Report on Study Skills and Literature Review on CSR

This report explores the crucial study skills required for success in higher education, including active listening, reading comprehension, note-taking, time management, and stress management. It defines the purpose and importance of literature reviews in academic research, emphasizing their role in synthesizing existing knowledge and identifying research gaps. The main body of the report features a literature review on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), examining its impact on businesses and society. It discusses CSR's benefits, such as improved reputation and stakeholder relations, while also addressing potential drawbacks, like increased costs and shareholder resistance. The review incorporates various perspectives from academic sources, highlighting the complexities and multifaceted nature of CSR in contemporary business practices and its ethical considerations. The report concludes with a synthesis of the key findings and implications for students and professionals.

STUDY SKILLS FOR
HIGHER EDUCATION

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
1.Literature review and its purpose........................................................................................3
Literature review on Corporate Social Responsibility...........................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Study skills are basically those skills which handles the process of organizing and grabbing new
information, grasping data or dealing with assessments. These skills are required by an
individual to perform better, get good grades in school and have wider career opportunities. It is
useful for throughout learning in life. There are four essential type of study skill that an
individual need to possess which includes active listening, reading comprehension, notetaking,
stress management time management. Report will provide the basic description about literature
review and what does it achieve. It will also provide literature review on the topic Corporate
Social Responsibility.
MAIN BODY
1.Literature review and its purpose
A literature review is one of the basic type of review article. It is a scholarly paper, which
possess the knowledge that is current involving findings which are substantive, as well as
theoretical and contributions which are methodological to a particular topic. These are the
sources which are secondary and do not report new or original experimental work. Most often
the review of the literature is associated with literature which is academic oriented, such reviews
are found in academic journals. These journal articles are sometimes linked and related with
publications. Literature reviews is one of the pillars for findings in nearly every academic field.
A review of literature which has narrow scope may be included as part of a peer-reviewed
journal article presenting new research, which can serve to situate the present study within the
body of the relevant literature and to provide context for the reader. In such a case, the review
usually precedes the methodology and results sections of the work.
It helps the researcher in having an idea about the current position of the research on a topic. It
helps the researcher in completing the research on particular topic easily and firmly. The review
of literature also assesses in identifying the experts in related topic or subject. It makes their
research of more high quality. With the support of literature review, the researcher will be also
able to analyse the question on which the future results can be done. This can make the quality of
review more better. A researcher who is interested in pursuing this topic would then do well to
follow up existing studies with a new study, based on previous research, that tries to identify
which styles of music are most beneficial to retention. There are also three essential categories of
literature review which includes simple literature, applied literature and academic literature. The

review of literature helps in identifying the most important question that can be utilized in further
research. It makes the work of all the researcher easy and convenient. Also it supports them in
growing. It also develops the interest of researcher for further study on particular topic or
subject. The review of literature assesses in identifying the gaps and defects in the particular
study.
There is various purpose of the literature review that includes the following:
 It provides readers the easiest way to make their research better on a particular topic. All
the literature review contains high quality articles that makes work better of the reader.
 It helps researchers by providing them a new area and new topic to research on.
 Literature review also ensures that the researchers are not engaged in copying the work
which has already been published.
 It helps researchers in laying emphasis on the key findings.
 Literature review also provides clues or hints to researchers that can help them in doing
future research. It makes their work more easier.
 It also supports researcher in identifying the gaps, defects, errors in the literature.
 It provides consistent analysis of the methodologies and approaches of other researchers.
Literature review on Corporate Social Responsibility
In accordance to Chernev and Blair, (2015) CSR contributes to the sustainable development
towards social, economic and environmental benefits toward the society or to the stakeholders.
This is all about the company playing the responsible part in the society as it operates in the
society so it has a responsibility to giving back to them. Now the companies are not only
responsible to the shareholders but also to stakeholders. CSR is seen as an best practice towards
the society as it strengthens the relations with every stakeholders. They even get the opportunity
to make their goodwill among the stakeholders. It also helps him to generate the positive social
impact .It is also known as corporate conscience or corporate citizenship. Now the CSR is
become the compulsory by law and ethical standards mention by the the regulatory authorities
and environmental law. It alsohas the positive impact on the company as it also helps them to
build the image and can run the business in a long way.
On the other hand Crane, Matten, and Spence, (2019)Even for the larger companies CSR
can be an obstacle , as some critics believe that CSR is incapable or become difficult to pay. As a
company is having the fiduciary duty towards the shareholders as they have invested in our

company or they are the owners of the company and CSR directly opposes them. A manager
who abandon for the profit in favour society for some benefits may expect to lose his job and
replaced by someone whose priority is profit.
As per the view of Crowther, and Seifi, (2018) It is an integral part of good governance,
as it is the best practice by the government. The association of British insurers, who owes 20% or
more than that of the companies listed on London Stock Exchange. Now most of the companies
were talk about the social and environmental issues in their annual reports, as the increasing
value of ethical and green investment needs to make the environment green and need the ethical
business to invest in it. Fund come from the CSR is being used in the eradicating the hunger and
poverty, promotion of education , reducing child mortality, improving maternal
health ,improving in the environment sustainability, promote the nationally recognized sports etc.
IN short this fund is being used for the betterment of the nation.
In the view of Grayson, and Hodges, (2017) Thornton's is the chocolate company in the
UK made the dark, milk and white chocolates. From these creation their mission is to bring
happiness to the faces of their customers. They do the extensive ranges of CSR activities and feel
pride by giving back to the society. One of the moist luxury aircraft company Air Charter
Service provides the private group ,cargo and helicopter charter travel worldwide and they
always believes in the improvement in contribution towards the CSR. One of the important aim
is to make the country Environmentally friendly operations as their aim is to neutral the carbon
points with the selection of chartered services for clients.
On the other side Saeidi, and et.al.,( 2015) It can create shareholder refusal sometimes as
they invest in the company or purchase the shares of the company which is socially responsible,
most of them would do the investment with the expectation to earn more profit ,from this some
companies attain to earn the substantial profit but some fails to do and loose money. CSR
requires high cost especially on the small business as it builds the burden on them.
According to Schrempf-Stirling, Palazzo, and Phillips, (2016) By contributing in the CSR
it builds the reputation, if the company is having negative backlash and they are incurring losses
due to this than this is the great solution to repair their goodwill and can earn the profit by doing
the contribution. In fact it is the duty of every company to give their contribution to the
society ,to the stakeholders. Stakeholder is the wide term it includes all the shareholders,
government,suppliers etc. It is very true that employees are the most valued assets of any

