Corporate Social Responsibility of Hospitality Industry

Executive summary

This report is regarding the corporate social responsibility that is being followed by the hospitality industry in Australia. The hotel that is being taken into consideration for the report is the Southern Cross Hotel in Melbourne, which is considered to be one of the oldest hotels in Australia. The information regarding the environmental policy is taken into consideration for the evaluation of the corporate social responsibility of the company.

The entire report has been divided into three important segments, which include the Introduction, the review of the literature, and the research process. The introduction phase provides the basis regarding the area of the report as well as the aim and objectives of the research. The review of the literature gives information related to the importance of corporate social responsibility and the link of the CSR with environmental sustainability. The review of the literature also suggests a process that can be applied for the implementation of environmental sustainability. The research methodology process emphasizes the process, design of the research along with the data collection.

Introduction

Corporate Social Responsibility is considered to be a model for business where the management of a company or industry makes use of the business profit to make a positive change in the business industry. Corporate social responsibility is considered to be a power that provides leverages for the employees to make sure that they can make use of the business resources for the betterment of the society. Several important aspects related to the corporate social responsibilities that are important for the business organization are Environmental Protection, Management of the Human Resource, and consumption of the energy. Various important externals factors that play an important role in corporate social responsibility considered to be the intervention of the government, market forces, and the scrutiny of the public (Kim et al. 2018).

Research overview and background       

The hospitality industry is considered to be one of the major contributors to the annual GDP in Australia as the annual revenue from the hotel management presently stands at $3.5 billion in the year 2025. On the other hand, the projected revenue of the hospitality industry is also expected to make the growth of almost 45% until the year 2025 to become almost $7 billion. This provides an opportunity for the hotels to make sure that they can make substantial growth for the visitors. One of the main reasons behind the growth of the hospitality sector is considered to be the reduction of the environmental footprint (Luu et al. 2019). As per the report, it can be stated that the emission of the carbon footprint and the waste of the water has reduced by more than 10% for the last 5 years in Australia. However, this entire process has caused more than $1 million on an average per year for the hotels. Hence, it is important to have an understanding regarding the manners that are being used by the hotels in Australia to ensure that the environment pollution is reduced. The selection of the Southern Cross Hotel is being selected for the research as it is considered to be one of the oldest hotels in Melbourne. The hotels have been situated in the year 1961 and started the operation in the year 1962 and have been awarded as one of the most outstanding buildings outside the European Union. One of the finest memories of the hotel is considered to be the visit to the most famous band Beatles in the year 1964. Since then the hotels have maintained their stature for various reasons such as the donation of the cloths of the bedsheets of Beatles for charity (Ajarah 2011). Apart from this, the hotels have also maintained significant milestones regarding the implementation of sustainability practices to make sure that they can make a positive influence on the market and gain a positive image in the society.

Problem statement

The hospitality sector is considered to be one of the largest sectors of the production of employment all across the world. In Australia, the contribution of the Hotels and the Tourism sector contributes more than $35 billion to the annual GDP of Australia, which is more than 2% of the annual GDP of Australia and also employs more than 6 million people. However, it has been seen that the label of pollution in Australia has increased as a result of the growth in the population and an increase in the tourism sector. Growth in the tourism sector has implied that there is a larger number of people are traveling to the hotel and the activity of the hotel increases. The pollution of water in Australia has increased from more than 1,70,000 tonnes in the year 1950 to more than 280,000,000 in the year 2019 (Munro 2018). The contribution from the hospitality industry is expected to be more than 10% of the total annual GDP. Hence, the report needs to have an understanding of the ways the hospitals are ensuring a reduction in the pollution of the water to make sure that they can have sustainable run the hotel market. The selection of the Southern Cross Hotel is important as it is one of the prestigious hotel institutions in the world with more than 50 years of running. This hotel is also called the first American Modelled Hotel that has been inaugurated in Australia. Hence, it can be stated the selection of the hotel is justified for the writing of the report (Kang, Lee & Yoo, 2016).

This report is considered to be beneficial for small hotels as well as the new hotels that are likely to open in the future. This report presents the importance of the implementation of the environmental sustainability factors in the Hospitality industry. This report also states how the implementation of the sustainability policy can be done to make sure that the policy can be implemented cheaply.

