Research aim, objectives and hypothesis
Question:
Write an essay about the “corporate social responsibility in indian hospitality sector”.
1.1 Introduction
This section of the research encapsulates the problems related to the research, the research aim, the research objective, the research question, research hypothesis and summary. This chapter highlights the issues and the focus of the research and states the direction in which the research would be heading.
The primary issue with the hotel industry in regard to the Corporate Social Responsibility practices is to abide with the moral and ethical obligations. It is critical for the company because the company needs to reduce the adverse affects of the Corporate Social Responsibility practices on the society and environment.
The goal or aim is to understand the steps by the hospitality sector towards Corporate Social Responsibility activities and the effect of the Corporate Social Responsibility practices of the hotels on the society and environment.
The objectives of the research are to:
- To comprehend the key concepts of Corporate Social Responsibility practices:
- To analyze the Corporate Social Responsibility practices adopted by the Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL):
- To comprehend the issues related to the hotel industry and the practices of CSR:
- To measure the impact of the Corporate Social Responsibility practices of hotels on society and environment:
- What are the key concepts of Corporate Social Responsibility practices?
- What are the CSR practices adopted by the Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL)?
- What are the issues related to the hotel industry and the practices of Corporate Social Responsibility?
- What are the effects or influences of the Corporate Social Responsibility practices of hotels on society and environment?
H0: the Corporate Social Responsibility practices of hotel industry have a positive effect on the society and the environment.
H1: the Corporate Social Responsibility practices of the hotel industry have a negative effect on the society and the environment.
This chapter highlights the issue that the research is dealing with; the influence of Corporate Social Responsibility practices of the hotel industry on the society and environment. The research would analyze the key concepts of CSR practices and the issues that are related to application of Corporate Social Responsibility practices in the hotel industry. This chapter indicates that the research would be focusing on the CSR practices and the issues related to Corporate Social Responsibility practices in regards to the Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) and the moral and ethical obligations of the hotel while the implementation of the Corporate Social Responsibility practices.
2.1 Introduction
The literature review in this study will provide a deep in depth study related to the topic of the research. This section of the study will review and discuss the published information on theories of hotel industries around the world with respect to their Corporate Social Responsibilities. Special attention will also be given to the hotel industry in India to give the readers a better understanding of the working of hotels and the influence of their CSR practices on the environment as well as the society. This chapter will also be outlining a conceptual framework, which will give a clear idea about the components of the review and how they are inter linked to each other. A summary will be provided at the end of the chapter which will give a gist of all the points covered in the literature review for the reader to have a quick revision of the chapter.
The idea or concept of CSR or Corporate Social Responsibility has become a significant sphere of study for the industrialists, researchers, and scholars over the past couple of decades. A huge debate has been developed with respect to the nature of the topic in the modern academic literature. They seem to have renewed their curiosity on the topic, which has produced a plethora of different perspectives, terminologies, and theories relating to Corporate Social Responsibility(Zhang & Choi, 2014). CSR can be defined as the activities, which make the company, behave like good citizens who contribute towards the welfare of the society beyond their own vested interests. The legal, ethical, and economical domains can be considered as the most important components of the CSR. The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility is mainly concerned with the relationship between business organization and the society in which it operates. This kind of social contract implies a form of altruistic and selfless behavior, the opposite of selfishness. The utilitarian perspective pioneered by philosophers like Mill, Locke, and Bentham promotes self-interest ( Gu et al., 2013).
Issues related to CSR practices in hotel industry
The central idea around CSR is the contract between all the components of the society, which is a crucial tenet of a civil society. Social responsibility does not only extend to the present members of the society but also to the future members of the society. The responsibility and accountability towards the environment also comes under the definition of Corporate Social Responsibility. It is a concept where the companies incorporate environmental and social concerns in their business organizations (Fu et al., 2013). This also includes their relation and interaction with the stakeholders on a regular basis. The decision whether a company should indulge in the activities of CSR, depends on the economic activities and perspective of the firm.
There are three principles of Corporate Social Responsibility- Sustainability, Accountability, and Transparency. Sustainability is majorly concerned with the impact which the future societies will have to bear because of the actions which are taken today by the companies. Accountability is when the organizations assume the responsibility of the actions taken by them that can have an impact on the external environment (Benavides et al., 2014). Lastly, Transparency means that the company will report the impact, which the organization has on the external environment, clearly, without any ambiguity.
There are three major theories related to the concept of CSR namely :
- The Business ethics theory of the CSR
- The Shareholder theory of CSR
- The Stakeholder theory of CSR
Business ethics theory of CSR is solely based on the company’s social obligation and moral responsibilities that is has towards the environment and the society. These obligations are a result of the ever-changing social expectations and responsiveness to specific issues and problems. The are also a reaction to the eternal ethical values imbibed in people as advocated by philosophers like Kant denoting universal and normative principles like fairness, social justice, and human rights. This theory also embodies corporate citizenship, that is, a business organization or company as a responsible citizen which is aware of its duties in the society aiming for its over all well being (Font et al., 2012). This theory sees Corporate Social Responsibility more as ethical and philanthropy based responsibilities than legal or economic based responsibilities.
