Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility: Definition

Corporate Social Responsibility is both critical and controversial for today's society. (Werther and Chandler, 2010) Every corporate business has a responsibility to look after both the internal environment of their business, employees and shareholders and also the external society from which it operates from. Corporate businesses need to keep an eye on the effect that its having on the local community and make sure that its presence is benefiting not just the people and environments inside the business, but also the surrounding communities; by conducting itself in an ethical manner. (Mullins, 2008)

Marks & Spencer

Marks & Spencer is a very large company that is well known for its attempts at corporate social responsibility and the work it puts back into the community from which it operates; not just for its staff and customers, but for whole communities.

One example of Corporate Social Responsibility used in Marks & Spencers is the launch of their new interactive learning website; www.school-of-fish.co.uk. This website can be used as an educational resource by both teachers and families and kids. The website has a vast amount of resources that help to educate children both inside and outside the classroom. (Marks & Spencer, n.d.)

The website is part of Marks & Spencers forever fish campaign. This campaign was started by M&S to protect beaches and sea life by:

• Encouraging people to eat lesser know, British species of fish to reduce the impact that it has on the environment.
• Bringing together volunteers to clean up our beaches
• Educating the public about fish

(Marks & Spencer, n.d.)

The forever fish campaign benefits the community that Marks & Spencer operates from because it offers a free resource for both parents and teachers to teach their children and increases awareness about the threat to Britain's beaches and sea life. (Marks & Spencer, n.d.)

This campaign also benefits Marks & Spencers because it persuades people to purchase their products instead of their competitors because of the sustainable sources of fish that M&S uses and the positive impact M&S is trying to have on Britain's beaches.

The learning resources also help market Marks & Spencers and encourages people to shop in their stores. The www.school-of-fish.co.uk is partnered with Marks & Spencers so it increases their brand awareness.

Another example of Marks & Spencer using corporate social responsibility is their 'Shwopping' scheme. Marks & Spencers have introduced a scheme aiming to increase the reusing, recycling or reselling of old, unwanted clothing. This new scheme fronted by Joanna Lumley aims to get people to bring their old unwanted clothes into an M&S store and drop it into the 'Shwop Drop'; with the aim of recycling as many clothes as M&S sell. Marks & Spencer will then hand all of the old clothes they've collected to Oxfam. (Marks & Spencer, 2012)
Shwopping, Marks & Spencers attempt to revolutionise clothes shopping and increase the sustainability of our lives, is running in all of their stores (except simply food) which means that customers can use any of 1200 shwop drops across the country. All of the 'dropped' clothing will be donated to Oxfam who will then either resell, re-use, or recycle the clothing. All of the money raised will go towards helping people who live in poverty and with Marks & Spencers help, not a single item of clothing will go to landfill. (Marks & Spencer, 2012)

One direct benefit to M&S for running the 'Shwopping' campaign along with Joanna Lumley, is increased publicity and getting more people into their stores. By offering a donation service that goes to charity along with the normal services offered by Marks & Spencers, M&S is getting a competitive edge over its competitors because it's getting potential customers to come into an M&S store to donate clothing along with purchasing new clothing from the store.

Another benefit to M&S running this campaign to donate unwanted clothes is that it increases their brand awareness and also increases their reputation for a ethical and charitable company. This would potentially benefit Marks & Spencers by encouraging more people to purchase from their stores instead of one of their competitors.

In July 2011 Marks & Spencer teamed up with UNICEF to raise money to help vulnerable children around the world by helping to fund health care, education and helping to provide essential services such as clean water and sanitation. Marks & Spencer will raise funds from retaining the hangers from cloths instead of throwing them away. M&S agreed that for every box of hangers recycled, they would donate 57p to the charity. (Marks & Spencer, 2011)

6 months on from the beginning of the scheme, M&S and its customers have donated 100 million hangers; a £370,000 donation to UNICEF. The donation from Marks & Spencers helps provide education for both children and mothers along with books and pencils. It will also help provide access to clean and safe water for people in less fortunate areas. (Marks & Spencer, 2012)

One benefit to Marks & Spencers for teaming up with UNICEF is that it helps to improve the reputation of M&S as a charitable retailer. This would help persuade potential customers to shop in Marks & Spencers instead of one of its competitors. This would help give M&S a competitive edge against its competitors.

Another benefit to Marks & Spencers to running this campaign with UNICEF is that it would increase spending in its clothing section of the store. Due to the charitable campaign being run by M&S by recycling hangers, customers would be less inclined to spend money on clothing in M&S stores. This increase in spend would increase Marks & Spencers revenue.


Conclusion

Corporate Social Responsibility is not compulsory for a business to do well, but if managed correctly, businesses such as Marks & Spencers can use it not only to other peoples benefit, but also to their own. The use of CSR can also have a positive impact on the business due to increased brand awareness and increased promotion which can increase sales and push the business forward.

