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RESPONSIBILITY
ON
FIRM'S
CORPORATE IMAGE (A CASE STUDY
OF DANGOTE PLC)
Contents
Chapter One:............................................................................................................................... 3
Aim and Objectives of Research..................................................................................................3
Research Questions.................................................................................................................... 3
Significance of Research.............................................................................................................4
Organizations Preview................................................................................................................4
Chapter Two: Literature Review...................................................................................................6
Proposed Model:.......................................................................................................................... 8
Chapter Three: Methodology.......................................................................................................8
The research onion...................................................................................................................... 8
Research Philosophy...................................................................................................................9
Research Methods..................................................................................................................... 10
Data Collection Tools................................................................................................................. 11
Primary Data Collection Tools.................................................................................................11
Secondary Data Collection Tools............................................................................................12
Sampling and Population........................................................................................................... 12
Data Analysis Methods.............................................................................................................. 13
Research Ethics......................................................................................................................... 13
Research Timeline..................................................................................................................... 14
References................................................................................................................................ 15
Chapter One:
Aim and Objectives of Research
The area selected for the proposed research is corporate social responsibility in
perspective of the image of the company. The proposed research will be conducted to
answer the several questions regarding the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and
its influence on the corporate image. The aim of the research is:
To evaluate the influence of the corporate social responsibility on the image of the
Dangote Plc
The aim of the proposed study will be evaluated in the light of following objectives:
social responsibility
To analyse the practices by which Dangote Plc has incorporated the economical,
environmental and social decisions of corporate social responsibility I its
practices
To examine the influence of economical, environmental and social practices of
Research Questions
The research questions have very important role in every study because entire study
aims at the research questionings. In this way, development of clear and appropriate
research questions is also crucial. If research questions are vague and unclear, the
results of the research can also be ineffective and unreliable. The researcher has
developed the following research questions for the proposed study:
practices?
How has Dangote Plc incorporated economical, social and environmental
Significance of Research
The proposed study will be highly appropriate to evaluate the influence of the
economical, environmental and social practices of corporate social responsibility
influence the image of the Dangote Plc. The corporate social responsibility stance has
been highly important in the current business world because of increasing knowledge of
the customers, suppliers and other stakeholders of the organizations. Although, many
researchers have evaluated this research area in an effective way, but a large volume of
such studies has ignored the African countries. In this way, the proposed study will be
significant to evaluate the crucial and under researched area of literature. The findings
of the proposed study will be effective to examine the extent by which an African
corporation incorporates CSR in its economical, environmental and social practices.
Organizations Preview
The proposed study will be aimed at the Dangote Group which is an important
corporation in the West Africa. It has been preferred as one of the most diversified
business conglomerates in the Africa. The business focus of the Dangote Group is one
the provision of value added products and services to the local people to meet the
needs of local population in an effective manner. The company has effectively
developed the manufacturing capacity for generating the employment opportunities in
Nigeria. It was established in 1981 as a trading business. Initially, the focus of the
company was on the cement (Dangote Group, 2013). However, with the expansion, the
company diversified into cement flour, fish and salt industries. By 1990s, the company
had grown into the largest trading companies of the Nigeria.
effectively incorporated the CSR practices (Dangote Group, 2013). In the proposed
study, the researcher will evaluate that how Dangote Group has been benefiting from
CSR practices to improve its image.
(2009) Ellen et al (2006) have evaluated that the CSR is the continuing
environment (Polonsky and Jevons, 2009). Reputation is also explored as the unique
and distinctive set of skills for delivering the economic and non-economic benefits to the
stakeholders. Researchers have also explored that the corporate reputation may also
serve as the motivation for the organizations to engage in the corporate social
responsibility initiatives and, in this way, the positive reputation gained by the
organization can be considered as the outcome of the corporate social responsibility
initiatives (Garberg and Fombrun, 2006). In addition, Rettab et al. (2009) have also
explored that the CSR influences the organizational financial performance in a positive
way. Moreover, they also explored that the CSR initiatives adopted by the organization
have positive association with the corporate reputation even in the emerging economies
where it is expected that the CSR practices adopted by the organization will not be
effectively communicated to the external stakeholders because of ineffective
communication channels.
The brief preview of literature suggests that CSR initiatives may have positive influence
on the corporate image. This literature will be further exploded deeply in the proposed
study to evaluate how the previous researchers have theorized the relationship between
corporate image and corporate social responsibility initiatives.
Proposed Model:
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Research Philosophy
The proposed research will be conducted through positivism methodology by which
research problem has been investigated through facts and figures by using scientific
methods (David, 2004).
social responsibility through scientific methods so that factual evidence can be obtained.