organisation, by giving the contribution to CSR the employees will become more faithful
towards the company and it improves the team work and the morale attitude of employees
towards the company.
Although Unit, (2015), The concept of CSR is spreading through out the area or a group people
which led to innovation, product development, market development and community engagement
strategy. The term means that a corporation must be accountable to every stakeholders that
includes consumers, employees, suppliers and many more. When a CSR policy is adopted by any
corporation, they provide explanation of upholding ethical values, respecting people, community
and environment. Its aim was to bring together and recognize the range of CSR activities and to
contribute towards sustainable development and adopting responsible behaviour that reflect their
core values of the organisation. CSR in UK has raised over 50,000 pounds for charity since 2013
and CSR activities have grown significantly over the last 5 years. They actually have 4 main
strands i.e. environment, people, procurement and community. The charity business in the
community claims a membership of over 850 of the UK's top companies which are committed to
improve their positive impact on society. The positive impact of CSR on any company improves
its profitability and values. CSR also improves the accountability of company with investments
analyst, shareholders and local communities It helps various organizations in increasing their
market share and also builds goodwill for them . The main disadvantage of CSR is that their
costs fall disproportionally on small businesses. Big companies can afford to allocate budget to
CSR reporting but it is not the same with the small companies having employee strength of 10-
100.
In accordance with Wang, and et.al, (2016), To develop system more environment friendly, more
safe and more ethical practices, CSR can provide benefits in terms of talent attraction and
retention, reduction of operation costs, improvement in employee morale, reduction in cost of
production and reduced accidents and claims. There is major drawback for larger companies
also, the cost of CSR can act as obstacle. Some critics think that CSR is useless, the company
management have a lawful duty towards its shareholders and CSR opposes it, as the
responsibility of executives is to maximize profit. If some manager seeks for profit in favour of
some benefits to society can lose job and get replaced by whom profit is priority. Another
advantage is better customer relations a majority of consumers- 77%, according to the survey
done by branding company called Lander Associates in UK think that company should be

socially responsible. Consumers that have a reputation of being a good corporate citizen are
drawn towards this companies. Research at some university in UK shows that the consumers
need to pay 10% higher price for products they consider to be socially responsible. The another
drawback is consumers are wise to greenwashing, the term greenwashing here means to describe
the corporate practices that are appeared to be environmentally responsible without appointing a
change in how a company conducts its business. The another advantage can be recognition if its
exceptionally good because then ethical mind-set consumers will act as your promoter and
marketing people. Another disadvantage is shareholder resistance, there are some investors who
are looking to acquire the share from the firm having those stocks only which have expectations
of turning a profit. For e.g. some companies like Toyota and GE have profited from corporate
social responsibility, those companies who follow this type of policies often prove as likely to
lose money. Another advantage is improved company reputation, to build and improve the
reputation of a business, they should embrace a policy of corporate social responsibility, paired
with genuine action.
On the other hand, Yakovleva, (2017), If company' is not engaged in following the CSR
activities then it can harm the image of the firm. CSR becomes a method which can repair
reputation damage and restore the profitability. In other words, adopting such a policy can work
as part of business essential brand and consumers can explain more loyalty to brands and
showing a commitment to environmental concerns. If organizations are not performing well their
corporate social responsibility, then they might lose the consumer base. It can hamper their brand
image and also the employee turnover can also be increased.
CONCLUSION
From the above study it has been summarised that literature review has assisted researcher
in making the quality of their publication better. It has also allowed them to not to copy the
work. Corporate social responsibility performed in the organizations has assisted them to
gain market share and making goodwill in the market. It has also assisted them in attracting
more consumers which has helped them in increasing the profitability. CSR has helped them
in creating the sustainability.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Chernev, A. and Blair, S., 2015. Doing well by doing good: The benevolent halo of corporate
social responsibility. Journal of Consumer Research.41(6).pp.1412-1425.
Crane, A., Matten, D. and Spence, L. eds., 2019. Corporate social responsibility: Readings and
cases in a global context. Routledge.
Crowther, D. and Seifi, S. eds., 2018. Redefining Corporate Social Responsibility. Emerald
Group Publishing.
Grayson, D. and Hodges, A., 2017. Corporate social opportunity!: Seven steps to make corporate
social responsibility work for your business. Routledge.
Saeidi, S. P. and et.al., 2015. How does corporate social responsibility contribute to firm
financial performance? The mediating role of competitive advantage, reputation, and
customer satisfaction. Journal of business research.68(2). pp.341-350.
Schrempf-Stirling, J., Palazzo, G. and Phillips, R. A., 2016. Historic corporate social
responsibility. Academy of Management Review.41(4). pp.700-719.
Unit, B., 2015. Corporate social responsibility.
Wang, H., and et.al, 2016. Corporate social responsibility: An overview and new research
directions: Thematic issue on corporate social responsibility.
Yakovleva, N., 2017. Corporate social responsibility in the mining industries. Routledge.