Evaluating CSR Activities: Four Seasons Hotel Case Study Report

This report examines the implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities within the Four Seasons Hotel, focusing on how these initiatives contribute to sustainable business objectives. The report begins with an introduction to CSR, emphasizing its importance in modern business practices. Task 1 outlines the project's aims and objectives, including a discussion of the project management plan, work breakdown structure, and Gantt chart used to manage the project's timeline and resources. Task 2 details the research methodology, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methods to gather data. The report also includes a questionnaire used to collect data. Task 3 covers the data analysis using suitable tools and techniques, followed by recommendations based on the research findings. The report concludes with a reflective report summarizing the key insights and findings. The case study provides an analysis of how the Four Seasons Hotel utilizes CSR activities to enhance its brand image, attract customers, and achieve sustainable growth. The report is a valuable resource for students studying business development and corporate social responsibility.

MANAGING
SUCCESSFUL
BUSINESS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1) Aims and objectives of project.............................................................................................1
P2) An effective project management plan ................................................................................3
.........................................................................................................................................................4
P3Work breakdown structure and Gantt chart to provide time frame........................................1
TASK 2 ...........................................................................................................................................2
P4) Small scale research by adopting qualitative and quantitate method ..................................2
TASK 3 ...........................................................................................................................................4
P5) Data analysis with the use of suitable tools and techniques.................................................4
P6 Appropriate recommendations as per the research..............................................................10
P7 Reflective Report.................................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFRENCES ................................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Corporate social responsibility is the most essential element of an organisation or society.
It can be described as the important business approach that helps in establishing more profit and
growth for firm or any business industry. CSR is the important aspect for an organisation which
can be considered as the obligation towards firm or society that needs to be fulfil in most
effective manner (Alhawari and et. al., 2012). It is required for an organisation to adopt most
significant approaches in order to resolve the issues and problems that are arises at the work
place or society. In today's scenario every organisation is focused on implementing most
effective CSR activities in their firm, because these are helpful in generating sustainable
objective or competitive advantage. Government also provide support to the organisation who
are adopting CSR activities in their firm through formulating various rules and regulation. This
report contents the study about Four Season Hotel which is placed at Hamilton place, Park Lane
London. It is one of the famous 5* hotel which is famous for its high quality and luxury services.
In this report organisation going to set some targets and goals which are discussed in detail. An
effective management plan for organisation has to be created for dividing the task and activities
in order to effectively completion of work on desired period of time.
TASK 1
P1) Aims and objectives of project
The basic aim of every business organisation is to provide more beneficial services and
products to their customers in order to satisfy their needs and wants. Most of the Hotel industries
are concern towards the demand of their potential buyers in respect of fulfilling them in given
period of time. For each organisation who are dealing at very large scale it is required to
implement corporate social responsibility in their firm to establish good and effective image in
the mind of customers. The department of management in every business firm is more concern
about such kind of activities because through this it is very much easy to attract large number of
customers towards their offered goods and services. Management have to adopt various tools and
techniques to sustain CSR activities at the work place for long time. It is not possible for a firm
to implement big changes in society through performing CSR activities but they can help the
society in various small ways and try to resolve the issues and problems which may affect the
humans life.
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Topic: “Implementing CSR activities within business organisation to meet sustainable
objectives.”
Background of the project:
Every organisation is focused on sustainability because in today's business world it is
essential for each firm or organisation. Sustainability can be considered as the process that helps
in reducing all negative aspects form the business and implement more positive things and
activities. The department of management is responsible for the all activities which are held in
business firm, and they are more focused towards attaining cited goals and objectives. Every
large business enterprise implement CSR activities at regular basis in respect of reaching at
sustainable objectives and competitive advantages to provide better competition to their
competitors (Fleming and Koppelman, 2016). Four season hotel is the most popular hotel
industry across the globe, which provide most luxuries goods and services to their potential
customers in order to gain profit. Hotel industry adopt various tools and techniques which help in
gaining higher position at market place. Four season hotel perform various CSR activities for the
purpose of social welfare and economic growth.
Aim: To implement CSR activities in firm in order to attain sustainable objectives and growth.
A case study on Four Season Hotel in UK.
Objectives:
 To identify the use of CSR in an organisation.
 To measure the impact of CSR activities in achieving sustainable objectives.
 To evaluate the effectiveness of CSR activities in gaining profit. To analysing various methods and tools that are adopted by Hotel industry for attracting
more customers.
Research question
 What are the major uses of CSR activities in an organisation?
 What are the impact of CSR activities in attaining sustainable growth?
 What are the measures of identifying the effectiveness of CSR activities in attaining
profit and revenue?
 How to evaluate the methods of maintaining CSR activities in business organisation?
2

