Tesco Plc Adoption of Corporation Social Responsibility through Stakeholders Perspective - Essay Example

Proposed Topic: Tesco PLC adoption of Corporation Social Responsibility (CSR) through stakeholders’ perspective [Instructor’s Name] [Date] Table of Contents Background and Aims of Study 3 Context of the study 3 Research Aim 4 Research Objectives 5 Research Question 5 Research Hypothesis 6 Literature Review 6 Theoretical Framework 6 Corporate Social Responsibility 6 Triple Bottom Theory 7 Empirical framework 7 Corporate Social Responsibility and Stakeholders 7 Conceptual Framework 9 10 Research Design 10 Research Approach 10 Research Philosophy 11 Research Strategy 11 Data Collection 11 Research Instrument 12 Sampling 12 Data Analysis 13 Ethical Consideration 13 Limitations 13 Gantt Chart 14 List of References 15 Proposed Topic: Tesco PLC adoption of Corporation Social Responsibility (CSR) through stakeholders’ perspective Background and Aims of Study Context of the study With the passage of time, increasing competition in the global market has persuaded business entities to attain a competitive edge in the market. Corporate Social Responsibility emerged to be important phenomena that have influenced business practices of an organization. In contemporary, society businesses are arguably engaged in non-commercial activities by showing commitment to shape behaviours of the organization. Firms operating in the retail industry are also inclined to incorporate CSR policies in its business practices to engage in sustainable practices. To demonstrate credential towards its stakeholders (society, consumers, and investors), that is concerned about ethical and environmental issues. Ongore & K’Obonoye (2011) defines corporate social responsibility as, ‘the idea of triple bottom line –people, planet and profit which aims to evaluate the social, environmental and financial performance of business enterprise (Ongore & KObonoye, 2011)’. The idea emphasizes that the organizations should not be focused to maximize its profit but also act responsibly towards environment and society. The increasing advancement in the social media has amplified the consumer to raise concerns regarding business practices of an organization. It has increase accountability of the organization toward society, consumers and stakeholder by undertaking ethical and environmental practices in its operations. However, Corporate Social Responsibilities remains to be debatable phenomena with respect to competitiveness, sustainability, and globalization. Until now no particular definition for Corporate Social Responsibility is prose. Some of the researchers claim that CSR is the combination of approach towards social performance, social responsiveness, corporate governance, sustainable development, etc. However, the organization inclined to attain sustainable business practices to improve its positioning in the market for a longer period. Corporate Social responsibility is becoming and important phenomena for the business entities to benefit its stakeholders nu involving in social and environmental activities. Also, it is also argued that the CSR activities allow improving product quality, attaining customer loyalty and service quality. Corporate Social Responsibility associated with the internal production, distribution regulation, employment, and environmental protection/regulation and wages level. A report highlights that the retail sector accounts for one fifth of nonfinancial business enterprises in European Union and generates 7.4 percent value added and employees more than 17.5 million. For the present study, the researcher has selected one of the leading UK based retail company Tesco Plc. The company is recognized among the top leading multinational retail and merchandising stores across the globe. The research is conducted to investigate how Tesco Plc. takes advantages over its competitors and performance measures by incorporating corporate social responsibility practices in its business operation. The study explores the needs for Tesco Plc. to embrace Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable development strategies and policies in its business. Also, the influence of stakeholders on Corporate Social Responsibility policies and decision-making process is determined. Research Aim Corporate Social Responsibility is becoming a dominant aspect of contemporary global society. The present study aims to investigate the role and need for Tesco PLC to incorporate Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability development Sustainable Development Strategies and policies. Therefore, number of CSR activities and Sustainable development strategies in context to Tesco Plc. is assessed. The role of stakeholders in the decisions and policy development at Tesco Plc. is identified. The researcher has undertaken quantitative research approach to carrying out the study. Therefore, empirical review on the corporate social responsibilities and sustainable development practices and strategies at Tesco Plc. are also assessed. To identify prominent aspects of Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainable practices related decisions and policies affects its stakeholders. Therefore, the researcher will assess its different stakeholders at Tesco Plc. Research Objectives The main objective of the study is to identify the role of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development strategies. In addition, the study investigates how the interest of stakeholders