"Corporate Social Responsibility as a Source of Employees' Performance and Satisfaction in an Organization"? : Case of Coca-Cola Company.  Executive Summary The main aim of this report is to be tested in the study is, "Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a source of employees' performance and satisfaction in an organization"? : Case of Coca-Cola Company. To fulfill this aim, the researcher identified how engaging in CSR impact the employees' performance. After this, it was determined that what extent at which CSR can be used to improve the employees' morale. Along with this, it was also determined that whether a high CSR participation has an impact on the employees' satisfaction. For this report, interpretivism philosophy and inductive approach were used to research at the specific finding. Further this, the survey and literature review research strategies is used by the research to collect reliable data and information. In the context of the data collection, both data collection methods were used by the researcher. It enables the researcher to enhance the reliability of the outcomes. In order to collect primary data, survey methodology was used. For this 70 employees of the Coca-Cola were selected to generate their views and opinion on the CSR activities as a source of employees' performance and satisfaction in an organization. In order to data analysis, the researcher used the SPSS software, which represents the outcomes in the table and graph. From the data analysis; it is found that CSR activities play a significant role in improving the employees’ satisfaction. It motivates the employees to do work their full capacity in order to achieve company’s goal and objectives.   Contents Executive Summary 2 1. Introduction 4 2. Background of the Research Problem 5 3. Problem Definition 6 4. Literature Review 7 5. Research Design and Methodology 9 6. Data Analysis and Collections 13 7. Limitations 13 8. Budget and time line 13 9. Conclusion 14 Reference 16   1. Introduction Coca-Cola is American multinational beverage company which is known for its soft drink products. It offers approximately 500 brands in more than 200 countries across the world. Its few famous products are Sprite, Fanta, Powerade, Minute Maid. It has founded by the Asa Griggs Candler, 130 years ago in 1886(Coca-Cola (2016). The purpose of this research proposal is to examine Corporate Social Responsibility as a source of employee’s' satisfaction(at Coco Cola Melbourne?). The corporate social responsibility is corporation practices, which focuses on the benefit of the society. The involvement in the CSR activities enables the company to get suitable growth in the business environment. The growing the knowledge of corporate social responsibility raises a question, whether CSR activities are effective to improve the employees’ satisfaction and motivation level (Shaw, 2011). This research investigates that link between the corporate social responsibility and employees’ job satisfaction. This research proposal can be divided into the following the parts: Introduction and Background: This part provides the importance of the research in the context of the chosen research topic. Problem Definition: In this part, research tries to outline the management decision, research question and research objective/ issue. Literature Review: In this part, the researcher analyses the previous research and literature. It helps to develop the understanding of the key element involved in the research. Research Design and Method: This part provides the information about the use of the various research design and methods in the conducting research. Additional Issue: This part gives the information on the time schedules, cost and research limitation. Good introduction but needs some clarification; does Coca Cola use CSR but has not evaluated its effectiveness, or is the company considering introducing CSR? 2. Background of the Research Problem Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a global management issue for any organization that focuses on competitiveness in the industry/ market. In the recent years, CSR has captured the attention of managers, scholars, and practitioners among others. However, little is still known on how and whether corporate social responsibility has impacts on employees regarding satisfaction, performance and turnover (Kotler& Lee, 2004). Employees are considered to be the "first customers" to the organization who tirelessly contribute to its success. Therefore, understanding the employees' perception about CSR would help in answering the question about the relation between CSR and employee performance (Rahbek& Pedersen, 2015). This paper examines the extent to which corporate social responsibility influence the employee's performance in an organization. The increasing responsibility of taking care of society is improving the organizational involvement in the corporate social responsibility. That is why the issue of the corporate social responsibility has become crucial aspect for the management of the companies. The CSR framework removes the issue related to the both the organizational and employees job satisfaction. This research is focusing on the relationship between corporate social responsibility and employees’ satisfaction. As concerning the research objective, this research develops the understanding in the context of the impact of the CSR activities on the employees’ morale. The corporate social responsibility includes the many different ways and methods that are effective to enhance the employees' job satisfaction level (Tooksoon, 2011).   