Research Aim

The aim of the research is the following:

To find out the importance of Environment Sustainability and its influence on the corporate social responsibility of the hospitality industry.

The objective of the research purposes are considered to be

• To find out the importance of the Corporate Social Responsibility Policy of the industries.  
• To portray the impact of the environment protection on environmental sustainability.
• To find out how sustainability can be achieved.

Literature review

Importance of the Corporate Social Responsibility policy for the Companies

There are various important factors related to the CSR that are considered to be beneficial for the companies. According to Abad-Segura, Cortés-García, and Belmonte-Ureña (2019), the use of Corporate Social Responsibility is important for the companies to make sure that to improve their image in the society. The efficient implementation of corporate social responsibility is important for the companies to make sure that their public image improves. The improvement in the brand image is helpful for them to make sure that they spread brand awareness. An increase in brand awareness is helpful for the companies to make sure that they can make gain more loyal customers by improving the engagement with the customers. On the other hand, Randle, Kemperman, and Dolnicar (2019) have stated that the advantage over the competitors is considered to be the main benefit of the implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility. With the implementation of corporate social responsibility, the corporation can distinctively present themselves. However, De Grosbois (2016) has countered with stating that the implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility is more suitable for the employees that are working in the corporation. The employees in the companies become more productive in their work, which makes them more motivated to work harder for the industry. This encouragement is considered to be beneficial for the employees to make sure that they make growth in their professional as well as personal life.

Impacts of the Environment protection on the Corporate Social responsibility in Southern Cross Hotel

According to Wong, Kim, and Lee (2019) environment, CSR is considered to be the factor that has the aim to reduce the damages in the environment. Some of the important activities that are important for the reduction of environmental pollution are considered to be the reduction in the use of Energy consumption and Proper management of the Waste. For example, the Southern Cross Hotel has made use of various policies to make sure that they reduce the impact of environmental pollution. The hotel has implemented a system to make sure that they differentiate the bins in different bins such as Red Lid, Padlocked Blue, and Yellow Lid. The use of the RED Lid is done for the recycling of the Food Scraps and Soiled Food Containers and the Yellow LID is being identified as the Plastic Bottle Containers and the aluminum cans. On the other hand, Kasemsap (2018) has stated that the implementation of the environmental CSR is considered to be impossible for small companies as the infrastructure for the Recycling process need significant fund. The allocation of the budgets for CSR is considered to be more than $1 million per year in Australia. The implementation of such facilities is considered to be difficult for small companies with 10 to 100 people. Even for large companies, spending more than $1 million per year is tough as it reduces the monitory profit significantly. For example, the Southern Cross Hotel makes annual earnings of around $15 million, which implies that they have spent almost 7% of their yearly profit behind the implementation of the sustainability policy. Adding to these Hameed et al. (2019) have also stated that the implementation of the CSR is less advantageous for the company as it is subjected to heavy scrutiny. Hence, if there is any possibility of making sure that there is a flaw in the proper implementation of the sustainability policy, then the reputation of the corporation can be damaged significantly.

Ways in which environmental sustainability is attained in the Southern Cross Hotel.

To make sure that the small companies can make sure that they can implement the sustainability policy, the companies need to make sure that they find a comparatively cheap method for the implementation of the sustainability policy.

According to Luo, Huang, and Lam (2019) implementation of proper goal and efficiency procedures related to energy consumption is considered to be the most efficient method for the development of environmental sustainability at a cheap cost. Some of the important habits that are needed to be developed for efficient implementation is considered to be switching off the light and other electronic devices before leaving the office. In this manner, small organizations can make sure that they can make again in environmental sustainability. Continuation of these habits is considered to be helpful for small companies as they can reduce the emission of the greenhouse gas that comes out of the electronic lights. This process not only reduces the waste of the water and helps to enhance energy efficiency but also can be helpful to reduce the electric bills, which is important for the companies to make a better profit. On the other hand, Jalilvand et al. (2018) have stated that the implementation of such policies is considered to be impossible for the companies belonging to the hospitality sector. The main reason is the fact that the companies are required to make sure that welcome the guest all the time. Hence they need to come out with innovative technologies to make sure that they can implement the recycling technology in a much cheaper manner. Hence, the author has suggested the onsite wastewater system, which is a Japanese technology for the implementation of the water management system. In this technology, water purifies the system with microorganisms helps to make sure that the carbon and other pollutants are disposed of. In this manner, small hotels can make use of the wastewater treatment system to make sure that they reduce the generation of water waste. For example, the Southern Cross Hotel is making use of this technology to make sure that they can reduce water waste. Along with this, the hotel also makes use of the chemical waste of adhesive levels under the guidance of WHO to make sure that they can dispose of the waste such as Battery Waste and other cardboard waste. The hotel has also made sure that they can make use of the Safety Data Sheet to ensure that they can assess the risky foods and drugs from entering the hotel premise. Hence, it can be stated that there is various manner in which small companies can make sure that they can implement cheap waste recycling technology.  

