of
the response is yes when employees were asked about company’s attention towards CSR. This is
depicted from the values of mean being 1.35 and median and mode being 1. Here, 1 indicates
agreement i.e. Yes and 2 is used for the response for No. On the other hand, 3 is used for Do not
know. This implies that Corinthia Hotel is quite serious when it comes to corporate social
responsibility.
Theme 2: According to you, the major aspect of corporate social responsibility is?
Criteria Number of respondents
Stakeholder involvement 7
Concern on environment 8
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Focus on legal and ethical dimensions 3
All the above 2
7
8
3
2
Major aspect of CSR
Stakeholder involvement Concern on environment
Focus on legal and ethical dimensions All of the above
The above interpreted data depicts that out of 20 employees, 7 consider that stakeholder
involvement is an important aspect of corporate social responsibility. On the other hand, 8 people
agreed that CSR is more related to environmental concerns and 3 people stated that legal and
ethical dimensions form the major aspects of CSR. But 2 of 20 employees agreed with all the
provided facts.
Theme 3: Corporate Social Responsibility aids in providing competitive advantage to the
company
Criteria Number of respondents
Yes (1) 15
No (2) 4
Do not know (3) 1
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