P2) An effective project management plan
It is required for every business organisation to manage their work for attaining
organisational goals and objectives. For managing organisational activity it is important for firm
to create an effective management plan in order to executing all activities in most effective
manner. It plays most significant role in every business organisation (Gasik, 2011). Four season
hotel is the famous for its high quality goods and services with luxuries treatment. This is highly
reputed luxury hotel which give high quality services to their customers in very low price. The
cited hotel industry adopt various CSR activities in order to achieving organisational goals and
objectives. For performing CSR activities in an organisation it is required for firm to create a
most suitable management plan in which all activities are fit in most significant manner. Some
basic elements are their which are helpful in creating effective time management plan, these are
described as under:
Cost: It is a basic and important aspect of every business firm. The amount which is spend in the
project are described as cost. Four season hotel perform CSR activity at regular basis and for this
t is required for firm to create an effective management plan.
Scope: This can be considered as opportunities for firm in which they have to deal with some
thing or some situation. Four season hotel adopt different CSR activities which helps in
generating long time benefits for firm.
Time: This is most essential element in ever business project because project need some
specified time in which they have to complete the task and activity. Four season hotel has to keep
the record of days in which it is required for firm to all the work which are related with the cited
project has to be accomplished.
Quality: Most of the public are attract towards the feature of quality, so it is necessary for firm to
maintain their quality in order to satisfy the needs of customers. Four season hotel perform CSR
activities which helps in rendering benefits to organisation or society.
Risk: In order to managing the risk, issues and conflicts organisation have to prepare
management plan (Hanisch and Wald, 2011). This helps in taking effective decision for
organisational purpose. Four season hotel mainly focused on identifying issues from the firm
and make potential affords to resolve them.
3

4

P3Work breakdown structure and Gantt chart to provide time frame
There are different procedures that can be followed by four season hotels as to ensure that
all activities are properly managed and resources are allocated in a effective manner. The whole
breaking down process is known as work break down structure which allows companies in
dividing their work profiles and ensure that all task are completed in a set period of time. The
project planning process is dependent on the type of work break down structure that will be used
by organisation (Kerzner, 2013). It is used as a method of turning complex projects and process
into simpler ones. It is very helpful in designing task and allocating resources to them in a
effective manner. The work break down structure is used for simplifying the project and defining
its scope as to state about pros and cons of it on the company and its process. It also assist in
calculating cost, time and scope of project which allows managers in setting standards for the
job. It is a hierarchy structure that is used for precisely dividing up all the activities in a effective
manner. This enables Four Seasons hotel in serving consumers with a higher quality services and
goods. It improve the quality as all the efforts are directed towards the end goal. It is the
responsibility of project manager to prepare a work break down structure and ensure that all
activities are divided into specified manner. The manager has to ensure that work is allotted to all
employees as per their skills and abilities. They are also responsible for providing training to the
employees as per requirement and variances that are identified.
GHANTT chart: It is a sheet that states about the execution of various task that requires
appropriate time frame with a well designed budget. All the elements has to be as per the
significance and pattern. This process states about the time scale as well as the work breakdown
structure. This is another tool which can be used for executing all the task in a well defined
manner. Four Seasons Hotel can use this tool that will enhance their CSR actions as it will be aid
in allocating budgets as per task. The main objective is to divide all the task as per requirements

and allocate resources in a effective manner. The efficiency level of each and every activity
depends on the different aspects that is prevalent. The managers and employees are also able to
effectively sort out issues as they have a well established plan.
2

