Posted: August 11th, 2022

CORP5060 Corporate Social Responsibility Assignment

Corporate Social Responsibility

Essay on ONE current ethics or corporate social responsibility related issue/problem affecting ONE of the following companies: Lego, Burger King, HSBC, British Airways or Facebook.
Assignment Brief

Module Title Corporate Social Responsibility Assignment Number 2
Module Code CORP5060 Assignment Title Essay on Business Ethics/Corporate Social Responsibility

Submission Date/Time: 17/08/22 (12 noon UK time)

Assessment Information – What you need to do

For this assignment, the task is to write a 2,500 word essay on ONE current ethics or corporate social responsibility related issue/problem affecting ONE of the following companies: Lego, Burger King, HSBC, British Airways or Facebook.

Please note that this is a different question from what you submitted in May.

You will need to i) choose ONE of the companies listed above (please note that you cannot choose a particular company if you have used it in a previous assignment) and ii) choose a business ethics or CSR issue relevant to that company. The choice of company is limited to the list above (i.e. Lego, Burger King, HSBC, British Airways or Facebook).

The business ethics/CSR issue is an open choice (except you cannot use the 1997 Lego spill if you choose Lego as this was discussed during one of our seminars). However, you should think carefully about which issue you choose – it must be relevant. For example, climate change would be a better issue to choose for British Airways than for Facebook. Similarly, data privacy is more relevant to Facebook than British Airways. Choose wisely. The choice is yours when it comes to business ethics and CSR (except you cannot use the 1997 Lego spill if you choose Lego as this was discussed during one of our seminars). But you should think carefully about the topic you choose, because it needs to be important. For example, a better topic for British Airways than for Facebook would be climate change. In the same way, Facebook is more concerned with data privacy than British Airways. Make wise choices.

Do not devote your essay to describing the company and their CSR initiatives; this only makes up 20% of the mark. Equally, we are not asking you to ‘praise’ the company; try to take a detached, critical and evaluative perspective on their CSR interventions e.g. do not say ‘Burger King is the most environmentally-friendly company and the best for 20 years’, especially not without external and reliable references.

In order to pass this assignment:

o The essay must be related to an ethics or CSR problem e.g. do not use topics like ‘brand management’, ‘investor relations’, ‘increasing market share’, ‘customer relationship management’. If you choose a topic that cannot realistically fall under the umbrella of ethics/CSR you will not pass this assignment. If you are unsure what would constitute a business ethics/CSR issue, consult a CSR report from your chosen company and use one of the issues they are discussing/addressing.
o The essay must use academic papers and other contemporary sources (e.g. news articles, company reports). This is important; do not limit yourself to media articles, websites and company reports. Your essay must include academic references and must include a discussion of relevant theories/frameworks, which must also be properly referenced. Please see lecture recordings if you are unsure about this. Is the company showing an ethical/instrumentalist/integrative perspective? On what evidence do you base this on? What key academic authors advocate this particular perspective (e.g. Freeman, Friedman, Porter and Kramer etc.)? E.g. you could say ‘Based on the extensive interaction they have with X/Y/Z stakeholders Company X is clearly displaying an integrative perspective of CSR’.

Criteria for Assessment – How you will be marked
The essay will be marked according to the criteria below. This takes into account, and aligns with, DMU’s postgraduate marking descriptors (available here).

Task / Criteria
Weighting
1
Overview of company and their approach towards CSR and Business Ethics
20%
2
Description of ethical/corporate social responsibility issue and why/how it is relevant and important to your chosen company
20%
3
Critical analysis of the company’s strategy to deal with the issue (e.g. why are they addressing this, how are they responding, is the response effective/right, should they have responded in a different way, and what theoretical perspective does this show?)

40%
4
Structure, coherence, clarity and presentation.
20%

Assessment Details

Your submission must meet following requirements:
• The front page must include your P number, the module title and code (CORP5060 ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’) but not your name as we mark your work anonymously.
• The word count must not exceed 2,500 words. There will be a penalty of a deduction of 10% of the mark for work exceeding the word limit by 10% or more.
• Note that the word count includes tables, figures, quotations and citations, but it excludes the cover page, appendices, and list of references.
• For citation of references / evidence, you are required to use DMU’s Harvard referencing system: “Cite Them Right”. ”
• Use Arial font size 11 or 12 and at least 1.15 line spacing and (preferably) use Microsoft Word.

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