Topic 20 Corporate Social Responsibility & Ethics

@Trephena-Thank you very much again. I find your suggestions extremely helpful.

@Trephena I have completed my report but the word count is 7,505. I have trimmed over and over but there's nothing left to remove from the report. Do you think I will be penalized for having extra 5 words?

@unyimeedem - absolutely not - so chill baby, chill! :-D

@ Trephena thanks alot

Submission Check list for T20 Ensure you do a BRIEF ‘literary review’ in Part 2 about the development and background of CSR to put your topic in a context. Mention some of the elements that are considered to be best practice. Also remember that CSR varies from country to country so if you are using a non-British company don’t forget that you are submitting for a British University and so aspects of the European definition of CSR which is more comprehensive than CSR as viewed in the USA for example (and some countries) should be considered when assessing the company (see the OECD definition for what this may involve: https://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-11-730_en.htm Other things to reflect on and ensure that you have covered: 1. Have you made some comparisons with another company /other companies operating in a similar sector particularly on aspects where your company may not be performing so well or conversely is excelling? 2. Have you based most of your work on primary data? – if so you need to remedy this fast… 3. Have you considered all the relevant stakeholders properly? There are two parts to T20 and it does not end with just employees and shareholders – communities both in the country it is registered in and those countries it operates in are equally important (as I have mentioned on the forum think about whether it gives much back to countries it makes a lot of profit from or is it ‘exploiting’ them – avoiding tax, paying low wages, and could do more in terms of charitable efforts?) 4. Do you have external evidence of the company’s CSR? – commentary from analysists/ financial pages of the press or from websites that examine a company’s ethics e.g. https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/ethicalcompanyratings.aspx https://www.corporatecritic.org/ https://www.thegoodshoppingguide.com/ethical-business-rating-tables-and-ethicality-audits/ 5. On the subject of ethics - this is part of the Title and subject brief so ensure you cover it adequately – are the board members ‘squeaky clean’ – any evidence of how committed they really are to CSR and ethics? has the company for example been implicated in using suppliers who use child labour or other ‘unsavoury’ practices (environmental pollution, failures in health and safety to maximize profit) or do their CEOs lead the field e.g. Bill Gates has used his personal fortune for his charitable foundation? (Remember companies exist to make a profit so there are limits on giving shareholder profits to charities but those at the top can give their own money away). 'Tone at the top' is important! 6. Have you used visual means to display your information wherever possible – saves both on words and lots of boring long paragraphs so makes your work far more interesting to read. (Not so easy with this topic but try to bring in a few diagrams, charts and graphics to break up the text - it makes your work look so much more appealing) 7. And don’t just accept what the Board writes in their CSR statements – Remember the CSR statement to a certain extent is a bit of a PR exercise. (It always interests me how much space in the financial statements is given over telling people about the company’s charitable and community initiatives in relation to how much they have actually given in terms of money) How much have they given as a percentage of net profit? Is that trend increasing/static/decreasing? How much have they given in total to charity/community projects compared with dividends declared for the year? – again is this trend increasing/static/decreasing? 8. Question and look for proof (comparisons and research for articles on the company in the business press). A pass requires some critical thought not blind allegiance and a re-write of the company’s CSR statement….. 9. …so don’t forget to question and critique the company’s statements. Maybe they are doing a good job but don’t assume just because they say they are, this is the reality – they are hardly going to say that they have complex company legal structures and complicated internal transfer arrangements so that they can get away with paying little or no tax in jurisdictions where corporation tax is high and are more likely to say that ‘they pay all tax as due’ which belies what is really going on (remember Facebook paying less than GBP 5k – yes 5k –in UK tax which is less than the average UK tax payer) And finally… 10. You need to appreciate that CSR like CG is a developing dynamic subject so you must show you are ‘on the ball’. Although you may have used the latest annual report and CSR statement as the basis of your Findings and analysis do a final check on your company as you have to consider any more recent dramatic/important developments that may have occurred since the report was published that may impact on the entity’s CSR. For example the big scandal regarding Volkswagen Cars that suddenly came to light that shows that VW cars are not just environmentally polluting more than was previously admitted but demonstrates perhaps the company’s real take on CSR in both putting profit before green issues (and literally taking everyone for a ride) by deceiving the customer! So be factual and unbiased when drawing your conclusions and don’t overly praise the company (or deprecate it) without EVIDENCE Don't forget to look at the general submission checklist (at the top of our Forum page) for other submission tips and guidance Good luck :-D

Thanks a lot @Trephena I'm now comparing my report with this checklist

Dear Trephena For period 32 i have selected topic 20.but the company i have choosen their fiscal year ends at 30 june so basically the latest financial and CSR reports available is for 2015.there is quarterly information available on the company website but they are not audited ones.so what should i do?do i use the unaudited latest informations as well or just usr the audited ones.Thank you.

@dewan Hi, Dewan, There are no obligation for topic 20 that you use latest available CSR Reports. So, i would recommend use latest audited CSR Reports which are available. Regards, Hammad Ahmed Qureshi - OBU Registered Mentor.

Thank you sir.

@ Ahmed Qureshi If i choose a competitor which is not entirely similar to my choosen company will that that be okay.i mean their products are not similar but they operate in the same industry.Thank you.

I meant products are not ebtirely similar for eg.Google and oracle corporation.

@dewan Yes, if they are in same industry, comparison is fine. For example, in automotive industry a company manufacturing cars and a company manufacturing cars + bikes can be compared. Regards, Hammad Ahmed Qureshi - OBU Registered Mentor.

Thank you.

Topic 20 is about best practice -while you can make comparisons with a competitor do not be constrained by this. Approach it by looking at exemplary instances of CSR and seeing how your company measures up

Can you describe it a little more elaborately please Trephena?Thank you.

Look at the GRI for ideas and if you use key words in a search on Google find out the best performers - there are organisations who rank companies so then home in on these companies to see what they do well and then compare with your organisation

Dear Trephena Currently i am in middle of my RAP and i am using Carrolls model as my primary model and also using stakeholders theory may be for 1000 words and gray,owen and adam csr positions in my concluding part.are they relevant for topic 20.Thank you.

Or do you have any suggesstions for models that are best for topic 20.Thank you.

@dewan - we had at least 3 topic forums that had been opened for T20 so I have merged them all. You will find that your query has been answered previously. I suggest you go through the whole amalgamated forum as there is a lot of helpful and really useful advice including a submission checklist specifically for T 20 NOTE TO ALL STUDENTS this demonstrates the importance of NOT opening a new topic each time you personally have a new query but searching to see if the topic already exists otherwise you may yourself miss out on the existing good guidance :-) Please read 'Help keep our forums tidy!!!!'

Ok cheers.

I finally passed my RAP. Thanks a lot @Trephena @dewan I used Mendelow's stakeholder matrix and Carroll's pyramid. I also referred to GRI as a reporting framework (this was from marker's feedback). Hope this helps

@unyimeedem - many congratulations! :-)

I understand that the recommended models to use on CSR are Carroll's pyramid and Mendelow's Matrix. But why are they suitable and relevant? How should i write in my report?

@jesspoh85 For RAP, any model will be relevant depending on your objectives, topic itself, circumstances and your approach to achieve objectives. For CSR, Carroll's pyramid highlight different philanthropic,ethical, legal and economic responsibilities, now you can think of why this model is important and will help you achieve objectives? It may help you to define whether your company fulfill Philanthropic responsibilities or is ethical or just legally responsible ? Points that you will make within this framework can then be used against any regulatory CSR related laws or principles issued by government for evaluation whether company is meeting them. Mendlow's matrix allows to have different perspective that organisation will be governed by its key stakeholders. Hence, let us look at their powers and interests. So, it will highlight whether organisation serving only powerful stake holders or all and in which box it falls? In the end, it depends only on your approach. Yes, these are recommended ones not necessary ones. You need to ensure these models allow you to achieve your RAP title and your objectives. Regards, Hammad Ahmed Qureshi - OBU Registered Mentor.

***MPORTANT NOTICE FOR ANYONE SUBMITTING IN P32*** I have produced a special submission checklist for Topic 20 - please go to page 4 of this topic forum to find it. Please also consult the General Submission checklist at the top of the first page of forum topic list.

Hi Trephena Could you please kindly answer my followibg query please: Is it an issue if there is a diffrence of 1 month between a conparative company and the company i have chosen for Topic 20.e.g. Comparative company's year ends at june and my chosen company's year ends at may.do i need to do prorata for this difference if i calculate any ratios for conparisons between this 2 companies.Hope you have ubderstood my query. Thank you.

@dewan - There is absolutely no problem. T20 does not prescribe a comparator but comparing and contrasting your company with similar companies (size and /or business sector) will help show how well or badly it performs as a corporate citizen - year ends have nothing to do with this! (Just as long as the information is relatively up to date). Any comparison of financial information is incidental. Usually in relation to shareholders of the main company is sufgicient (although charitable donations and initiatives are worth focusing on in relation to Carroll's). You do not have to routinely compare profit and dividends with another company unless there is a significant point you wish to make. With charity it is more useful to work donations out as a % of profit and compare the trend over time and also compare with the trend in dividends.

Thank you Trephena.

Hi Trehena I am wondering if you could answer my following query please I have submitted RAP and by mistake in my SLS part i put the wrong date for my second meeting instead of 02/03/16 i put the year 15.Dates for other meetings are ok.is it gonna be a big issue.please let me knw.i am really nervous after seeing this.Hope you understands.

Probably will be alright as long as other dates are consistent. If the marker is unhappy about it and finds other inconsistencies they might refer it to the ACO as suspicious work. Then you would have to explain what happened. At this stage you can't do much about it. One wrong date probably won't matter .