influences business decisions of Tesco Plc. to adopt Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable development strategies and policies. Research Question • What is the role of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development practices at Tesco Plc.? • How effectively Tesco Plc.’s Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development practices address its stakeholders? • How stakeholder’s interest influences decisions and policies undertaken at Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development practices of Tesco Plc.? Research Hypothesis Based on the research objectives and questions of the study the following are the research hypothesis of the study: H1 Consumers have a significant impact Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability decisions and policies of Tesco Plc H2 Employees have a significant impact Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability decisions and policies of Tesco Plc H3 Government have a significant impact Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability decisions and policies of Tesco Plc H4 Social and Non-social stakeholders have a significant impact Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability decisions and policies of Tesco Plc Literature Review The section of report will provide a brief discussion about the theoretical, empirical and conceptual framework for the study. Theoretical Framework Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate Social Responsibility is the viewed as a moral and ethical acts and practices of a community. Corporate Social Responsibility is defined as ‘the responsibility of organization with respect to its decisions and activities towards society and environment by adopting ethical and transparent behaviours to take sustainable development taking in account expectation of its stakeholders in accordance to prevailing laws, regulation and international laws and regulation of norms, behaviours and ethics’ (Mallin, 2013). Triple Bottom Theory The triple bottom theory was a corporate social responsibility theory posed by John Elkington in 1997. The idea was proposed in his book Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business. The theory focuses on three pillars of sustainability known as three P’s: people, planet, and profit. The theory is applied to the present study to identify accountability framework of the company by assessing its sustainability development. It allows determining the accountability of firms by measuring its performance and business activities based on social, environmental and financial performance (Baker & Anderson, 2010). Empirical framework Corporate Social Responsibility and Stakeholders Business entities undertake decision to address the needs of its stakeholder. The interest of stakeholder dominantly influences the decisions, policies, and strategies of organization Lee-Davies (2010) conducted a study to determine Corporate Social Responsibility with to the role of stakeholders. The researcher conducted the conceptual review to investigate the relationship between social responsibility and activities undertaken by the organization. The study highlights that the social responsibilities of a business are derived from the public interest towards social and environmental issues (Lee-Davies, 2010). Caroll & Shabana (2010) analysed the relationship between corporate social responsibility and stakeholder approach using case study approach. The researcher made use of different business cases to determine their rational and support to make use of CSR activities. The findings of the study revealed that the business cases are mainly depending on the bottom line financial and prevailing social concerns in the society that are mainly derived by the particular society or community that persuades business to structure Corporate social responsibility strategies and policies (Caroll & Shabana, 2010). Turker (2009) in the study determines different methods to measure corporate social responsibility. The main objective of the study was to identify the responsibility of business with respect to various stakeholders of the organization. The researcher gathered the data from more than 268 business professional working in the different firms in Turkey. The results of the study showed that the four-dimensional structure of Corporate Social responsibility that includes social and non-social stakeholders, employees, customers and government (Turker, 2009). In the similar manner, Moan et al. (2009) analysed the integrative framework of corporate social responsibility design and implementation model using different case study. The researcher made use of case study approach to carrying out the study. The outcomes of the study revealed that the Lewin change model highlighted that the four stages based on span nine steps affected decision undertaken by the organization (Moan, et al., 2009). Johnston & Swaen (2009) investigate the Corporate Social Responsibility, and Sustainability policies and the decision of different firms operating in the United States to identify the impact of stakeholders on the decision and policies. The researcher conducted a survey of 401 firms operating in the United States to determine Corporate Social Responsibility policies. The findings of the study revealed that organization make use of distinctive features that are related to organizational demographics to improve performance measures of firm (Johnston & Swaen, 2009). Torres et al (2012) conducted