3. Problem Definition Management decision The findings from this research would be of great assistance to organizational managers, stakeholders, practitioners and scholars in their future research and decision-making (Bryman& Bell, 2011). In particular, the research will help in answering the following question; Does CSR improve employee performance in job satisfaction? And how can such decisions affect the company's performance in the market? Research Question • Is Corporate Social Responsibility a source of employees' satisfaction in an organization? Specific questions to be addressed are (Bryman& Bell, 2011); For achieving research objectives, the following research objective will be attended: a) How does engaging in CSR impact the employees' performance? b) To what extent can CSR be used to improve the employees' morale? c) Does active CSR participation has an impact on the employees' satisfaction? Research Problem To examine Corporate Social Responsibility as a source of employees' satisfaction Objective of the research There are few research objectives, which will be achieved in this research. These are below: a) To identify how engaging in CSR impact the employees' performance. b) To determine the extent at which CSR can be used to improve the employees' morale. c) To determine if high CSR participation has an impact on the employees' satisfaction.   4. Literature Review The purpose of the literature review is to enhance the knowledge of the corporate social responsibility and understand its role in improving the employees’ morale. It also determines the impact of CSR participation on the employees’ satisfaction. For this, the research reviews the previous literature and tries to reach product specific result. Impact of engaging in CSR activities on the employees’ performance According to Mason and Simmons (2014), CSR strategies are used effectively within the business to enhance the performance of the employees. It enables the company to reduce the issues of employee conflict and staff turnover in the organization. It directly influences employees’ mind in the positive since which impact can be seen as an improvement in the employees’ performance. At the same time, Doh et al., (2011) state that CSR activities are effective in attracting and motivating the employee for achieving the high degree of the performance. An organization can affect the thoughts and opinions of the employees by communicating the CSR strategies and its outcomes. It develops a thought in the mind of the employees; the firm is serious about the future of the employees and society. That is why employees work with full concentration at the workplace that also enhances their performance and participation in the company growth. In the views of the Mohr, et. al., (2012), there is a significant relationship between the corporate social responsibility and employees’ performance. It is because an effective framework of the CSR strategies reduces the gap between the employees’ expectation and companies’ expectation. It also helps the company and employees to improve the output, productivity and job satisfaction. In support of this, Estevao, et al., (2016) exhibit that in the effective and attracting CSR framework; employees are rewarded and appreciated for their outstanding performance, which influences the employees to improve their performance level. Extent of use of CSR to improve the employees' morale In the views of Ali et al., (2010) in order to enhance the level of the employees’ morale, the firm can give priority to employees’ ideas and views. It helps to increase the level of the employees’ morale as well job satisfaction. On the other hand, Klehe, et al., (2011) depict that consideration on the employees’ health and safety improve the employees’ morale. Continues focus on the employees’ future and working condition at the workplace motivate the employees to continue work in the same organization. It also improves the employees' morale for their responsibilities in the organization. In support of this, García (2013) states that organisation can improve the employees’ morale through the inclusion effective CSR framework. It enables the firm to provide benefits to the employees in the many aspects. It develops the opportunities for both employees and firm. In order to adopt these opportunities employee tries to extra and it improves its morale. But, in the views of Carden and Boyd (2013) inclusion of CSR strategy is not much effective in the context of improving employees’ morale. It only enhances the companies operation cost through offering the reward and other benefits. Opposite of this, Carden and Boyd (2013) state that continuously improvement in the compensation policy improves the employees’ satisfaction in the organization. In a company, there are different types of employees which are motivated and satisfied by the different ways. Some of them are motivated by the high salaries and some of them are motivated by the flexible working environment and some are from the high designation. So that only CSR framework is not the only way that can improve employees’ morale. High CSR participation has an impact on the employees' satisfaction. In the views of the Hollingworth and Valentine (2014) high CSR participation has a great impact on the employees’ satisfaction. A firm which is engaging in the CSR activities, its employees are more satisfied rather than a firm’s employees where lack of CSR activities. CSR framework allows the employees to grow inside the organization. It also encourages the