Unit 19 Corporate Social Responsibility in Modern Business: A Research Project on CSR Impact and Strategic Integration

Scenario and activity:

You are working as a business consultant for a consultancy company [named organisation/an organisation of your choice – your own place of work if appropriate]. You have been approached by a business organisation to conduct research into a key area of business and have been provided with a theme which will be the focus of the research (Corporate Social Responsibility). The organisation has left it to you to decide what would be appropriate to investigate in this area of business and for you to choose the research topic.

Once you have identified your research topic and objective you will undertake the following steps to collect, analyse, and present your findings. This will be presented in the form of a research report.

1. Complete a Literature Review (Secondary Research)You need to know what the key literature is related to the research objective in order to plan a research study to explore the phenomenon. Conduct a literature review using a range of sources relating to the research topic. Evaluate the validity and reliability of the sources, discussing current understanding on the research topic area.In your report discuss the sources of literature found and how they relate or otherwise to the research topic. Your report should critically evaluate literature in order to assess the validity of the literature in supporting the research topic.
2. Develop a project proposal for researching the research objective identifiedYour research proposal identifies the purpose of the research project with clear aim and objectives and justifies the chosen research methods in terms of the research question.Discuss the ethical issues which will need to be considered and examine the research methods and approaches to be taken.Prepare an action plan with target dates and methods for monitoring and updating your activities to ensure your meet the deadline for the final written report.
3. Carry out independent primary researchDesign, implement, collect and critically analyse data. For example, using a survey/questionnaire/interview or other primary research technique collect data and then present and analyse findings. Present your findings using visual illustrations e.g. bar charts/pie graphs/tables.Your report will include the critical analysis of data and the advantages and disadvantages of the research methods and approaches taken to data collection.
4. Communicate outcomes – ReportDevelop a report that provides valid and justified recommendations for the business organisation based on the analysis of the research both primary and secondary. Your findings and outcomes must be based on the research proposal objective/s and refer back to this in drawing your conclusions.Finally critically reflect on how you have conducted the project, the lessons learnt and the alternatives you would consider in the future with recommendations for actions to be taken forward.

Report Structure

Title Page

• It is important that you state clearly, at the beginning of the assignment, what its title is, which module it applies to and your name as the author.
• You should also include the College name, report title and the date.

Executive Summary

• A summary should be provided, so that people can see at a glance what the report is about. You should mention your key findings, conclusions and recommendations.
• This summary is usually printed immediately after the title page.

Contents Page

• Page numbers as well as section/chapter titles should be included
• If the report incorporates some appendices, their titles should be listed

Acknowledgements

• A list of names, roles and organisations (if relevant) of all of those who helped you when compiling the report should be listed

Terms of Reference

Refer to your project proposal

Introduction

• This section should provide some of the background of the subject that forms the principle theme of your report.
• If the report is designed to solve a perceived ‘problem’, the history of the ‘problem’ can be reviewed here, culminating in the situation that prompted the report to be written
• You should also provide some key information about the organisation in which your research is based.

Methodology

• This section is needed for the reader to judge the authenticity of the ‘evidence’ that comprises the main body of the report. All sources should be mentioned and, if appropriate, describe how you put together your questionnaire or survey.
• Copies of questionnaires, interview questions etc. should be included in the appendices.
• If any published documents were studied, this should be mentioned here

Main Body

• This is likely to comprise many paragraphs or sections. It is often useful to break up your assignment into subheadings.
• This section should be structured around the key themes of your research
• Use tables, charts if possible. Your presentation of data is important
• This section should bring together your secondary and primary research and your findings

Conclusions

• In this section you should say what your facts or findings mean i.e. discuss the key implications arising from the wealth of detail you may have collected.
• Your findings and outcomes should be relating back to your initial research objective and proposal
• The conclusions should not incorporate any new facts

Recommendations

• Your recommendations should clearly spell out your ideas to enable them to be acted upon.

Bibliography

• All references in the report should be listed in the correct Harvard format

Appendices

• All detailed statistical tabulations, graphs, lists, questionnaires etc. should be organised into separate appendices
• Include a list of references (sources that are actually cited in the report itself)
• Nothing should be included that isn’t referred to in the main body of the report.

Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria