Topic 20 Corporate Social Responsibility & Ethics

I done topic 20. Just got my result today, got a B. Its pretty easy, I spent a few evening over 2 weeks and knocked it out. My advice is to pick a few modules, then just apply those models to the company you choose. Dont forget to reference properly as well. Easy peasy

Am currently doing Topic 20. What models are suitable for this topic?

Hey i am doing topic 20 too. It has potential to make a sound project.
@dbuk2000
Hey I have been seeing you flaunting your results everywhere :P Congratulations man. It would nice to share some key findings and advice on this topic area. And when i say share and advice I DO NOT mean share your rap. Looking forward!

Hi guys .. i'm doing this topic also . i'm a kind of lost ... hope anyone can just share some tips ..
I have no idea to link up the model with the company i chosen ...
help!!!! thanks!!!

Hi Guys. Of course I can help. The hardest part is to find the models you want to use, there are so many models you can use for CSR. I picked out four models, and applied this to the company. If I remember correctly the information pack gives you all the section headings and gives guidance on what you need for each section. Literally put that guidance into Microsoft Word, start from the first section and just work your way downwards, being sure not to go over the world limit. My advice before you decide the company to use is to find one that has a large amount of information on CSR. Most companies have a CSR report which is 50 pages plus. This gives you a massive headstart over using a company with practically no CSR. Dont get me wrong you still have to go outside the box and look at other stuff as well.

4 models? If u do not want to mention the names of the models could you please refer me some reading resources on csr from where i will get access to models on csr? I have already chosen two models and I am quite happy with them but still need one more to achieve satisfactory level.

Try looking in the P3 text book. This has some focus on CSR and could provide a starting point

Sure um need to look at my project, on top of my head I used Carrolls pyramid, triple bottom line. Cant remember the other two but if u really want to know them, then I can have a look at my project when I get home.

Could someone help me with some reading resources for this topic

Did any one attempt Topic 20 ? "Topic 20: An assessment of an organisation's corporate social responsibility policies, including business ethics, and their impact on business practice and key stakeholders" Do you have any ...tips / sample ....and any advice.... that how do I need to prepare and research for this topic. Thanks for your kind advice !!!

Sir Hammad Ahmad:is it possible to do a bsc project on a country located overseas or do i have to choose an entity from my own country?and do i have to visit the location?

You can chose overseas company for which you chose a topic on which secondary information is enough through desk research but it will be rare that you will have all information for TOPIC 20 on a company without having access to it. Either physically or email.

It has a dubai office so maybe i can contact them for research

can anyone recommend a few companies that would be a good choice for topic 20?

@em69 You should select a multinational company, a NGO or a company on which you have unlimited authority to access information. Kye decision in selection of any organisation is availability of information. Further, in you want to do a diverse analysis it will be good to consider information availability on a competitor for comparision Thank You.

Thanks a bunch @Hammad Ahmed Qureshi

@Hammad, please need your expert advice,on which topic to choose.between topic 17 and 20..thanx..

@cherrony - There is usually more objective information available for CG than there is for CSR. I have seen students criticised for not having a balanced report for CSR (mainly because they cannot find information external to the company) so it all comes over as agreeing that the company is a good corporate citizen and that sort of thing (and this annoys the markers as they want to see that you have evaluated the information just not agreed with the company line). In this respect OBU wants to know that you have critically examined the situation (just take a look at the assessment criteria) and it is easier to do this for CG. You can look at all the relevant bits of CG and not only compare them with the applicable Code but with a comparator (composition of the board, attendance, whistleblowing policy, risk assessment commitees etc). It is far harder to so this objectively with CSR as CSR involvement varies in its application in each company as there is no prescribed code.. The pass rates for CG and the grades are higher too so my advice is, unless you have a lot of independent info that will make your CSR analysis really valid, go for CG. :-D

@trephena,thanx soo much,the explanations you gave really helped and i get what ur saying..i think i will go for corporate gorvanance..xx

@tanvi2211 When doing a report you have to focus on the prescribed title. So for Topic 20 this is: 'An assessment of an organisation's corporate social responsibility policies, including business ethics, and their impact on business practice and key stakeholders. So: 1. You must focus on ONE organisation however it is perfectly acceptable - and in fact highly desirable - that you make appropriate comparisons with other appropriate organisations. For example if taking the supermarket Sainsbury's as your main company you could compare its charitable commitments and donations to Asda's and when it came to community relations you could compare this with Tesco's. So in that sense you may use several companies as comparators if they operate in the same sector. You can also make comparisons with organisations of a similar size e.g. when looking at its donations to charity and community initiatives. Look at some examples of aspects of 'best practice' and see how your company measures up. 2. You must ensure that you deal with all aspects of the title e.g. business ethics and the impact of key stakeholders - emphasis there on stakeholders plural so this would encompass customers, suppliers, employees, social community as well as shareholders in the context of Sainsbury's 3. Wherever possible try to use and bring in as many articles and information that is derived outside the organisation and its comparators to increase the objectivity of your report generally and strengthen your analysis in particular. As an example just today on the BBC website there is an article about how Councils in England want to levy a special tax on supermarkets because they feel that very little income that they derive from sales to the local community actually feed back into the local economy as opposed to smaller local businesses where much more money circulates back into the area. I hope this gives you a better insight now in how to approach this topic as your grade will normally be dictated by how well you address your overall critical analysis. :-)

Hi, many thanks for the advice.... Another small query is that can I Change the topic 20 a bit. i mean making it more specific.thnx

@tanvi2211 You should concentrate on answering the topic 20 requirements. Markers can sometimes react with hostility to students whom they consider have 'hijacked' topics as they tend to suspect ulterior motives e.g. that the work was submitted previously for another university or for some other purpose. I would always recommend students to fufil the actual topic requirements then they stand the best chance of passing :-)

Thank you a lot.

@Trephena one of my project objectives is to determine the relationship between csr and growth. I intend to use correlation analysis to do this. The 2013 & 2012 annual report of the organisation in study does not contain expenditure on csr. However, the 2011 & 2010 report contains all the detailed expenditure on projects carried out. Since this topic does not require that I use the most recent financial statement. Do you think I should use 2011 & 2010 annual report since it contains all the information I need? Pls reply. Thank you for always being there to help

@unyimeedem - the correlation idea is a very good one - a pity they haven't included the detail to allow you to do this for the last couple of years however you certainly can do it for the other two years. I think you should use the latest reports for most of your RAP but you could still include a graph showing the correlation for 2010 & 2011 as part of it. Then you have the best of both worlds. However mention underneath the graph that you could not include the latest figures as the company has not disclosed this information

@trephena i would like to know is it viable enough to use triple bottom line as a framework for analyzing organization's CSR policies and business ethics? As triple bottom line is a sustainability accounting theory however i find it pretty much efficient as a overall framework. Secondly, will there be an issue if I select a topic which my project mentor had already used to pass his OBU? Your contribution is highly appreciated......

@nickel - Triple bottom line is an acceptable model but I think you should also consider Carroll in addition as it introduces Philanthropic aspects and with T20 you need to explore the subject as broadly as possible. The important thing with any RAP in general and T20 (and T17) in particular, is to ensure that you research and use a variety of sources that are not all dependent on company generated information. The hallmark of a good RAP is one that shows a balanced view and critically reviews the information and does not just accept the company standpoint. Obviously you will be using some company reports but broaden your research and actively seek out business articles that will help you assess it objectively. As with T17 try to assess the company's performance on some aspects of CSR with a competitor*. For a good mark you have to show that you have questioned and critiqued all information sources. In principle there is no problem using the same topic but you must submit original work. It may not be advisable to use the same company unless you ensure that you do not even read their submission to avoid any possibility that you replicate any of it even inadvertently. Make no mistake the electronic checking system is only one of the measures used to assess authenticity of student's work - experienced markers are quite skilful at using a range of techniques that ferret out work that is not the student's own - and at least 10% of submissions I understand are initially referred to the ACO as being suspicious. *in fact for T20 as there is no laid down code for companies, just general guidelines (see The Global Reporting Initiative) a more appropriate way of doing comparisons is possibly benchmarking against 'Best Practice.' Find examples of good CSR and see how your chosen organisation measures up.

@trephena Thank you for your reply... as triple bottom line does not consider philanthropy i was considering switching to Balanced scorecard as it covers both financial and non financial measures.. Thanks in advance for your support...

Thank you soo much for this!! clarifies a lot!

Our Friends at ACG ( Applied Corporate Governance) whose mantra is 'People - Planet - Profit' have agreed to let students use their resources (provided the source is fully acknowledged through referencing) to assist them with thus topic. They have a good section on Ethics which is an important part of T20 (in fact they put it at the heart of all business operations, as do I) so I recommend if you are just starting out on T20 you read their article and assess their definition of what constitutes good business ethics. https://www.applied-corporate-governance.com/business-ethics-examples-in-assessing-corporate-governance-performance.html