For every single project it is essential to divide all activities so that they can be stated to
employees in a well defined manner as well as achieve goals and objectives. The management of
company has top use both of them in order to attain maximum output levels and ensure that all
task are completed.
TASK 2
P4) Small scale research by adopting qualitative and quantitate method
The analysis of data is very much important for firm in order to reach at higher position.
Qualitative and quantitate methods are used in order to analysing data and information which are
essential for firm. These two elements are considered as the most important tools for gathering
appropriate data for making research more effective in nature. For gathering qualitative data
books, journals, newspapers and magazines has been used because through which it is easy for
researcher to taking the view point of various authors (Lin and Chen, 2012). Corporate social
responsibility are widely used in resolving problems which may affect the condition of firm or
society. The cited firm use various methods for measuring CSR activities are represented as
below:
Qualitative method: This is widely applied method of data collection which are related with
cited project and work. In this data has to be gathered from various resources on the basis of
quality measures. This is most appropriate tools for identifying the out put and result through
applying most suitable tools and techniques.
Quantitative method: This method is applied at the time of gathering quantitative data for carry
out the research work. In this data has to be gathered on the basis of different quantity of data.
3

This is used by researcher in order to reaching at significant answer and result. In this data has to
be measured on the basis of charts and graphs.
In the present project data has to be gathered with the help of fulfilling the questionnaire. The
researcher select 50 people for fulfilling the questionnaire.
QUESTIONNAIRE
Name of the person:
Email:
Gender:
Age:
Contact number:
Q1) Is CSR activities are helpful in developing performance of organisation?
Yes
No
Q2) Is four Season Hotel carry out CSR activities at regular basis?
Agree
Disagree
Q3) Is CSR activities are helpful in acquiring sustainable profit?
Yes
No
Q4) Which is the most appropriate CSR activity for hotel industry?
Tree plantation
Child labour
Women empowerment
safety and security
Q5) In which time gab it is required for firm to perform CSR activities?
Once in a year
In every month
In every six month
Q6) Is CSR activities are helpful in resolving issue related with society?
Yes
No
4

Q7) As per your view point government helps in implementation of CSR activities in business
firm?
Partially Agree
Partially Disagree
Q8) Give some suggestions on the basis of your own point of view about CSR activities?
TASK 3
P5) Data analysis with the use of suitable tools and techniques.
This is most essential process for every business project because it helps to measuring
data and information which are gathered for carry out the project in a right direction. Four season
hotel use various tools and techniques to analyse the data.
Research design: It is most important part of any searches, it can be categorised in to three
different types such as descriptive, experimental and exploratory , which are considered by the
researcher according to their project. In the present research descriptive research design has to be
taken in order to reach at final result.
Research philosophy: It can be considered as the up-gradation of idea and knowledge. It is also
divided into two parts such as interpretivism and positivism. In the present research
Interpretivism philosophy has to be taken because it is most appropriate for reaching at final
result.
Data collection: It is essential for collecting data and information. In this data has to be gathered
on the basis of two different tools and techniques. Four season hotel adopt primary source for
collecting data in order to work on the research project.
Data analysis: It is required for every business firm to analyse the gathered data and information
just for reaching at final result. Four season hotel have to interpret their result for evaluating the
actual requirements.
Limitations: It is necessary for researcher to keep an eye on identified limitations and issues, one
of the major issue of this project is time. For effectively completion of project a particular time is
required.
5

Data Analysis:
Theme 1: CSR activities are helpful in developing performance of organisation.
Interpretation: From the above graph it can be analysed that CSR activities are useful in
improving performances of firms according to the opinion of customers and only 4 persons were
against this thought these are not helpful in improving there overall performances.
6
Yes No
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50 46
4
Column B