The increase in brand awareness can improve how successful the business is and increase the number of customers purchasing your products/services. Similarly, the increase in promotion can also increase the amount of customers purchasing your products and services.


Bibliography

Marks & Spencer (n.d.) About Forever Fish [online]. Marks and Spencer. Available from: http://plana.marksandspencer.com/we-are-doing/sustainable-raw-materials/forever-fish/about [Accessed: 24th April 2012].

Marks & Spencer (n.d.) [online]. School Of Fish. Available from: www.school-of-fish.co.uk [Accessed: 24th April 2012].

Marks & Spencer (2012) 100 million hangers collected for UNICEF [online]. Marks & Spencer. Available from: http://social.marksandspencer.com/plan-a/100-million-hangers-collected-for-unicef/ [Accessed: 28th April 2012].

Marks & Spencer (2011) Hangers Please! [online]. Marks & Spencer. Available from: http://social.marksandspencer.com/fashion-2/hangers-please/ [Accessed: 28th April 2012].

Marks & Spencer (2012) Joanna Lumley and M&S Launch Shwopping [online]. M&S Stories. Available from: http://social.marksandspencer.com/latest/joanna-lumley-and-ms-launch-shwopping/ [Accessed: 28th April 2012].

Marks & Spencer (2012) M&S Shwopping Advert [online]. YouTube. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLpao2f4eCk [Accessed: 28th April 2012].Mullins, L.J. (2008) Essentials of Organisational Behavior. 2nd ed.

Werther, W.B. and Chandler, D. (2010) Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Stakeholders in a Global Environment. 2nd ed.

Personality

Nature Vs. Nurture

The nature approach to shows that peoples personalities are inherited and passed down from their parents; it also says that the environment in which that person is surrounded by does not effect their personality. On the other hand, the nurture approach shows that someones personality depends on their surrounding environment. It says that the environment has a big impact on the persons personality; much more than is inherited from their parents. (Mullins, 2010)

The nature approach believes that peoples personalities are given to them by their parents. This ties in with the nomothetic approach which believes that personalities are fixed and can't be changed. The nomothetic approach is based on a persons characteristics that can be measured. The nomothetic approach believes that an individuals personality can be measured by measuring 'common characteristics' that relate to a persons personality. This approach believes that once peoples characteristics have been measured, the individual can then be put into a group of people with similar characteristics. (Martin, 2005)

In contrast to the nature and nomothetic approaches to personality, the nurture approach believes that a persons personality is identified mainly by the surrounding environment which has a massive effect on the persons personality. The nurture approach ties in with the idiographic approach to personalities. The idiographic approach opposes the nomothetic approach and believes that tests can't effectively measure someones personality and believes that each individuals personality is unique and can be adapted to the persons surroundings. This approach shows that peoples personalities are also open to change depending on social and cultural influences. This makes peoples personalities very difficult to measure as there are too many factors that could influence a persons personality. (Martin, 2005)

I believe that nature is a strong influence on someones personality, but nurture is the most dominant influence. I believe that the base of someones personality is handed down to them by their parents which forms the base of their personality. The rest of an individuals personality is then formed by the nurture aspects. The environment from which they live in then continually affects and alters their personality. Ive illustrated my view of nature and nurture in the form of a plant.

Personality Test

I completed an online personality test at www.shldirect.com. This online personality test asks you around 172 questions about yourself. These questions are specifically designed to work out your personality; the results from the questionnaire then go on to tell you a list of jobs that are suited to you and a list of jobs that are not suited for you.

After completing the questionnaire, the results were as follows;

SHL Great 8 Competency areas
	1	2	3	4	5
Leading and Deciding
Supporting and Cooperating
Interacting and Presenting
Analysing and Interpreting
Creating and Conceptualising
Organising and Executing
Adapting and Coping
Enterprising and Performing

The questionnaire results show that I'm competent in most of the 8 areas, but am lacking in 'Supporting and Cooperating' and 'Organising and Executing'. The Jobs that the questionnaire results suggest would be good for me are the following:

Example Roles where these behaviours are important:
- Managers/Supervisors - Judges - Company Directors	- Surgeons - Politicians - Military Officers

Personality Test Findings

The personality test has shown that I have quite a rounded set of strengths including enterprising and performing with only a couple of areas that aren't as strong; interacting, presenting, organising and executing. I believe that the personality test is accurate as the strengths and weaknesses that it has outlined match the strengths and weaknesses that I believe I have.


Conclusion

I believe that the arguement with nature vs. nurture will never be resolved. Everyones personality gets effected by different things and I believe that everyones personality is different. Personality is a balance between aspects from the nature; passed down from their parents, and nurture; the way they were brought up and the environment they were brought up in. The argument nature vs. nurture will never be resolved becuase peoples perceptions are always different based on their own personality.