The Nobel Prize Laureate, Milton Friedman forwarded the shareholder theory of Corporate Social Responsibility, arguing that the only responsibilities that the business organizations consider, is to generate profits while abiding by the legal norms. This theory advocates that the companies are already serving the society by ding business and adding up to the economy and hence its functions must not be confused with other societal responsibilities. Hence, the company’s goal is only to concentrate on the maximization of profits of the shareholders (Garay & Font, 2012). This theory is based on the assumption that the managers of a company are appointed as the agents of the shareholders to operate the company. The only obligation of the management in this case is to make as much money as possible, following the legal norms, thus satisfying the shareholders (Jones & Comfort, 2016). The shareholder theory is not given much important these days and is considered a historic concept since it only prioritizes the satisfaction of the shareholders. This theory involves many loopholes since there is only focus on the short-term strategies and the risks are also greater when the only priority is the maximization of profits.
Theoretical background of CSR
The Stakeholder theory of CSR has gained popularity as a direct alternative to the shareholder theory of CSR. Edward Freeman, who recognizes as an important component of Corporate Social Responsibility, proposes this theory. The theory explains the importance of the stakeholders stating that a company is responsible to a wide group of stakeholders and not just the shareholders (Tsai et al., 2012). A stakeholder can be defined as anyone who is affected by the activities of a company or a business venture. This covers the suppliers, creditors, employees or even the competitors. Freeman supports the faces and names approach: which means that the stakeholders are people with names and that they should not be treated as anonymous entities.
Figure 1: Comparison between Friedman and Freeman’s CSR models.
(Source: Pedersen, 2015)
With respect to the hotel industry, the corporate Social Responsibilities of the industry encompasses various initiatives, which includes responsibilities towards the environment, its customers, employees and the community. A hotel firm’s relationship with its employees has a direct impact on the customers and eventually, the profit it generates. For instance, there has already been a case in the past when the employees of a hotel firm had boycotted over a labor related issue, which led to the cancellation of an event with five thousand potential attendees. A company’s CSR programs reflect the values and norms of the company and are an indication of how the employees identify with the company. The hotel industry is often identified as a people-focused, labor-intensive service industry in which the employees at the frontline are crucial to the success of the hotel (Park & Levy, 2014). A number of studies have observed that the service quality of the employees have a direct impact on the customer’s perception about the hotel firm, its service quality, the satisfactory levels, and their loyalty towards the company.
The hotel industry is the world’s fastest growing sector with 10 percent contribution to the global Gross Domestic Product, which almost amounts to $6.6 trillion. Keeping in mind the responsibility towards the stakeholders, the companies in the industry have begun to integrate responsible practices into their business activities. As the social, economical, and environmental conditions are developing, the industry has started to accept the notion of sustainability. The hotel industry is indulging in various CSR Activities like offering environmental friendly-labeled products, serving healthy dishes to its customers in the restaurant, and training its staff for the better organization of health related initiatives.
With respect to the interiors, the companies in the industry use lightings, which are energy saving, and ensure that the waste is recycled. Many hotel firms also participate in initiatives concerning social causes like Aids, cancer and many other mental and physical health initiatives (Calabrese et al., 2014).
The Indian hotel industry takes its corporate social activities very seriously. They are of the belief that the environment is an integral component of its stakeholders along with the customers, shareholders, suppliers, vendors and other associates. They see Corporate Social Responsibility as a potential, long term medium which can benefit the stakeholder in various environmental and social facets (Kang et al., 2012). The hotel industry in India is committed to train and educate the next generation. The industry is continuously looking for opportunities that provide job-related experiences to the young people and provide them on-job training in the hotels.
It is also apparent that the hotels in India are helping young people from the deprived backgrounds by providing them training and employment skills as well as vocational opportunities. The Indian hotel industry is striving to give its customers the best experience and services in their hotels, by creating a homely atmosphere away from home. It is seen that the hotel firms are actively taking part in the social and environmental causes which is aimed at eliminating poverty, crating shelter for the refugees, feeding poor people and helping the people in times of manmade and natural calamities (Coles et al., 2013).
It is very apparent in the hotel industry of India that they pay special attention to the well upbringing of children and ensuring their bright future. The hotel firms take initiatives to work for the children’s education, their mental and physical well-being. The hotel firms in the industry also support gender equality, establishing hostels for the homeless and for women and children. Many hotels have also taken initiatives in making old age home for the elderly. The industry also gives special attention to the protection of national heritage, culture and art, taking efforts to protect sites of historical importance. Initiatives are also taken for the development of rural and slum projects.
References:
Aguinis, H., & Glavas, A. (2012). What we know and don’t know about corporate social responsibility a review and research agenda. Journal of management, 38(4), 932-968.
Bauman, S. (2013). Principles of cyberbullying research: definitions, measures, and methodology. Routledge.
Benavides-Velasco, C. A., Quintana-García, C., & Marchante-Lara, M. (2014). Total quality management, corporate social responsibility and performance in the hotel industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 41, 77-87.
Billig, S.H., & Waterman, A.S. eds. (2014). Studying service-learning: Innovations in education research methodology. Routledge.
Bolton, L. E., & Mattila, A. S. (2015). How does corporate social responsibility affect consumer response to service failure in buyer–seller relationships?. Journal of Retailing, 91(1), 140-153.
Calabrese, A., Costa, R., Menichini, T., Rosati, F., & Sanfelice, G. (2013). Turning Corporate Social Responsibilityâ€Âdriven Opportunities in Competitive Advantages: a Twoâ€Âdimensional Model. Knowledge and Process Management, 20(1), 50-58.
Casey, D., & Sieber, S. (2016). Employees, sustainability and motivation: Increasing employee engagement by addressing sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Research in Hospitality Management, 6(1).
Chomvilailuk, R., & Butcher, K. (2014). Effects of quality and corporate social responsibility on loyalty. The Service Industries Journal, 34(11), 938-954.
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