Theme 2: Four Season Hotel carry out CSR activities at regular basis.
Interpretation: From the above graph it is analysed that out of 60 respondents 48 were in favour
that hotel conduct CSR activities on regular basis and only 2 of them were disagree with this
fact.
7
Agree Disagree
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
48
2
Column B

Theme 3: CSR activities are helpful in acquiring sustainable profit.
Interpretation: As stated in the graph, more than 43 respondents agreed that CSR activities aids
organisation in gaining substitutable profits. Whereas only 7 respondents disagreed that these
programmes have any type of impact on organisation.
8
Yes No
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
43
7
Column B

Theme 4: Most appropriate CSR activity for Four Season hotel.
Interpretation: There are various methods that can be used by company as to conduct CSR
activities. The bets technique that Four season can use that is women empowerment for which 18
respondents agreed. The second best option was tree plantation, third was safety and security.
9
Tree plantation
Child labour
women empowerment
safety and security
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
12
10
18
10
Column B

Theme 5: Every month it is required to perform CSR activities in firm.
Interpretation: More than 30 respondent agreed that it is important to conduct CSR every month
rest were fine with half yearly or yearly activity.
Theme 6: CSR activities are helpful in resolving issue related with society.
10
once in a year in every month in every six month
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
5
30
15 Column B

Interpretation: 35 respondents agreed that agreed that CSR activities assist society ion sorting
social issues.
11
Yes No
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
35
15
Column B

Theme 7: Government helps in implementation of CSR activities in business firm.
Interpretation: Yes, there are certain programmes which are run by government. 45 respondents
agreed that government subsidise the process or activities which are related to social issues.
P6 Appropriate recommendations as per the research
After conducting research, it is determined that CSR activities have some major impact
on organization and it consumer base. Those organisation which do not conduct any CSR
activity or have lower level in this part, have a bad image in the mind of consumer. Today, it is
very important to ensure that all objectives of company are achieved while they are in alignment
with social issues. Basically Four seasons hotel has to ensure that it is able to solve social causes
in a effective manner while it achieves its own targets and goals. Management of hotel is already
very much focused on this issue as uses right approach at the right problem. The managers have
to make sure that all CSR activities are conducted at par with requirements as it will assist
organisation in gaining competitive advantage over its competitors. It builds a positive image in
mind of individuals who are the actual or potential consumer of the company. There are different
techniques which can be used by Four seasons:
12
Partially agree Partially disagree
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
45
5
Column B

 This is a method which is used by organisation for developing a better and positive image
in the mind of consumers. The best technique that they can use is to donate to the
charitable organisations which are working in the filed of social justice and aid. These are
the non profitable companies which have a sole aim to enhance living of people living in
a neighbour hood.
 The company has to ensure that it is not impacting environment in any manner and it is
only adding to the quality of work as well as product. This will assist in creating a clean
surrounding and aid in gaining competitive advantage.
P7 Reflective Report
From the report, I understood that there are different types of CSR activities which are
conducted by companies in market. They aid in gaining competitive advantage as well as build a
good image in the eyes of consumer. These activities are very useful for society as well as
company as it enables them in achieving their targets in a very effective manner. Most of the
consumers are attracted towards organisation which are directly indulged into the CSR activities.
The time allotted for the research was one of the limitations while there were others like the
number of respondents was also narrow which makes this research limited in scope. The
thematic analysis and graphs assisted in stating about the effectiveness level of research.
CONCLUSION
As stated in the report, there are different methods that can be used by organisation to
conduct CSR activities in a very effective manner. Four Seasons Hotel is one of the leading
hospitality player which is well established in the market and has resources to grow further. It
has to align itself with the social causes so that both parties can grow at optimum rate.
Furthermore, it can be stated that CSR activities enabled cited firm in building a better image in
the mind of consumers and investors.
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