Bibliography

Martin, J. (2005) Organisational behaviour and management. 3rd ed.

Mullins, L.J. (2010) Management & Organisational Behaviour. 9th ed.

Reward

How does John Lewis reward its employees?
The John Lewis Partnership is well known for its extensive employee benefits package ranging from their annual bonus, to ticket subsidies, pensions to paid holidays; their large range of rewards appeal to everyone. The John Lewis Partnership offer all of these benefits to all of their employees. This guarantees that they are treating all of their employees equally; whether they work full or part time.

Pay
John Lewis base their basic pay on the current market rate for the selected job. On top of their basic rate, John Lewis offer all staff members performance related pay. Employees get their performance reviewed once or twice a year and their pay is adjusted according to their performance. This means that employees of John Lewis get pay that relates to their performance within the business. (John Lewis, n.d.)

For example, if an employee at John Lewis works really hard and contributes to the business regularly then at their annual pay review they will be able to get paid a higher wage due to their high contribution. This review also gives employees the chance to fully discuss the pay decision.

This annual pay review ensures that all employees are treated fairly compared to their contribution to the business. The annual pay review also ensures quality because you are paid according to the effort and work you put into the business. If you work hard and contribute a lot to the business, your pay increases.

Bonus
The John Lewis partnership give all their employees; both part and full time, a bonus once a year. This annual bonus is a portion of the profits that gets given to employees as a percentage of their annual pay and is based on the success of the partnership businesses. (John Lewis, n.d.)

John Lewis offer this bonus to all of their employees; whether they work full or part time. This ensures that they are treating all of their employees the same and fairly. The bonus is offered as a percentage of the employees pay to ensure that the bonus is paid out fairly; if you work more, the higher your bonus. This promotes both fairness and equality.

Pension
John Lewis offer a final salary pension scheme for employees who have at least 3 years service. The contribution section of the partnerships pension scheme is available for employees that have less than 3 years service. This means that all employees have the chance to receive a pension once they retire. (John Lewis, n.d.)

John Lewis offers all its partners with more than 3 years service a final salary pension scheme without requiring a contribution from the employee. By offering it to every partner with more than 3 years service, John Lewis is promoting fairness because all partners get the opportunity to have a final salary pension scheme. If John Lewis only gave the opportunity to some groups of employees then this could be seen as unfair.

Discount
Every employee of the John Lewis partnership is entitled to a discount from both John Lewis and Waitrose after 3 months service. This promotes fairness in the workplace as all employees are entitled to the discount scheme; if only some employees were eligible for the discount scheme then it could seem unfair to the employees who dont receive the discount. (John Lewis, n.d.)

Ticket Subsidies
John Lewis offers their employees 50 per cent off their tickets for various shows and events. This subsidy on tickets is available to both full and part time employees of the John Lewis partnership. This also promotes fairness as all employees are eligible for the ticket subsidies supplied by John Lewis. (John Lewis, n.d.)

John Lewis offers ALL of its employees the same rewards. Both part and full time staff receive the same benefits package. This promotes equality within the business and ensures that it is used throughout the business. If John Lewis was to split its employees into groups and then offer different rewards to different groups, then employees may see this as unfair.

Chief Executives
Chief executives tend to receive large bonuses irrespectively of how well their business has performed. Below I have written out the arguments for and against Chief executives receiving large bonuses.

For

Against

A chief executive of a business could perform really well, but this could be cancelled out by external factors affecting the performance of a business such as the financial climate. This means that the business could still under perform even though the chief executive has worked really hard to try and maintain the performance of the business. The chief executive may have put in a lot of extra time into the business to make sure its performance isn't affected as much.

If a business under performs; their finance will be tight and they should not spend large amounts of money giving bonuses to their chief executives.

Bibliography
John Lewis (n.d.) Benefits [online]. WaitroseJobs. Available from: http://www.waitrosejobs.com/your-career/benefits.htm [Accessed: 10th April 2012].

Selection

Selection Methods

Online Assessment
One selection method used by John Lewis is an online assessment. John Lewis use this online assessment as their first stage of the selection process. The online assessment has two sections; one section asks applicants detailed questions about them selves, and the second section sets up situations which are related to the job role and ask applicants what they would do in the situation and why.

The first section of the assessment gives John Lewis more information about the applicant. The second section of the assessment shows John Lewis if the applicants are suitable for the job role. This helps John Lewis to narrow down the number of applicants they receive and makes sure that all the applications that go through to the next stage are suitable for the job role. This means that John Lewis can accurately narrow down the number of applicants and ensures that all applications that go through to the next stage of the selection process are suitable for the job and have the correct characteristics.