the study to determine the impact of corporate social responsibility in response to various stakeholders to attain competitive edge in the industry (brand equity and image). The researcher gather theoretical contents for more than 57 recognized global brand from ten different countries across the globe to conduct the study. The findings of the study showed that the decisions related to corporate social responsibility has a positive relationship with its stakeholders and has significantly improves brand equity (Torres, et al., 2012). Harjoto and Jo (2012) analyzed the relationship between corporate governance and corporate social responsibility of the organization. The researcher identified the relationship between the variables of corporate social responsibility and corporate governance applying stakeholder theory and agency theory. The outcomes of the study revealed that the both positively impact overall performance measures of the company. The findings showed positive relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate financial performance. However, the decisions and policies related to corporate social responsibility are influenced by community, environment, diversity and employees to improve financial measures of organization (Harjoto & Jo, 2012) Conceptual Framework The section of the report briefs about conceptual framework for the study. The study aims to investigate the impact of stakeholders on corporate social responsibilities and sustainability strategies and policies at Tesco PLC. The following is the prose conceptual framework for the study Research Design Research Approach The researcher will make use of the mixed research approach to carrying out the study. The mixed research approach is a combination of quantitative and qualitative research approach. Quantitative research approach enables the researcher to investigate the issue in a systematic manner by determining the factors related to the event by using numerical data and statistical methods (Caroll & Shabana, 2010). On the other hand, the qualitative research approach is a broader way to investigate prevailing trends, behaviours, interest and approaches prevailing in a certain organization or group of people. Thus, the use of this approach is an effective way to identify the issue through both perspectives. The use of quantitative approach will allow investigating the relationship between financial measures and performance (Creswell, 2013). The research can identify the relationship between the variables, as well as the gather information allows the researcher to determine prevailing behaviour, interest and factors to identify social norms and values that influence stakeholder’s interests and corporate social responsibility activities and programs. The researcher will make use of deductive approach to carry out the study, as it allows the researcher to induce the information and factors that affect stakeholder’s interest and decisions and policies related to corporate social responsibility at Tesco Plc. The use mixed research approach can be justified on the basis of past studies that have been conducted on the similar topic. Baker and Anderson (2010) made use of the mixed research approach to identify corporate governance practices of different firms operating in United States and United Kingdom (Baker & Anderson, 2010). Research Philosophy The researcher will make use of pragmatic research philosophy for the present study. The reason researcher has opted for pragmatic research philosophy is because it allows the use of a combination of different research approaches to achieve the research objective in the best possible manner. Different methodologies could be used to support findings of each other. Thus, this type of research adds more value to the research and gives readers better understanding of the purpose of the research and its outcomes (Creswell & Clark, 2011). Research Strategy The research is conducted to determine the how stakeholders influence corporate social responsibility policies and decision at Tesco Plc. Keeping in mind, research objectives of the study the research will make use of case study approach to carrying out the study. A research strategy provides overall direction for the research including research process. Therefore, the use of the case study approach is will be an effective way for to identify the research objectives of this study. Case study approach will allow determining the factors that influence decisions and policies of Tesco Plc. determining the influence of its stakeholders (CITATION). Data Collection The researcher will make use primary as well as secondary sources to gather information for the research. The information gathered from the survey and interview will be the primary source of information that the researcher has personally gathered. On the other hand, the secondary source of data collection involves the use of the work other authors. The researcher has reviewed past literature related to the topic to construct theoretical and conceptual framework of the study. In addition, the variables for the study are also identified on the basis of past researches. The researcher made use of reliable databases to gather the data for the study such as EBSCOhost, GoogleScholar, JSTOR, Wiley Online Library, Springer Link etc. using keywords Corporate social responsibility, stakeholders, decision making, policies, Tesco Plc., retail industry etc. Further investigation of the previous literature on the research topic will be carried