Csr Case - How Much Essential Tool to Sustain in the Competitive Business World

Abstract

The aim and objective of this study is to find out that CSR is how much essential tool to sustain in the competitive business world. Throughout this study I tried to show logical arguments why CSR is essential I have also mentioned some arguments against it. The logical arguments in favor of CSR is the use of CSR as a tool to create corporate image, enjoy competitive advantage, face hypercompetitive market, attract stakeholders, produce potential business benefits, perform ethical responsibility .There are also some negative viewpoints relevant to this issues. .After all I tried to focus on the fact through literature review that CSR is very much effective tool for business organization as it produces mutual benefits for the organization and society. The effectiveness of CSR is supported from survey analysis and findings. To justify the effectiveness and relevance of CSR as an effective tool to sustain in the competitive business world, three questionnaire surveys have been conducted for different interest groups of Standard Chartered Bank. Three samples have been taken for managers, employees and customers. The sample size was 7, 20 and 25 respectively. Total 21 questions were designed. Both primary and secondary sources have been used to collect both types of data. The research is done on the basis of quantitative and qualitative approaches. Some questionnaires have been made on the basis thesis statement. The respondents of questionnaire are managers, employees and customers of Standard Chartered Bank. The above mentioned respondents were asked some questions regarding policy and overall scenario of CSR of Standard Chartered Bank. The respondents wisely responded according to question design. Most of the questions which were asked to them were related to the necessity and current condition of CSR activities of Standard Chartered Bank. The most of the respondents responded in such a way which indicates that, although the overall scenario of CSR of Standard Chartered Bank is satisfactory to gain competitive advantage and to sustain, Standard Chartered Bank should on CSR policy and programs to do well in business in future and to attract more customers.

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 The Introduction

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a term that is now a buzzword in the modern business world. CSR generally refers to the responsibilities of the corporate houses towards the society. It is now a burning issue in the present time. It is known to all that every business belongs to the society. Business firms manage all the inputs from the society and also sell their outputs (products/services) to the society. So it is clear that society and business units are closely interrelated. One is impossible without the existence of another one. Today, businesses are performing in the hypercompetitive market. Every corporation is trying to be different from others in the market to get competitive advantages. For this, they are following various value adding approaches. It is CSR which is very crucial element of them. From our daily experiences, it is obvious to all that the companies with the involvement of CSR are performing better than those companies which are not concentrating on CSR. For this reason, big corporate houses of the world are focusing more on CSR besides their business oriented activities. They have now realized that to sustain in the competitive business world, there is no scope to ignore corporate social responsibilities. On the other hand, there are many back dated organizations which consider CSR as a useless expenses. As a result, they do not concentrate on CSR. This type 0f organizations are lagging behind compared to their competitors. Recent observation made by economist intelligence unit's shows that 85% of the investors and executives surveyed told that corporate social responsibility is now a core and vital consideration in the investment decision making. But corporate social responsibility concept is not very long. It is a recent invention in the corporate world. The policy to form interrelation with society was taken into consideration by American and European companies at 1970s. The concept of corporate social responsibility was established not more than 20 years ago. From the beginning of the invention of CSR it was thought that companies have to react to the problems made by them or from the consequences of their own activities. This attitude has supported the concept that organization must be proactive that they should respond to a vast range of social problems because they have the expertise and the power to do so. As the economy of the country mostly depends on the banking industries, it is essential for a bank to run smoothly. To run properly sustaining with other Banking and non banking competitors, corporate social responsibility is the most crucial elements. From this viewpoint standard chartered bank ltd, a leading global bank is also maintaining CSR activities strongly to enjoy competitive advantages and to maintain good relation with the society. Standard chartered bank (SCB) ltd was established in 1969 through a merger of two banks. One of them was the standard bank of British South Africa which established in 1863 and the one was the chartered bank of India, China, and Australia which was established in 1853. From the beginning of 1990 standard chartered was concentrated on developing franchise in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. From the earliest of 2000 the bank had gained some milestones having a number of strategic acquisitions and alliances. The bank is now performing all over the world including developing and developed countries. It has become one of the prominent banks in the world by providing different kinds of services including consumer banking, wholesale banking, SME banking, Islamic banking and so on. Besides providing these regular banking activities it is now performing different types of social welfare activities which mostly include corporate social responsibilities (CSR). The corporate social responsibilities of standard chartered bank ltd covers eye care, HIV protection, sports, research issue, education, environmental protection, and so on. The bank is now sponsoring different kinds of sports and cultural activities around the globe. It also spends huge amount of money on different kinds of research purposes. Besides this function this bank is now helping poor and meritorious students by providing financial assistance mostly on the developing countries. This bank has already got the best banking awards for corporate social responsibilities in many countries. It is clear that, the reasons of developing business around the world not only depend