IMPACTS OF POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY BEHAVIOUR ON COMPANY PERFORMANCE IN HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

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Acknowledgement

I would take this opportunity to thank my research supervisor, family and friends for their support and guidance without which this research would not have been possible.

DECLARATION

I, [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

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Abstract

In spite of increasing concern for corporate social responsibility (CSR) in various industries including the hospitality industry, the connection between CSR activities and financial performance is a seldom analyzed subject in the hospitality context. Especially, study assessing the separate impacts of positive and negative CSR activities on companies' financial performances continues, as yet, unconsidered. Thus, this study examines different impacts of positive and negative CSR activities on financial performance of inn, casino, and bistro and airline businesses, theoretically founded on positivity and negativity effects. Findings propose blended outcomes over different industries and will assist to companies' befitting strategic decision-making for CSR activities by supplying more accurate data considering the impacts of each directional CSR activity on financial performance.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION6

Background6

Purpose of Study7

Objectives of Study7

Significance of Study8

Scope of Study8

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW10

Corporate social responsibility in the hospitality industry10

What is CSR?11

Benefits of CSR programs13

CSR reports15

Stakeholders17

Sustainability18

Environment19

Social impacts20

CSR and Financial Performance22

Negativity result vs. Positivity effect26

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY31

Methodology31

Model31

Dependant Variable32

Interest Variables and Command Variables34

Data Analysis36

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION41

Results41

Descriptive Statistics41

Discussion and Analysis48

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION63

Conclusion63

Limitations and Proposed Future Research67

REFERENCES68

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Background

With an increasing concern for corporate social responsibility (CSR), premier businesses in various industries, driven by companies' stakeholders, buyers, societies and authorities, are accelerating plans to illustrate their CSR commitments. For demonstration, General Electric started “Ecomagination” (a neologism blending ecology with imagination) as its strategic key phrase (Business Wire, 2005) and ever since has proceeded to arrange comprehensive accounts on ecological issues (Fibre2fashion, 2008). Along with this general tendency of public and corporate attention to CSR matters, the hospitality industry has demonstrated an ever expanding concern in CSR. For demonstration, the number of CSR and ecological report pieces on a hospitality industry web location, Hospitality Net,3 expanded from 63 in 1999 to 139 in 2007 with 10.4% aggregate yearly development rate while the number of general report expanded with just a 2.8% aggregate yearly development rate. More premier hospitality businesses, encompassing Hilton, Starwood, Choice Hotels, Starbucks and McDonald's, solely supply CSR-related reports. Also, at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, sustainable and eco-friendly timber key cards debuted at inns, and next the International Air Transport Association's acknowledgement of airline business' social, economic and ecological leverages (International Air Transport Association, n.d.), airlines encompassing British Airways, SAS Group, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair commenced carbon-offsetting programs to assist finance ecological tasks (ATAG, n.d., Armstrong, 2008 and Kjelaggard, 2007).

Purpose of Study

The purpose of this study, thus, is to analyze the separate impacts of positive and negative ...