Question:
Describe about research methodology and design and most applicable method?
Answer:
Statement of the problem
The research topic for this proposal is to explore the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) framework in developing successful business in global market: in context of Shell in Nigeria.
This study is relevant to the field and worthy of doctoral-level study because the research issue related to corporate social responsibility has a wide scope to make the business successful in the international market. The researcher is interested in working in marketing field as the focus on this study would enable the researcher to use the concepts and aspects related to CSR in developing a good relationship with the public and develop the market position in the global market with the focus on developing economies like Nigeria. In the context of this, Kulkarni and Rao (2014) also state that it is essential for the multinational firms to adopt effective CSR practices to establish the business in developing countries due to having an impact on the behavior of the customers.
The accomplishment of this study would be significant for the researcher to complete Ph.D. degree through knowledge upgrading about the significance of CSR strategies in developing the business in international context. Regarding this, Mohammad, Altarifi and Alaf (2014) depict that in emerging countries, people are more oriented towards the companies, which follow effective CSR framework in their business practices to promote the public welfare programs. On the other hand, recently, the performance of Shell has declined sharply due to ineffectiveness CSR practices as there is a need for the firm to focus on these practices to develop good business growth in these markets.
Purpose statement
The purpose statement is to develop understanding about the reasons for acceptance of CSR practices in developing business in an international market with the focus on developing economies. This study will address the problem using qualitative methodology by collecting the information related to CSR practices adopted by Shell and their effectiveness to develop a good market position in Nigeria. At the same time, this study will address the problem by evaluating the factors that motivate the firms to adopt CSR strategy in international business and by describing the significance of this strategy in making the business successful. Apart from this, this study would also address this problem by exploring challenges and suggesting recommendations regarding the better execution of CSR that can be beneficial for the company to establish the business in an international market with the focus on emerging countries.
Research questions
The following research questions would be answered through this research study:
Q1. How CSR of firms in developing economies influence their business performance?
Q2. What are ways to enhance the significance of CSR strategies to achieve high business growth in the global market?
Research methodology and design
Specific qualitative design:
In the article of Fontaine (2013), the case study is used as a specific qualitative design by taking a case of the Royal Dutch Shell Plc to conduct the research on the impact of corporate social responsibility on company performance. This qualitative design would also be used in the undertaken study by considering Subway in Nigeria that will be helpful to describe an in-depth experience of the group or institution through interaction with the subject to present the outcomes in real context. At the same time, in the article of Mohammad, Altarifi and Alaf (2014), phenomenology design is used to analyze the experience of individuals to explore the research issue related to the impact of corporate social responsibility toward employees on company performance. These designs will be used in the current study by determining the views and opinions of the subjects to present the valid research outcomes.
The population and sample:
In the article of Fontaine (2013), the population is the previous financial records of the Royal Dutch Shell Plc, a global energy and petrochemical company. For this, the sample would be from the financial records of the firm. On the other hand, in the article of Mohammad, Altarifi and Alaf (2014), employees in the Uomnieh telecom company, a Jordanian telecom company are selected as population. For this, random sampling is used to select 120 employees from the company to determine their views and opinions on the topic. For the current study, the sample would be selected randomly from the local people of Nigeria population and employees of Shell to determine their views on CSR practices and their effectiveness in developing a successful business.
Steps for data collection and protection of human subjects:
Fontaine (2013) has collected data from key performance indicators reported in Royal Dutch Shell Plc‘s sustainability report and annual account over a 5-year period; 2001-2005. At the same time, the entire database is used to accomplish the purpose of the study and protected through effective security measures. At the same time, in the article of Mohammad, Altarifi and Alaf (2014), the questionnaire is performed over the employees of the Uomnieh telecom company to collect desired data. In order to protect humans’ subjects, all the collected data is protected from unauthorized users and used only for the purpose of the study (Flick, 2011). For the undertaken study, data would be collected by performing questionnaire over the local public of Nigeria to determine their views on the contribution of Shell in CSR and by conducting an interview over the employees of Shell to determine their opinions about the effectiveness of their CSR framework.
Steps for the analysis of the data:
All the data collected in the study of Fontaine (2013) is analyzed through content analysis by developing the relationship between the CSR practices and performance indicators. In the research of Mohammad, Altarifi and Alaf (2014), statistical analysis is used to present descriptive statistics of performance due to CSR practices. For the current study, both content analysis and statistical analysis would be used to determine the relationship between CSR and business performance in developing countries and statistically analyze the responses of the people involved in the study.
Issues of trustworthiness within a qualitative framework:
In both articles, there were issues of trustworthiness within a qualitative framework due to the possibility of biases of previous researchers and the wrong assumption by the researcher to interpret the obtained responses and collected previous data. In the current study, there may be the possibility of issues of trustworthiness because public and employees can provide inappropriate responses to avoid any issue.
Most applicable method
Research design seems most applicable to this hypothetical study among all used research methods and design because there may be limitations while collecting data from the case study and related subjects that may create difficulty in applying the used population and sample, data collection, and analysis. It is the most important for the researcher to maintain trustworthiness of data to conduct the study in a reliable way, but it is not easy to consider this aspect due to the possibility of research bias and neutral responses by the participants (Tracy, 2012).. But, research designs namely case study and phenomenology may be easily applied by considering the cases study of Shell Company, which operates in Nigeria and involves in CSR practices to enhance the business performance. In addition, the phenomenology design would also be applicable to know the views of the subjects, which will be involved in the study.
Ethical considerations
In this undertaken study, the researcher might consider ethical issues by protecting the information obtained from the respondents to include ethical considerations. At the same time, it might be essential for the researcher not to disclose the data to the unauthorized person without the permission of the research participants including both local people and employees. All the participants would be incorporated in the study with their consent and allowed to leave the survey at any time (McNabb, 2010). In addition, all the data obtained from literature might be rewritten to avoid any ethical issue related to copyright violation and plagiarism.
References
Flick, U. (2011). Introducing Research Methodology: A Beginner’s Guide to Doing a Research Project. Great Britain: SAGE Publications Ltd.
Fontaine, M. (2013). Corporate social responsibility and sustainability: The new bottom line. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 4(4), p.110-119.
Kulkarni, S. and Rao, P. (2014). Comparative Analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility Practices Across Africa and India–An Automobile Industry Perspective. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 157, p.244-253.
McNabb, D.E. (2010). Research Methods for Political Science: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches. New York: M.E. Sharpe.
Mohammad, A.S., Altarifi, S.M. and Alaf, K.K. (2014). The Impact of Corporate Social responsibility toward employees on company Performance: A Jordanian study. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research In Business, 6(5), p.255-268.
Tracy, S. J. (2012). Qualitative Research Methods: Collecting Evidence, Crafting Analysis, Communicating Impact. USA: John Wiley & Sons.
