Proposal for corporate social responsibility

Proposal for Corporate social responsibility al Affiliation: How Starbucks coffee company has succeed in the business world with CSR.
I decided to choose Starbucks Coffee Company for this dissertation as it has a good reputation in terms of social responsibility. I would like to know how the company incorporates CSR and the factors that have contributed to the success of Starbucks Coffee Company over the years with regards to CSR and how it enhances the lives of its stakeholders and partners of the company, customers, coffee farmers, community members, shareholders, suppliers and other company affiliates (Donaldson, 2008, p. 253).
Contribution to the literature
This study gives a substantial analysis of the relationship between the CSR strategies and the success of a socially ethical company in US, Starbacks . Therefore, this study represents an important contribution to the CSR literature in US (Aaronson & Reeves, 2002, p. 59).
This research examined the relevance of and the theoretical contributions of different management theories, particularly the triple bottom line and the competitive advantage theory that help managers understand the relevance of competing through quality assurance.
Theories
Triple bottom line – This is interactive thinking that takes into consideration the social, environmental and economic factors which are indicators of Corporate Social Responsibility.
The Competitive Advantage -This is an advantage in the intrinsic and extrinsic parts of the company and this theory is concerned with the competition between the company and its competitors through offering better values than their competitors (Competitive advantage , 2010, p. 102).
Hypotheses
H1: Strong values drive customer value
Strong values come from the culture of the company which later transforms to be the values of the customers and later the values of the society. Values generally come from the customers and the stakeholders which are both important to the success of business. Developing values that are sustainable will depend on the relationship of the organization with the employees, partners, shareholders, suppliers and also media (Enquist & Edvardsson, 2009, p. 89).
H2: Values-based service brand and communication resonates values
Brands are very important for any company as they communicate to the customers or every stakeholder the image of the company and their products. In order to stall the “ values-based service brand” the company must employ CSR strategies to maintain its business in long run. Virtually, CSR serves the best way to communicate to all the customers and stakeholders in an efficient manner. These strategies touch with values of service brands and enable the company to obtain the good resonances from all stakeholders (Enquist & Edvardsson, 2009, p. 234).
Sample case
In the business activities carried out today, many strategies are outlaid in running them. Of late, CSR has developed swiftly. Individuals have started demanding that companies take their social responsibility in their business activities. As a result, many companies have embraced CSR as a strategy in order to achieve benefits that can grant them an added advantage over their competitors. Nowadays corporate social responsibility (CSR) can compel companies to succeed in business by escalating volume of sales and branding awareness.
This dissertation began with the interest on the success of CSR in the business social environment. Any company needs to be ethical in competitive business activities. A sample was selected from a company in US based on application level of CSR standard. I wanted a company that has embraced good management about Corporate Social Responsibility. Therefore I opted to pick the Starbucks Company because in my opinion the company can assist me in answering the research questions. The brand of this company is worldwide and it also a big company and hence a good representatives in the case study.
Approach and methodology
To answer the above questions, a framework based on interviews, surveys and the relevant literature was developed. Mainly the research uses ASSET4 ESG framework or database that allows an individual to view and rate over 700 individual database points that have been combined into over 250 Key Performance Indicators. The data in this framework is sourced from public information from CSR reports submitted annually by various companies in US and Europe, company websites and proxy filings (Adams & Frost, 2006, p. 129).
Reference List
Aaronson, SA & Reeves, JT . 2002. Corporate responsibility in the global village: the role of public policy, National Policy Association.
Adams, CA & Frost, GR . 2006. Accessibility and functionality of the corporate web site: implications for sustainability reporting‘, Business Strategy and the Environment, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 275–287.
Agle BR, Donaldson T , Freeman, RE, Jensen MC, Mitchell RK, & Wood DJ . 2008. Dialogue: Toward Superior Stakeholder Theory. Business Ethics Quarterly, Vol 18, no. 2, pp. 153-190.
Aguilera, RV, Rupp, DE, Williams, CA & Ganapathi, J . 2007. Putting the S back in corporate social responsibility: a multilevel theory of social change in organizations‘, The Academy of Management Review ARCHIVE, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 836–63.
Allouche, J & Laroche, P . 2005. A meta-analytical investigation of the relationship between corporate social and financial performance‘, Revue de gestion des ressources humaines, vol. 57, no. 1, pp. 8–41.
Anderson, EW, Fornell, C & Mazvancheryl, SK . 2004. Customer satisfaction and shareholder value‘, Journal of Marketing, vol. 68, no. 4, pp. 172–85.
Campbell, JL . 2007. Why would corporations behave in socially responsible ways? An institutional theory of corporate social responsibility‘, The Academy of Management Review ARCHIVE, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 946–67.
Crane, A, McWilliams, A & Matten, D . 2008. The Oxford handbook of corporate social responsibility, Oxford University Press, USA.
Creswell, JW . 2009. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches: Sage Publications, Inc.
Enquist. B and Edvardsson. B.” Values-based Service for Sustainable business”, Rutledge, UK, 2009
Fiscal 2009 Annual Report. Starbucks Corporation Fiscal 2009 Annual Report [Online] Available: http://phx. corporateir. net/External. File? item= UGFyZW50SUQ9MjczNTB8Q2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPTM=&t= 1 [2010-05-10]