The embryonic notion of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

The embryonic notion of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

The embryonic notion of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or shared value is the center of attraction for a large number of researchers and business associates (Aksak, E. 2016). CSR has become the core objective of the company’s policies in order to bring social and environmental defies on a single platform to address them (Baik, B., 2016). The solutions to these social and environmental issues will eventually increase the probability of future gains in terms of the social, economic, and financial stability of a company (Chung, C.Y.2018). Therefore, the business gurus agreed on the importance of those activities which are interconnected with societal benefits as they lead toward to upsurge the goodwill and sustain its reputation (Cui, J.2018). Hence, the research on present business tactics highlights the importance of a need to restructure the policies to integrate the concerns regarding CSR in it. The reporting and CSR practices give an outline for attaining this type of comprehensive performance. However, the concept of CSR is not unique (Ting, P.H., 2018).  For decades, in both explicit and implicit ways, business managers, stakeholders, and academic researchers are finding solutions to integrate CSR in a coherent manner (Habel, J., 2016.).Thus, there are a plethora of definitions associated with the idea of CSR, which sets multiple perceptive of social and environmental aspects of the concept of CSR. According to Commission of the European Communities (2001), it is an integration of social concerns by organizations in their corporate tasks embedded in the voluntary efforts of all the stakeholders (Kumar, A, 2018). These efforts are linked with the overall practices of trade authority which are connected to strategies and processes which are emphasis the improvement rights, protection, and social conditions of the employees (Ting, P.H. 2018). Hence, the importance of social sustainability is crucial for the profitability of the company, and the scope of future gains and profitability has increased with the public interest (Wang, H., 2016). The latest term of CSR is an investment of between the stakeholder and organization to maximize the profitability through employees, customers, and the community’s participation (Jia, X., 2020). These kinds of abstract investments are based on providing a safe and healthy atmosphere for the workers, which includes their social well-being and protection of social rights (Kumar, K., 2019)

Due to the reasons mentioned above, which changed the whole paradigm of thinking of business managers as now employments, mental health, and stakeholders’ well-being are at the top of the list of the academic discourses and policy-making processes (Teh, B.H., 2019).As a result, the organizations have realized that their ultimate goal, which is to get the maximum profit, is not achieved without catering to the CSR issue through accomplishing the prospects of relevant interested parties (Dasgupta, S.A. 2019). The contemporary studies are aiming to identify and develop an active link among organizations and stakeholders to create a conducive environment for their professional and personal growth.

Furthermore, these researches also recognized that the sustainable performance of the organizations are based on those operations which are connected to moral actions grounded in environmental and social benefits (Wang., 2018) To analyze these operations in detail, the academics and cooperate  managers use an integrated approach through both concrete and abstract means for evaluating and measuring the relation of CSR with future gains of the organization (Lim, J.S. 2017). Abstract resources include goodwill and customer loyalty, and concrete resources construct water consumption or cost for energy consumed (Kim, S., 2019). The above discussion highlighted the importance of CSR and its effect on the profitability of the organization. This dissertation is particularly emphases on the oil and gas sector of the United Kingdom (UK) in the perspective of Royal Dutch Shell

• Aim of the research

The primary aim of the research is to acquire an in-depth understanding along with the identification of the fact that the effect of the CSR activities plays a pivotal role in escalating the profitability of the organization. The research is significantly concentrating on the implementation of the CSR activities in the oil and gas sector of the United Kingdom. For this purpose of evaluation of the impact of CSR activates, the Shell company is selected as it deals with oil and gas on an extensive level. Additionally, the purpose of the research is to first detect and discuss the broad perception of the CSR activities to gain an understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of the CSR activities. Correspondingly, the aim of this research is to recognize the substantial impact of CSR activities on the productive performance and profitability of the organizations, with a particular focus in the oil and gas sector.

• Research Objectives

The dissertation is based on those objectives which are developed by keeping in view the aim of the research, and these objectives are expected to obtain the research aim. The most substantial and effectively defined research objectives are mentioned in the above lines:

1. To evaluate the role of CSR activities on the profitability of the most renowned oil and gas company (Royal Dutch Shell)
2. To review the existing corporate social responsibility activities of the above-stated firm.
3. To understand and analyze how the fact of how corporate social responsibility activities are helpful for Shell to maintain their profitability and goodwill in the fluctuating economic conditions.
4. To explore the long-term impact of the corporate social responsibility activities on the performance and profitability of Shell

• Research Questions

The research questions are developed on the basis of the objectives of the research study, and these research questions will be answered in the research study for meeting the objectives of the paper. The primary research question for this paper is as follows

“What is the impact of corporate social responsibility activities on the profitability of the oil and gas sector, more specifically, Shell?

• Significance of the research

The dissertation is a milestone in terms of providing research-based solutions to see the impact of CSR responsibilities for the present organizations. The literature shows that there are extensive researches is done to see the significance level of CSR activities on the corporate sector. However, is has been observed that there are fewer researches are done on the oil and gas sector, so this qualitative research will considerably evaluate and discuss the impact of CSR activities of the companies operating in the oil and gas industry of the UK.

• Scope of the research

Even though the research is conducted by focusing on the practices of oil and gas firms, nonetheless, this research also has a broader range. The impact of these research findings can be applied to the other private and public organizations working in several industries to evaluate the impact of CSR on profitability.