By using positivism philosophical stance, the researcher will use be able to research the
influence of CSR on the corporate image of the Dangote from objective view point
without any assumptions. The positive philosophy provides opportunity to the
researchers to incorporate qualitative and quantitative methods in the research (Bryman
and Bell, 2007). In this regard, the researcher is able to get logical and factual influence
of the CSR on the corporate image of the Dangote. Therefore, the proposed philosophy
is appropriate for the research to achieve its defined aims and objectives.
Research Methods
In order to achieve the aims and objectives of the proposed study, the researcher will
select the qualitative and quantitative research methods.
methods are exploratory in nature because they aim at explaining the research purpose
in detail without any empirical evidence (Denscombe and Martyn, 2007). By using the
qualitative research methods, the researcher will be able to go deeper in the influence
of CSR on the corporate image of Dangote Plc. In this way, the researcher will be able
to explore the hidden facts and minor details of the influence of CSR on the Dangotes
image. In order to apply the qualitative research methods I the proposed study, the
researcher will have the choices of focus group discussions, interviews, unstructured
observations and bulletin boards methods f data collection (Bostock, 2005). However,
the researcher will not apply all these methods in the proposed study but will prefer to
select any one of these methods which will suit the aims and objectives of the proposed
study.
The researcher will also use the quantitative research methods in the proposed study to
get the empirical evidence of the influence of CSR policies on the corporate image of
Dangote. The purpose of applying these methods in the proposed study will be to
quantify the relationship between CSR and corporate image.
In addition, the
quantitative methods quantify the research problems over a large population. In order to
apply the quantitative research methods, the researcher will have the choices of online,
paper or phone survey, click stream and point of purchase (Bostock, 2005). In the
proposed study, the researcher will select the appropriate data collection methods which
will suit its research aims and objectives.
The application of qualitative and quantitative research methods in the proposed study
will be appropriate for the achievement of all aims and objectives of the proposed study
because both methods will complement the findings of each other. In this way, the
results of the proposed study will be factual and logical. Moreover, the implementation
of quantitative and qualitative research methods in the proposed study will also be
aligned with the positivism philosophy.
proposed study, the researcher will select the appropriate data collection tools which are
suitable and convenient to apply in the proposed study.
tool for the collection of primary data from customers of the Dangote Plc. In the
proposed study, a close end questionnaire will be used for the collection of data. The
close end questionnaire will generate the quantitative data for the study.
Self
administered questionnaire survey will be used for the collection of data in the study so
that originality can be enhanced.
In addition to the survey tool, the researcher will also apply the interview technique for
the collection of primary data. However, the interview technique will be used for
collection for data from the managers of the Dangote. The purpose of the application of
interview technique in the proposed study is to get the deeper insight of the managers
about the influence of CSR on the Dangotes image. In this way, the researcher will able
to analyze the influence of CSR on corporate image not only from customers
perspective but also from the managers point of view. The researcher will select the
structured interviews for the collection of data from the managers of the Dangote. The
structured interviews will be easy to conduct and apply in the proposed study because it
will not take much time and effort of the researcher. Moreover, the participants will also
be at ease to provide the feedback on questions asked.
The sample questions which would be asked from the management respondents will
include:
collect the secondary data from the recent journal articles and books to evaluate the
research purpose and aims in the current scenario.
Research Ethics
For the conduction of every research, it is highly important to observe ethical and moral
principles. In order to conduct the proposed study, the researcher will follow the
appropriate
ethical
considerations
in
diverse
perspectives.
Following
ethical
Permission will be taken from the companys officials before collection of data
The customer participants will not be pressurized to take their response on the
questionnaire
Fair interpretation of data will be conducted
Fair analysis will be made on the primary data
The sources of data will be clearly mentioned
Research Timeline
Following timeline will be followed in the proposed study to evaluate the influence of the
corporate social responsibility practices on the corporate image:
Weeks
Designing Research
proposal
Approval
of
Research Proposal
1st
Week
2nd
Week
3rd
Week
4th
Week
5th
Week
6th
Week
7th
Week
Literature Review
Designing
questionnaire
for
survey and interview
Collection
of
Primary
data
through survey and
interview
Analysis of Primary
data
Writing
Research
Report
Meeting
with
supervisor
Changes in first
8th
Week
draft of research
Second review by
supervisor
Final Preparation of
Research
References
1. Bostock. (2005). Review of Doing research in the real world by David E.
Gray. Nurse Researcher 12:90.
2. Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2007). Business Research Methods, 2nd ed., Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Companys
History.
Available
at:
17. Saunders, M. Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2009) Research Methods for Business
Students. 5 th Ed. Harlow: Pearson Education.