John Lewis uses this online assessment as the first stage of their application process. Online assessment is used as their first stage of their recruitment process because it only allows a small number of applicants through; who are suitable for the job role. This makes John Lewis' selection process a lot more successful because only applicants that are specifically suited to the job role get to go through to the next level of the selection process.

Pros	Cons
It can narrow down the amount of applications accurately by using a detailed set of questions. Online assessment is cheap as it is done over the internet and does not need constant attention from staff and can be used when needed. It can increase the number of applicants applying at the beginning of the selection process as it can be reached by a wide variety of people.	It could be seen as discriminatory as it is conducted online and not everyone has access to the internet. If John Lewis don't ask the applicants the correct questions then they might not get the right feedback from the assessment.

Assessment Centres
Another selection method used by John Lewis is an assessment Centre. John Lewis uses an assessment centre as the second stage of their selection process. At the assessment centre, recruitment staff ask the applicants to undertake several tasks relating to the job and asses their ability.

One of the tasks that the recruitment staff at John Lewis gets the applicants to do is to 'Sell a Product'. They give you a product and ask you to sell it to the group; pretending to sell it to a customer. This gives the recruitment staff more information about the candidate and shows them how the candidate will act in a situation that is likely to arise in the job.

Another activity that the recruitment staff at John Lewis ask candidates to do is to work in teams to think of ideas that can be used within the business to make it more successful. This shows the recruitment staff at John Lewis how the candidates act when working within a team. This relates to the job because they will be working within a team if they get the job.

John Lewis uses these assessment centres as the second stage to their selection process to further narrow down the number of applicants for the job. The assessment centre gives John Lewis the chance to see how well the applicants work with each other to complete tasks such as team building or going through an exercise that will show John Lewis how the applicant will react in a situation that is likely to arise from the job. This gives John Lewis a more detailed idea of how suitable each of the applicants are and ensures that only suitable applicants go through to the next round; narrowing the amount of applicants even further.

Pros	Cons
Gives a clear indication of how the candidate will act in a similar situation whilst working with a customer. Shows the recruitment staff how well the candidate can work within a team.	Assessment centres are expensive as they require several members of staff at all times.

Interview
The third selection method used by John Lewis is an interview. This stage of the selection process allows John Lewis to ask specific questions to each candidate and helps the recruitment staff at John Lewis to make a justified decision on who to employ.

This final stage of the selection process allows John Lewis to decide which applicant(s) they are going to employ with justified reasons. John Lewis uses interviews as the final stage of their recruitment process because it allows them to see in detail which candidates are best suited for the job. If interviews were used at the start of their selection process, it would become very time consuming and would also cost a lot of money.

Pros	Cons
Gives a very clear view of how suitable an applicant is for the job. Indicates further how the applicant will act whilst on the job.	Interviews cost a lot of money as they require several members of staff and they also take up a lot of time.

Interview
I was invited to an interview by an employer after I applied for a job online. The employer didn't give any indication about the interview or how it was going to be ran. The interview consisted of several stages; the first stage was a group interview. To save both time and money, the employer ask a group of the applicants into a room at a time to be interviewed by several interviewers.

The interviewers asked a series of questions to the group. They then assessed each individual in their contribution to the discussion and their answers. This was not an effective way to interview applicants because all it showed was who was more dominant within the group; It bared no relevance to the job role. This meant that the interview was not effective because it wasn't relevant to the job vacancy that they were trying to fill. This meant they might of employed the wrong applicant that wasn't the best applicant for the job.


The Co-operative
The Co-operative allow people to apply for jobs online, but dont ask thorough questions to the applicants. They only ask 9 questions; 5 of which are questions directly related to you, and the remaining 4 about your previous experience and why you would like to work for the Co-operative. (The Co-operative, n.d.)

By only having 5 questions that ask the applicants about their views, experience and knowledge, The Co-operative is not using its online application process effectively. Online application proccesses tend to be cheap to run and can vastly narrow down the number of applicants that go through to the next stage of the selection process.

If The Co-operative was to use its online application process more effectively, it would be able to narrow down the number of applicants effectively; ensuring that all applicants that get through have the right skills and suitable for the job role. This would also save the Co-operative a lot of money as online assessments are generally cheap to run as they automatically sort through the applications and only allow applicants through who are suitable for the job role.


Conclusion
In this ecenomic climate, employers are trying to get the best people suited to the job, whilst trying to save money in their reruitment process. This means that employers are now resorting to online applications which vastly narrow down applicants before they even meet them. This makes their recruitment process a lot more effective and also saves them a lot of money. If employers dont addapt their recruitment process to the climate they're in then they could potentially waste a lot of time and money on a recruitment process that doesn't effectively narrow down the amount of applicants.


Bibliography

The Co-operative (n.d.) Apply Online [online]. The Co-operative. Available from: https://careers.co-operative.jobs/careers/advanced.aspx [Accessed: 10th April 2012].