out to complete the report and also develop the research instruments as proposed in the next section. Furthermore, the review will assist in forming comprehensive discussion of the findings of the proposed study. Research Instrument The researcher will make use of the survey questionnaire to gather responses from participants. The researcher will make use of e-mailed questionnaires to carry out the study. Also, interview with the Tesco Plc.’s manager will be done to identify their practices and perceptions. The survey questions will have open, and close-ended questions. For the interviews, the researcher will make use of semi-structured interviews to gather responses from the research participants. (Creswell, 2013). Sampling The researcher will make use of convenience sampling to carry out the study. The reason the researcher makes use of convenience sampling is because of the convenient accessibility of the researcher to the research participants (Creswell, 2013). The survey questionnaires will be distributed among 50 employees working at Tesco PLC and the interview will be conducted specifically with the manager of the company. Data Analysis The researcher will make use of thematic analysis to code the interviews and identify themes from the past literature. Also, statistical data analysis methods will also be used to determine the relationship between variables. Therefore, the researcher will make use of reliability test Cronbach Alpha to test the reliability of the data. Further, descriptive statistics will be used to summarize the data (Creswell & Clark, 2011). It will be used to determine the inclination of respondents by looking at means values, as well as the frequency will be used to summarize overall demographic features of the sample. The use of this approach can be justified on the basis of the past researchers (Moan, et al., 2009; Ongore & KObonoye, 2011) that have made use of similar data analysis methods to carry out the study on a similar topic. Ethical Consideration The researcher will ensure that the research is conducted in accordance to academic standards. The information of the research participants will not be disclosed to anyone to ensure that the research meets the principle of Anonymity and confidentiality. In addition, the researcher will ensure appropriate referencing and in-text citations to avoid plagiarism. Limitations The methodology of the study may adherent certain limitations. It is because of the limited time and unavailability of the resources to the researcher. The sample size used for the study could be considered small due to which the findings obtained from the study will only be the application to certain extents (Berrone & tribo, 2013). Since, the study is only focused to make use of Tesco Plc.’s prevailing pattern; the study’s findings are only applicable to Tesco PLC. If there had been larger sample size the scope of the study could have been extended. Gantt Chart The following Gantt chart indicates different milestones that have to be attained to complete the research. Selection of Topic 1st May 2015 Collection of sources and information related to the topic 2-4th May Analyzing methodologies of researchers 7th May Preparation of Research Proposal 8th- 15th May Planning Methodology 20st May Preparation of Research Method 22nd- 23th May Collection of Primary Data 23-24th May Preparation of Report 24-29th May List of References Baker, H. K. & Anderson, R., 2010. Corporate Governance: A Synthesis of Theory, Research, and Practice. New Jersey: John Wiley and Son. Berrone, P. & Tribo, J. A., 2013. Corporate Ethical Identity As Determinant Of Firm Performance: A Test of The Mediating Role of Stakeholder Satisfaction. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 10 September 2014]. Caroll, A. B. & Shabana, K., 2010. The Business Case for Corporate Social Responsibility: A Review of Concepts, Research and Practice. International Journal of Management Reviews, Issue 12, pp. 85-105. Creswell, J. W., 2013. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. New York: SAGE. Creswell, J. W. & Clark, V. L. P., 2011. Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research. London: SAGE. Johnston, W. & Swaen, V., 2009. Corporate Social Responsibility: An Empirical Investigation of U.S. Organizations. Journal of Business Ethics, 85(2), pp. 303-323. Lee-Davies, L., 2010. Corporate social responsibility and stakeholder approach. International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, 4(1), pp. 277-281. Mallin, C. A., 2013. Corporate Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Moan, F., Lindgreen, A. & Swaen, V., 2009. Designing and Implementing Corporate Social Responsibility: An Integrative Framework Grounded in Theory and Practice. Journal of Business Ethics, 87(1), pp. 71-89. Ongore, V. O. & KObonoye, P. O., 2011. Effects of Selected Corporate Governance Characteristics on Firm Performance: Empirical Evidence From Kenya. International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, 1(3), pp. 99-122. Ryan, B., William, R. & Theeoblad, M., 2009. Research Method and Methodology in Finance and Accounting. New York: Thomson. Thomas, R. M., 2003. Blending qualitative and quantitative research methods in theses and dissertations. Thousand Oaks: Corwin. Turker, D., 2009. Measuring Corporate Social Responsibility: A Scale Development Study. Journal of Business Ethics, 85(4), pp. 411-427. Wood, D., 1991. Corporate Social Performance Revisited. Academy of Management, Volume 16. Read More