employees to work with their full capacity to achieve the company goal and objective. At the same time, the study of the Mohr et. al., (2012) depicts that highly inclusion of the health and safety, human rights and other benefits for the staff creates job satisfaction among the employees. It also builds a good brand image of the company front of the employees and competitors. In support of this, Tooksoon, (2011) exhibit that CSR activities in the firm are able to develop a satisfying working environment for employees where these can be ensured about their safety and rights. It also raises the sense of belonging to the employee for the management and company. The high level of sense of belonging creates employees’ satisfaction. At the same time, Shaw (2011) states that high-level CSR framework consists the employees' participation in the decision-making process. It enhances chances for the employees to put their views and opinions front of the management which creates employees’ satisfaction and confidence. 5. Research Design and Methodology For this research, interpretive philosophy is used by the researcher because research problem is based on the subjective nature. This philosophy is beneficial to gather the opinion and perception of the employees about the CSR of the Coca-Cola Company. In this way, researcher analyzes that how corporate social responsibilities (CSR) are beneficial to motivate the employees and also improve their performance. In addition to this, inductive approach is used by the researcher because this approach is used to create a new theory from the data. Further, it is selected due to its relevancy in using the interpretive philosophy. This approach is also feasible to evaluate the detailed observation and also offer the theoretical outline and opinion associated with the research problem (Mackey and Gass, 2015). There is also no need to make the hypothesis for the research. Research Design is vital for the researchers to offer the systematic way for collecting the information and present reliable findings of the research problem. Research design helps the researcher to make a general plan in order to do the answer of research question effectively.For this dissertation, causal research is used by the researcher in order to recognize the extent and nature of cause and effective relationships (Taylor, et al., 2015). This research design is used by the researcher because it enabled them to analysis the specific issue or to make a pattern of relationship between the CSR and employee’s satisfaction. Vennelaa suitable method for your study would use exploratory research – via the secondary data analysis of the literature review as well as direct with staff. You propose using a survey so this is described a descriptiveresearch. I would suggest describing these two methods on this section rather than interpretive and inductive methodologies. 6. Data Collections and Analysis Data Collection Method is effective to gather the essential information and data in order to accomplish the research objectives successfully. For this research, primary data and secondary data is used by the researcher in order to obtain the required data and information. In this way, primary data is gathered by the survey method. Because, survey methods obtain the new information hence, it is effective for the researcher to get the reliable and valid data (Brinkmann, 2014). In this survey method, questionnaire method is used by the researcher in order to gather the views and ideas of the employees with regards to the effectiveness of CSR in enhancing employee’s satisfaction. It is stated that Likert scale is used by the researcher to make the questionnaire. Because, this scale is easy to understand for the participants so, they have responded effectively and efficiently. The researcher has used the mail method to deliver the question to the participants (Silverman, 2016). Further, former section mail sent by the researcher to the management of Coca-Cola Company and its employees to conduct the survey on them in order to get the information. Furthermore, probability sampling is used by the researcher in order to choose the survey participants. Because, this method assured that there is an equal probability of being selected the sample from the population. In this probability sampling method, simple random sampling is used by the researcher because it gives equal chances to each member in the participation of survey (Flick, 2015). Further, another reason to select the simple random sampling is that it removes biases from the selection procedure. For this dissertationmanagement project, 70 participants are selected by the researcher with the different gender group and experiences from different department of Coca-ColaCompany. Furthermore, secondary data is used by the researcher via using the various sources includes the annual reports, online publication, coca cola websites, journals, academic publications, articles, offline sources like books, magazines, and newspaper. These sources are used by researcher because it takes less time and less cost in order to gather the data and information (Smith, 2015). Secondary data takes less time to provide the information because it is second-hand data and published sources. It also provides accurate data to the researcher. It is said that all collected information is mentioned with the author name and publications together with, copyright and plagiarism are avoided by the researcher in order to make a reliable and valid report (Gast and Ledford, 2014). Consequently, the researcher is