Research Design

1. Method

Research Methodology

The research methodology is considered to be a method that is being used for the selection, analysis of the topic. Important factors related to the research methodology that is being selected for the research process is considered to be Research Design, Research Philosophy, and Research Approach. 

Research Design

Research Design is considered to be the strategy that is being used by the researchers to analyze the different components of the study in a logical manner. A different form of research design that is being used for conducting any research is considered to be Explanatory Research, Exploratory Research, and Conclusive Research. The use of the exploratory research design has been selected for researching as it helps the researchers to make exploration of a certain research topic. The use of this research design is considered to be beneficial for the researchers to research as it helps them to gain general insights about the situation related to the importance of corporate social responsibility for the industries (Mohajan 2018). This design is also helpful to provide understanding regarding how environmental sustainability can be cheaply achieved by the companies. Another reason for the selection of this research design is considered to be the flexibility of the data collection process.

Research Approach

The research approach is identified as the step by step process that is being used by the researchers to collect data and analyze it to make a generalized assumption regarding a research topic. A different form of approach that is taken for conducting research is considered to be the Adductive approach, Inductive approach, and the Deductive approach (Snyder 2019). The inductive approach has been used for the conducting of the research process as in this approach the information regarding a certain phenomenon is explored. Another reason for the use of the inductive approach is considered to be the fact that the use of the known premises is being used for the conclusion. The other benefit of the implementation of the inductive approach is considered to be the fact that there is no specific conclusion for the research topics. Regarding the implementation of Corporate Social responsibility, it can be stated that different hotels and other corporate organizations make use of different ways of dealing with environmental pollution. Hence, it cannot be stated that any specific process is considered to be the most optimal solution for the reduction of the generation of waste. On the other hand, there is a possibility that different industrial make use of other aspects than environmental sustainability for the enhancement of corporate social responsibility. Hence, it can be stated that the use of the Inductive approach is considered to be most prominent for conducting the survey.

Research Philosophy

Research Philosophy is identified as the belief regarding how the data regarding a phenomenon is needed to be gathered for the research. The topic of the research is the importance of corporate social responsibility through the implementation of environmental sustainability in the hospitality sector. Hence, it can be stated that the implementation of the Positivism approach is considered to be more appropriate. One of the reasons for the implementation of the Positivism approach is the straight forward approach of the philosophy, which helps to find information regarding the importance of environmental sustainability (Schoonenboom & Johnson 2017). Another significant advantage of the implementation of the positivism approach is that it provides flexibility regarding the method of data collection. In this philosophy, the use of the qualitative, as well as the quantitative approach, is being allowed for the collection of the data. Another important benefit for the use of this approach is considered to be the use of large samples, which helps in the quantitative research process. The use of large samples is considered to be beneficial as it helps to gain knowledge regarding the effectiveness of the process that is being followed by the hotel.

2. Collection & Sampling

Data Collection Method

The Data Collection method is considered to be the process that is being used for the collection of the data. A different form of method that is being used for the collection of the data is the Primary Data Collection method and the Secondary Data Collection method (Kennedy 2017). The primary data collection method is considered to be a method where the data is being collected from surveys, interviews in a real-life location. On the other hand, the use of the secondary data collection method is being done for making sure that the data is being collected from secondary sources such as Books, Journals, and Articles (Da Veiga 2016).

A different form of data that is being collected is considered to be qualitative as well as the quantitative data. The qualitative data is considered to be the theoretical data that is being collected from the primary as well as the secondary data sources. On the other hand, the quantitative data is the statistical data that can also be collected from the secondary as well as the primary data sources.

This research has been done based on both the qualitative as well as the quantitative data that is being collected from the primary as well as the secondary data collection methods. The use of the primary data collection method is favorable for the collection of the quantitative data, where the employees of the Southern Cross Hotel are being surveyed for the information regarding the sustainability policy. During the survey, questions related to the importance of the sustainability policy as well as the influence of the policies on the corporate social responsibility of the company are also stated. The question also includes the effectiveness of the implementation of the sustainability policy on the reputation of the hotels. The secondary data collection method is being used where the help of the journals and the articles will be taken for gathering theoretical information related to the importance of sustainability policy (Rahi 2017). The collected theoretical data will then be compared with the statistical data to make sure that the researchers have an understanding of the influence on the sustainability policy on Corporate Social Responsibility. Different secondary data sources that are being used for the collection of the qualitative data are considered to be Google Scholar and Sciencedirect. The journals and articles that will be selected for the research purposes are dated after the year 2015 to make sure that recent information related to corporate social responsibility is gained.

Sampling Method

The sampling method is considered to be the method that is being used in the research process to make sure that the researchers gain an understanding regarding the general mindset of the people. A different form of sampling method that is being used for the selection of the respondents is Random Sampling and Systematic Sampling (Muhammad 2016). Random sampling will be selected for research as in this process random people can be surveyed and it also gives more prominent ideas related to the importance of Environmental Sustainability. Data analysis is the process that is being used for analysing the collected to come to a generalized conclusion. Different tools that are being used for the analysis of the collected data are SPSS software and Microsoft Excel. The use of the Microsoft Excel will be used for the analysis of the data as it helps the researchers to present the data that they have collected from the survey (Muhammad 2016). Tools such as Pivot Table and the Chart can be used presenting the collected data in a visually appealing manner to the people for their understanding.

3. Analysis

In this section, secondary data has been used and it has been showcased in the literature review section. There are also primary data that can be collected for the research study with the help of respondents.

4. Ethical considerations

Ethical considerations are called one of the most significant parts of the research methodology. The whole research can even be a failure if this part goes missing. In this part, the necessary data should be collected without using personally-identifying information. The analyst must have to get consent from the people, participating in the research work. The meaning of the data must not be manipulated and interpretation should also not be influenced. The examiner must have to present data correctly and impartially.

The research participants should not be harmed in any way. The dignity of the research participants must be given the foremost importance. The analyst must have to obtain full consent from the participants before the research starts.

Findings

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is termed as a representation of a business that helps the business to prosper and also bring positive changes. But there are several aspects, internal as well as external that determine the successful implementation of CSR. Here the CSR has been discussed in the hospitality industry in Australia which is one of the notable contributors to the annual GDP in Australia. The probable revenue of the hospitality industry is believed to make a growth of nearly 45 percent until 2025. But at the same time, the amount of pollution is gradually increasing due to the growth of the population and the expansion of different segments in the hospitality industry.

Discussion

Implementation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is highly needed for the overall improvement of a business organization and also plays a crucial role in changing environmental aspects. Especially, reducing pollution, balancing energy consumption, and controlling waste are generally important aspects where business organizations play a crucial role. In this context application of research, the design is mostly required as it helps the organization to have detailed insight on the need for CSR for the industries. The design guides business organizations to have a clear understanding of environmental sustainability.

Recommendations

The analysis following detailed examination, findings have built up recommendations where it is mainly implied that the organizations in the hospitality industry must have to earn environmental sustainability in their journey towards prosperity. The companies in the hospitality industry must have to think over reducing pollution especially, the companies will have to care for the solution of water pollution which has increased in a noticeable amount. The organizations in the industry will have the carefulness about energy consumption as well as the companies must have to develop ways where waste can be managed.

Limitations

The limitation lies also in the depth of issues as the only hotel industry is not included in the hospitality industry. But here the discussion apart from the hotel industry has not been possible to make. Even, mentioning more than one hotel as an example of a discussion could have been made. But here in this analysis, only Southern Cross hotel has been used as an example during the discussion on CSR in the hospitality industry.

Conclusion

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is highly needed to implement for the ultimate prosperity of a business organization in the hospitality industry and in a bid to implement the CSR perfectly any company needs the help of scientific research work on the subject. The analysis has emphasized that for making an accurate and acceptable research paper the examiner must have to care for the implementation of ethical considerations. Although it is known that research will have limitations the companies will have to move forward following recommendations for improvement.

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