used own words in order to interpret the data. Data analysis is the vital part of the research because it offers the precise and reliable outcome. There is a distinct technique to statistical measure the data such as SPSS and excel tools. Because, this tool obtain the outcome in a comprehensible way and also interpret the data in the meaningful manner (Billig and Waterman, 2014). For this research study, different tools are used by the researcher such as SPSS and excel in order to assess the information. Because, these tools demonstrated the descriptive statistics that is relevant for the researcher to implement the large data in order to obtain the simple and comprehensible information. Research Questionnaire The following question will be asked from the participants in the research. It will help the researcher to collect the accurate and reliable data for the research outcome. 1. What is your gender? A) Female B) Male 2. What is your experience in this industry? A) 0-3 years B) 3-5 C) 5-10 D) More than 10 years 3. What do you think, whether CSR activities have an impact on the employees' performance in the organization? A) Yes B) No 4. Do you agree that CSR can be used to improve the employee’s morale? A) Strongly Agree B) Agree C) Neutral D) Disagree E) Strongly Disagree 5. What do you think whether high CSR participation has a positive impact on the employees' satisfaction? A) Yes B) No The section needs some description of how you plan to undertakethis investigation – your procedure. 7. Limitations For achieving the research objectives, there is distinct research problems have occurred during the research. Further, there is a time limit to conduct the research that creates difficulty in meeting the research objectives. It also has a negative impact on the research outcomes (Smith, 2015). In addition to this, due to the time constraint to complete the research, it has affected the research output. Further, the researcher has faced the different research issues at the time of gathering primary data. But, at the same time, participants of the research have conversed via emails and give a responseto the questionnaire that was effective to eliminate the research problems and obtain the reliable results (Mackey and Gass, 2015). Besides this, confidentiality information about the research participants is maintained by the researcher to avoid the ethical issues as completing the research. 8. Budget and Time Line Budget of the research The below table shows that cost of the conducting the research: Description Cost Development of moderators guide $2000 Data analysis cost $1000 Printing and paper cost $800 Traveling cost $1500 Other expenses $700 Total cost $6000 Timeline of the Research In order to achieve the research objective and conduct research in an effective manner, it is essential for the researcher to have knowledge about the different tasks of the research and time limit of completion task. It helps to the researcher to complete the task before pre-determined time. In context of this research, the below schedule will be followed: Area of Work/Weeks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Development of moderators guide Developing of research objective Development of Research Background Analysis of Literature Review Development of Research Methodology Data collection and Analysis Write the final conclusion   9. Conclusion From the above research study, it is concluded that there is a significant relationship between the corporate social responsibility and employees’ satisfaction. The growing the knowledge of the corporate social responsibility is helpful to enhance the job satisfaction among the employees (Mason and Simmons, 2014). It motivates the employees for giving their extra efforts in order to achieve organizational goals and objectives. The inclusion of the good rewarding and benefit policies motivate the employees to give their best at the workplace. Along with this, it is also concluded that employee involvement in the decision-making process improves the sense of belonging among the employees, which also create the employees’ satisfaction (Carden and Boyd, 2013).  Reference Ali, I., Rehman, K.U., Ali, S.I., Yousaf, J. and Zia, M. (2010) Corporate social responsibility influences, employee commitment and organizational performance. African Journal of Business Management, 4(13), pp. 2796. Billig, S. H., and Waterman, A. S. (Eds.). (2014) Studying service-learning: Innovations in education research methodology. UK: Routledge. Brinkmann, S. (2014) Interview (pp. 1008-1010) New York: Springer. Carden, L.L. and Boyd, R.O. (2013) THE WORKPLACE: INTEGRATING CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. Mustang Journal of Business and Ethics, 4, p.17. Coca-Cola (2016) Available at: http://www.coca-colacompany.com/ (Accessed: 8 October 2016) Doh, J.P., Stumpf, S.A. and TymonJr, W.G. (2011) Responsible leadership helps retain talent in India. Journal of business ethics, 98(1), pp.85-100. Flick, U. (2015) Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research project. UK: Sage. García, F. J., García, J. L., Castilla, C. and Major, S. A. (2013) Corporate social responsibility of oil companies in developing countries: from altruism to business strategy, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 20(6), pp. 371-384. Gast, D. L., and Ledford, J. R. (2014) Single case research methodology: Applications in special education and behavioral sciences. UK: Routledge. Hollingworth, D. and Valentine, S. (2014) Corporate social responsibility, continuous process improvement orientation, organizational commitment and turnover intentions. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 31(6), pp.629-651. Klehe, U.C., Zikic, J., Van Vianen, A.E. and De Pater, I.E. (2011) Career adaptability, turnover and loyalty during organizational downsizing. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 79(1), pp.217-229. Mackey, A., and Gass, S. M. (2015) Second language research: Methodology and design. UK: Routledge. Mason, C. and Simmons, J. (2014) Embedding corporate social responsibility in corporate governance: A stakeholder systems approach. Journal of Business Ethics, 119(1), pp.77-86. Mohr, D.C., Young, G.J. and Burgess Jr, J.F. (2012) Employee turnover and operational performance: the moderating effect of group‐oriented organisational culture. Human Resource Management Journal, 22(2), pp.216-233. Shaw, J.D. (2011) Turnover rates and organizational performance Review, critique, and research agenda.Organizational Psychology Review, 1(3), pp.187-213. Silverman, D. (Ed.). (2016) Qualitative research. UK: Sage. Smith, J. A. (Ed.). (2015) Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods. UK: Sage. Taylor, S. J., Bogdan, R., and DeVault, M. (2015) Introduction to qualitative research methods: A guidebook and resource. USA: John Wiley and Sons. Tooksoon, H.M.P. (2011) Conceptual framework on the relationship between human resource management practices, job satisfaction, and turnover.Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, 2(2), pp.41-49. Assessment Task 2: Research Proposal Student:Vennela Goal: TheResearchProposal is fundamentalto ensuring anyresearchconducted is relevant,timely andcosteffective. ThisTask will allowyou todevelop a full research proposalincorporating all stagesof theresearch process. Product: Researchproposal Format: Basedon the businessresearch problem oropportunityforinvestigationidentified inTask 1- preparea researchproposal. Weighting and length 50% (so mark out of 100 will be halved in terms of final grade) 3,000 words Your proposal must reflect your specific research problem as identified in Assessment Task 1. Assessment Criteria: Content Max Mark Demonstration of sound presentation and communication skills in presenting a professional written report • Presentation • Referencing • Communication (spelling/grammar/expression) 7/10 Apply relevant research theories and frameworks to develop applied research proposals Introduction and background: • Introduction (around ½ page max) • clearly state your purpose and outline the format of your proposal. • Background to the research problem (around 200 words) • briefly present the circumstances that have lead to the immediate problem • why it is worthy of investigation - expected benefits • boundaries, or delimitations of scope. • Make sure you incorporate any feedback from Task 1 7/10 Problem definition (around 100 words): • clearly states the management problem, research question and the research objectives/issues • management decision should be in question form and should focus on the management decision to be made • research question should be in question form and should focus on the management issue to be resolved • research objectives/issues are more detailed information that will allow you to answer your research question (make sure any terms used are defined and measurable). • Make sure you incorporate feedback from Task 1 7/10 Literature review (around 700 words): • overviews the current state of knowledge • relevant academic & practitioner based literature (min of 10 refs including a mix of academic journals and practitioner sources) • analytical not descriptive. 10/15 Research design and method (around 800 – 1200 words): Remember when proposing this design that you may actually be required to undertake this research in a subsequent course. While a full answer to your research objectives may require multistage research that may not be achievable in terms of time or resources if you are actually doing the project in a study period and you may only be able to undertake the first stage(s) or the total design that may be based solely on desk research or desk research with a small primary data study. So key issues to be addressed in this section include: • Justification of selected research design (ie exploratory, descriptive, causal or some combination – why is this design appropriate and why are other designs not appropriate) • Description and justification of appropriate methods o If your study is a desk study consider what sources of data you need for each objective, where you will source the data from, how valid and reliable are the data, and what analytical techniques or theoretical models will you will apply to the data to address your objectives o If your study requires primary data consider what method(s) you will use eg interviews, focus groups, surveys etc; what sampling approach will you use? What will your sample size be, how will you actually select respondents? o If your study combines desk research with primary data you will need to address all the points above. 25/50 Additional issues: • Demonstrate understanding of ethical issues in research • Limitations of the research • Proposed time schedule • Approximate Budget. 4/5 TOTAL 60/100 Vennela this is much improved from your work last semester. I can see that you have put considerable effort into this proposal. I have made a number of comments that you will need to consider in refining your proposal for conducting this investigation at a later date. Please keep a copy of this proposal with the comments for use in MGT726. SJ